I am a firm believer that most perspectives, beliefs, and disagreements revolve around one thing: politics. I would definitely argue that this is the case with climate change. No matter what belief you hold- that climate change exists or that it doesn't- it is clear that these ideas affect public policy and the lives of constituents. And the implications of these beliefs are more visibly political than scientific- at least at first. Anyone can pay a company or a scientist to come up with a study that says climate change exists or that it doesn't. Those studies can then be used to convince the public and affect political change.
No matter what kind of information a person is getting and no matter where it's coming from, it is important to think critically. Understand who is sponsoring the information- is the website run by a political party, think tank, or someone who could reap substantial benefits from climate change being a credible scientific occurrence? Then they might have an agenda pushing them and the information they are putting out. Of course, this is also true of those who promote the idea of climate change being nonexistent.
In my opinion, just from superficial looks grist.org is much more convincing. The Friends of Science website:
1. Has a completely ridiculous name and
2. Looks like it is the website for The Fellowship of the Sun (from True Blood), not a credible sight promoting scientific data
I'm also very impressed at how thorough grist.org is. They have come up with counter-arguments to everything from politics to economics to science.
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