Disrespecting Intelligence and Global Warming

I've been chewing on something in my brain for the last few days concerning global warming/climate change.  One of our local news stations posted a story on Facebook regarding how climate change, as a political issues, is becoming the next big divisor along with abortion and other "explosive" issues, and asked people whether they'd agree.  What followed essentially confirmed that the issue is highly divisive along mostly partisan lines, but what irked me what the initial forty comments or so.  One of the initial commenters posted about how "globle" warming was a hoax.  Someone responded, and he again stated that "globle" warming was a leftist conspiracy.  (like I said, partisan lines were easily drawn in this debate).

A few comments later, an individual posted a comment with several links showing substantive scientific data supporting that climate change is real, and is man made.  He didn't rely on himself, he relief on the scientific authorities in the field to support his argument.  Immediately, and this is what I found particularly worrisome, every comment for the next twenty it seemed lambasted the guy who provided the links to expert authority, and completed sided with the "wisdom" of the guy who couldn't spell global correctly.

Maybe this will all be considered me being an intellectual elitist, but it seems to me that we'd be better trusting intellectual authority on a subject as opposed to someone who can't spell (fact that it occurred twice convinces me it wasn't a typographical mistake).  The whole scenario reminds me of reading Idiot America and how the author's point there was that we have become a nation that does not value expertise (one of his examples is how other countries look with respect towards an individual with a degree from MIT, whereas here it has become a way to deride someone as, ironically, an intellectual elite).  I don't mean to suggest we shouldn't celebrate the everyday person, the common man, and the common sense wisdom they may have towards life.  But its entirely appropriate, on certain issues, to take the advice and wisdom and knowledge from an expert in the relevant field as opposed to some guy off the street.  

I am not a scientist, but as I trust that I know more about the legal system and the Constitution than some random guy who has never read it on the street, I trust that a guy like this, who has several posts about climate change, is a professional scientist, is much more knowledgeable about it than I am, and it would be wise and prudent of me to value his own opinion and knowledge more than my gut reaction.

Anyway, I guess the point of this post was that the whole commenting situation reminded very much of Idiot America, and how true the guy's premise was in this situation.  We should be respecting and considering the opinion of intellectual authority, not degrading it and listening to quacks instead.  And in the case of global warming, as the links above will demonstrate if one takes the time to read through them, its not a hoax.  The evidence is overwhelming, and we would do well to accept that fact and listen to experts on what to do about it.