Fossil fools

In the 'Global Weirding' chapter of his latest bestseller, New York Times journalist Thomas Friedman ponders a perplexing phenomenon in conservative politics:
" ... I absolutely do not understand why Rush Limbaugh and other conservatives would make climate-change denial a conservative Republican plank. I would have thought that conservatives, of all people, would be most insistent on being conservative -- being prudent and siding in the debate with those who say that even if there is just a 10 percent chance of a major disruption as a result of climate change, we should make sure to conserve the world we have. What could be more crazy-radical -- more Trotskyite and more reckless -- than standing in the face of an overwhelming consensus among climate experts and saying, 'I am throwing my lot in with the minority. I am going to bet the farm, my future, and my kids' future that that tiny minority is right -- all other consequences be damned'?"
Great point, though I have no idea what's up with the Trotsky reference.
Many conservatives need to wise up and realize there's no virtue in resisting all efforts to reduce air pollution and find cleaner sources of power. Why any political movement wants to be known as the pro-pollution movement is beyond my ken.
This is, as Friedman says, a time for prudence. It's foolish in the extreme to simply place all your chips on black (or whatever colour stands for "Anthropogenic global warming is not real") and then let the roulette wheel spin.