Public interest in climate change declining, but unaffected by recent scandals — study

Anderegg noted the widely held belief that tough economic times tend to draw attention away from environmental issues, and the 2008 recession could have done exactly that for climate change. But groups skeptical of climate science suggest the decline was less a result of a distraction by other issues than a public realization.
"I think it's part of the long-term slide of this issue into irrelevance," said Myron Ebell, head of climate change issues at the Competitive Enterprise Institute.
"Global warming alarmists have turned off the public by hyping their claims, and people over time have seen through it," Ebell added.