Article in the NYT on social science research into skepticism:

http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/11/15/15climatewire-can-social-scientists-help-ease-the-nations-82753.html

The national discussion on climate change is brimming with economic models, scientific findings and wonky plans to fix it. But something is missing: academic explanations of why people flout reams of scientific conclusions, bristle at the notion of cutting carbon and regard climate change as a sneaky liberal plot.

"The social sciences are glaringly missing," says Andrew Hoffman, an expert on the sociological aspects of environmental policies at the University of Michigan, for which he's researching climate denial. "That leaves out critical questions about the cultural dimensions of both defining the problem and finding solutions."