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But what has finally convinced ordinary people that the doomsayers are wrong isn’t any interpretation of climate figures. It is the palpable sense that very few of the doomsayers believe what they say.

Why aren’t the moguls and corporate executives who claim to be unnerved by the predictions of climate science giving up their carbon-heavy lifestyles and living in caves—or at least in simpler dwellings than mansions? If progressive VIPs in media, politics and entertainment believe sea levels are ready to rise precipitously, why do they keep buying properties in Martha’s Vineyard, Bar Harbor, Provincetown, Santa Monica and Malibu?

The climate lobby can wave aside these questions if it wishes, but appeals to reports and studies weigh little against the appearance of insincerity. If activists predicting global mayhem really believe what they predict, they would favor an instant transition to zero-emission nuclear power. But they mostly don’t. Every September the transnational elite gather at the U.N. General Assembly to denounce America for its failure to limit carbon emissions—and clog the streets of Manhattan for a week with their privately chartered oversize SUVs.

Disdain for climate alarmism has gone mainstream. Last year the liberal comedian Bill Maher delivered a monologue on his television show in which he blistered celebrities who insist on the need to reduce our “carbon footprint” but zip around the globe on private jets. It is a masterpiece of political invective and has been viewed online by millions.

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