From watching the defenders of this crime here and elsewhere...
It is pretty clear what happened... the corporate interests funded groups like the Heartland institute, and the Heritage foundation to convince the useful idiots on the right that global warming was a socialist plot to harm capitalism...
The loyal little toadies parroted the lies they were told loudly and as often as possible, because they were true believers in the cause... they became evangelists for a god that didn't give a damn about them. And, like Abraham, they were bizarrely eager to sacrifice their children to their god....