In a strongly worded July 27, 2015, Carroll County Times op-ed letter, Carroll County Commissioner Richard Rothschild challenged the perception that there was a consensus around man-made catastrophic climate change.  Rothschild based many of his arguments from Jay Richards’ discussion of 12 reasons to doubt claims of a scientific consensus originally written for the American Enterprise Institute. From the letter:

Reason No. 1 to doubt claims of a so-called scientific consensus: When personal attacks are targeted against dissenters. There’s a saying: When the facts are on your side, argue the facts; when the law is on your side, argue the law; when you have neither facts nor law on your side, attack your opponent. …

Reason 4: Richards asserts, “when dissenting opinions are excluded from the relevant peer-reviewed literature not because of weak evidence … but as part of a strategy to marginalize dissent.” The “peer review” process in climate science has, in some cases, been deliberately subverted to prevent dissenting views from being published. Climategate provided proof of this and provides a tangible reason to doubt claims of consensus.  …

Meanwhile the U.S. Senate Minority report on Climate Change contains names and writings of 700 scientists that refute claims of man-made catastrophic climate change.

Astrophysicist Piers Corbyn ridiculed the idea that the International Panel on Climate Change summary was written by 2,500 of the world’s “leading scientists” and said it was written primarily by people in government and should be called “The IPCC Report by appointees of many governments … many who may have little or no expertise… .”