The Republican presidential field consists of people who refuse to accept the science of climate change and people who just don’t want to do anything about it. This is partly because the most popular right-wing pundits on Fox News and talk radio, like Rush Limbaugh, attack Republican politicians who do trust the overwhelming scientific consensus. No surprise there, since anti-intellectualism is intrinsic to the appeal of right-wing talk radio.

But what about conservative intellectuals? Do they have anything more to offer? In an attempt to find out, I looked through their op-eds, opinion magazines, and policy journals. I found that most of them fall into three broad categories: those who argue for adaptation instead of trying to stop climate change (the Adapters), the anguished advocates of a carbon tax (the Handwringers), and those who simply deny climate science (the Deans of Denialism).

Carbon taxation is gaining popularity among conservative policy wonks. There are a number of prominent conservative carbon tax supporters, such as former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, former Rep. Bob Inglis (R-S.C.), and former John McCain advisor Doug Holtz-Eakin. But notice all the “former”s there — they no longer hold office and no longer hold […]