The reason we call it “climate change” is because the Bush administration wanted us to

Speaking of climate change, did you know that the reason we started calling it “climate change” instead of “global warming” is because a pollster on the Bush administration payroll thought it sounded less severe?

The man in question was Frank Luntz, a political consultant who specializes in helping his clients find the right words to turn public opinion toward their desired point of view. He most recently worked with Fox News, if that gives you an indication of his ideology or skill set.

“The scientific debate is closing [against us] but not yet closed,” Luntz argued in a 2002 memo to Bush. “There is still a window of opportunity to challenge the science… Voters believe that there is no consensus about global warming within the scientific community. Should the public come to believe that the scientific issues are settled, their views about global warming will change accordingly.

“Therefore,” he argued, “you need to continue to make the lack of scientific certainty a primary issue in the debate, and defer to scientists and other experts in the field.”

Despite the apparent success of this strategy, Luntz himself has argued that times have changed. “A clear majority of Americans believe climate change is happening,” he noted in 2010. “This is true of McCain voters and Obama voters alike… People are much more interested in seeing solutions than watching yet another partisan political argument.”

Incidentally, that same year, the folks at PolitiFact declared Luntz the winner of their Lie of the Year award, after he popularized the phrase “government takeover” in reference to American health care reform. Oh, and those of you reading this in the UK might be interested to know that Luntz was instrumental to David Cameron winning the leadership of the Conservative Party in 2005, and therefore to his rise to power in the 2010 election.

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