Paul Krugman, of The New York Times, points out that the G.O.P. has become "the anti-science party" and that this should terrify the American people.

Mr. Perry, the governor of Texas, recently made headlines by dismissing evolution as "just a theory," one that has "got some gaps in it" -- an observation that will come as news to the vast majority of biologists. But what really got people's attention was what he said about climate change: "I think there are a substantial number of scientists who have manipulated data so that they will have dollars rolling into their projects. And I think we are seeing almost weekly, or even daily, scientists are coming forward and questioning the original idea that man-made global warming is what is causing the climate to change."

That's a remarkable statement -- or maybe the right adjective is "vile."

The second part of Mr. Perry's statement is, as it happens, just false: the scientific consensus about man-made global warming -- which includes 97 percent to 98 percent of researchers in the field, according to the National Academy of Sciences -- is getting stronger, not weaker, as the evidence for climate change just keeps mounting.