Nighttime Must-Read: Jay Rosen: “Claims that climate science is a hoax…

…Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker fall into the… dodgers category. The Do-Nothings are… Chris Christie of New Jersey and John Kasich of Ohio. In a sign of how far rightward Republicans have moved since 2008, these are actually the guys who are trying to position themselves as relatively moderate and pragmatic…. Sen. Marco Rubio and… Gov. Mike Huckabee… are staunch conservatives but only partial wingnuts. Back when that meant believing in climate change, they did, but they have since followed their base into fantasyland. Everyone else is an outright denier and always has been….

So here’s the problem: As more and more journalists come to the conclusion that they should no longer take seriously the arguments of ‘someone who believes the entire field of study is built on a pillar of sand,’ the Republican presidential field has more and more of these someones, and candidates who often flirt with that position. What to do?… 1. Normalize it: treat denialist claims like any other campaign position…. 2. Savvy analysis: is denialism a winning move or is it costing the candidate?… 3. Persistence: Call what it is–a rejection of the science–and keep calling it that…. 4. Confrontation: Try to raise the costs of denialism…. Actively confronting the candidate is a more aggressive way to go. Advantage: Fulfills the watchdog role of the press and says to politicians: there are limits, this is beyond the pale. Problem: Easily politicized, certain to trigger culture war attacks…. The Washington Post reviewed [Ted] Cruz’s career and positions…. Katie Zezima and Robert Costa wrote… ‘Cruz does not believe in climate change and has said that data does not support it. Cruz chairs the Senate committee that oversees NASA and has said that the agency needs to focus more on space exploration and less on Earth science.’ That’s Normalize it: treat denialist claims like any other campaign position…