My comment in response to Penelope's reply in the comment section of this post.
Thanks, Penelope, for the two interesting points you’re making.I sincerely hope that the number of the unknown dissenters is very large and growing fast. Actually, I’d be content if only the number of open-minded observers capable of critical thinking would increase, leaving them to whatever conclusions they may come to. Germans strike me as being “ökoverblödet” — dumbed down by a delusional pseudo-ecological creed; they’re so sure of the propaganda phrases that they have been conditioned to reflexively repeat that they no longer bother to take a careful look at the real relationship between man and nature. They’re perfectly content to turn the prayer wheel. In that way the greens have managed to destroy the ecological awareness of the German population – replacing concern for nature by religious orthodoxy.As for the real proportion (critical minds versus indoctrinated followers) I have only anecdotal evidence. I live in Germany and have never met a person in the ordinary flow of life (in contrast to fringe political groups, say, like the libertarian Hayek Club) who didn’t support the Energiewende. Which observation nicely squares with this anecdote:The other day, I gave a lecture in Czechia, where I met a professor from Cambridge (UK), to whom I presented myself as a critic of the Energiewende. All of a sudden, the guy looked almost like he was about to faint, gasping for air. The next moment, in an utterly flabbergasted manner, he confessed he had never met a German who was critical of the Energiewende. I assume Germans attending Cambridge University may be considered part of the country’s (not only intellectual/scientific) elite in terms of status and position in later life.Other anecdotes that make me worry: encounters with academics (notable professors) in Germany who confided in me that they dare not express their true findings or views concerning AGW or the Energiewende fearing career threatening reactions from their students, the University administration and other powers-that-be, even from colleagues and fellow-scientists.My impression is that support for the politically correct green agenda has become no less conventional, no less culturally entrenched in Germany than a greeting phrase like “Guten Tag”.Similarly, spitting scorn and contempt at anything related to US-president Trump is simply the done thing over here. If you want to signal a fellow German that you like him, it is a useful move to advertise your hatred of Trump.It is embarrassing to me how, time and again, fellow Germans who get to know me signal the message “You seem to be a nice guy” by regurgitating with a beaming face the latest anti-Trump media slander. That way, they feel sure they’re striking just the right note. They can’t imagine that a reasonable chap might take a differentiating view of Trump, to whom, incidentally, I ascribe at least two very positive achievements: he has awakened democracy in America from its political correct slumber, and he takes the state’s responsibility to protect the integrity of science seriously — both of which recoveries Germany is desperately in need of.However, efforts by the Trump administration to protect genuine science to keep vulgar- and pseudoscience at bay and ensure that the dignity of science is not abused so as to palliate and push through dubious policies are treated with disdainful denial in Germany, like any move the president might care to make.The German Anti-Trump attitude of rejecting scientific correctness in favour of political correctness is understandable, from a psychological point of view, as similar endeavours over here to restore critical thinking and the scientific method would cause Germany’s green State religion, dutifully parroted by the masses, to come crushing down.
I can think of any number of US media-driven positions with which the vast majority disagree. Indeed, the media is so distrusted here that their opposition to Trump was a great help in getting him elected.