Having a rational conversation about public policy issues is becoming increasingly difficult because so many advocates will brook no disagreement, even if their positions are contradicted by facts or logic. Instead of engaging the argument, they demonize those who disagree with them as corrupt, ignorant, racist or worst. They use these ad hominem attacks, in turn, to justify their refusal to compromise. The result is that urgent problems grow steadily worse.
Environmental issues often provide vivid examples of this process, especially if the issue is global warming. Earlier this month, for example, global warming activists and their many allies in government and the traditional media made much of a report by the National Climate Data Center, which is part of the federal government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
