You see it over and over from Big Oil, chemical polluters and their paid lackeys in academia, think tanks, and Congress. We just don’t know enough to take a chance and regulate carbon emissions.
Next time you hear that — including from Uncle Sid at Thanksgiving — bring up the history of bought research from the Merchants of Death. The lead industry was able to profit for additional decades by funding studies that cast doubt on whether lead made children retarded. The industry flaks would shake their heads and just say we didn't know enough to remove lead from paint and gasoline and, any way, that would just be a job killer. (Does the tactic sound familiar? It should.) The cigarette industry was impressed enough by the tactic to adopt it themselves. As did the sugar industry in the 1970s, when it funded studies shifting the blame for heart attacks and strokes to saturated fats. Now Big Food is following the same exact playbook.
So next time someone tells you global climate change is a hoax, remember: In each of those cases, who was right? The billion-dollar industry? Or the real scientists?