I grew up in the rural parts of Kentucky and Pennsylvania, two relatively conservative areas.  Most of my friends and family are tried-and-true Republicans so it was assumed that I would follow suit.  When I started working for a Democratic Congressman in college, one very prominent male figure in my family explained the oddity with a shrug (channeling Churchill) saying “If you are a Republican when you are in college, you have no heart. But if you are a Democrat when you are older, you have no mind.”

Last week, two conservative Republican Senators, James Inhofe of Oklahoma and John Barrasso of Wyoming, called for an independent probe of the IPCC — the international scientific body that summarizes the latest climate science — and asked the Senate to halt all climate action until that happens.