"climate change denial is almost entirely a generational issue" ...
I do wonder if this is a US thing. I've not seen a denier over here in the UK. Sure, on the TV they have debates about climate change with scientists. They argue and present data and talk about change. They may argue about the rate of change and the potential effects. But everyone agrees that change is happening.
Just take a look at the G7 fossil fuel pledge by the Germans. That's pressure from everyday people over here in Europe, that's millions of us who understand.
I wonder if it is more a phrasing issue in American polls. I live in a small, rural, Southern town. I've had a few conversations, as well as watching American media. I think the term climate change or global warming means man-made warming in most people's head. Many people I've seen pressed on the issue, even by gentle conversation show this conflation. The deniers tend to be people saying, even through a veil, "I don't think man has everything to do with it".
Oddly, in the back of many people's head that I've spoken with is the Cambrian period. They have a vague remembrance that Earth was hotter and more swap like. Since there were no men then, it is possible for the planet to heat up on its own. They latch onto this thought and back their view that modern peoples can't be causing this much damage.
James Delingpole in the Telegraph is probably the leading UK denier. But there are quite a lot of "silent" denialists who won't make a big noise about climate itself but will attack environmental, energy or "green" projects on spurious grounds.
Global warming wouldn't really be bad for Poland, and CO2 tax is very bad for Polish economy, so there's more people choosing to belive it's all a scam.
I do wonder if this is a US thing. I've not seen a denier over here in the UK. Sure, on the TV they have debates about climate change with scientists. They argue and present data and talk about change. They may argue about the rate of change and the potential effects. But everyone agrees that change is happening.
Just take a look at the G7 fossil fuel pledge by the Germans. That's pressure from everyday people over here in Europe, that's millions of us who understand.