Query: In truth, the overwhelming majority of climate-research funding comes from the federal government and left-wing foundations.

Relevant passages:
Climate change denial <=SEP=> Climate change denial , or global warming denial , is part of the global warming controversy . It involves denial , dismissal , unwarranted doubt or contrarian views which strongly depart from the scientific opinion on climate change , including the extent to which it is caused by humans , its impacts on nature and human society , or the potential of adaptation to global warming by human actions . Some deniers do endorse the term , but others often prefer the term climate change skepticism , although this is a misnomer for those who deny anthropogenic global warming . In effect , the two terms form a continuous , overlapping range of views , and generally have the same characteristics : both reject , to a greater or lesser extent , mainstream scientific opinion on climate change . Climate change denial can also be implicit , when individuals or social groups accept the science but fail to come to terms with it or to translate their acceptance into action . Several social science studies have analyzed these positions as forms of denialism .   Campaigning to undermine public trust in climate science has been described as a `` denial machine '' of industrial , political and ideological interests , supported by conservative media and skeptical bloggers in manufacturing uncertainty about global warming . In the public debate , phrases such as climate skepticism have frequently been used with the same meaning as climate denialism . The labels are contested : those actively challenging climate science commonly describe themselves as `` skeptics '' , but many do not comply with common standards of scientific skepticism and , regardless of evidence , persistently deny the validity of human caused global warming .   Although scientific opinion on climate change is that human activity is extremely likely to be the primary driver of climate change , the politics of global warming have been affected by climate change denial , hindering efforts to prevent climate change and adapt to the warming climate . Those promoting denial commonly use rhetorical tactics to give the appearance of a scientific controversy where there is none .   Of the world 's countries , the climate change denial industry is most powerful in the United States . Since January 2015 , the United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works has been chaired by oil lobbyist and climate change denier Jim Inhofe . Inhofe is notorious for having called climate change `` the greatest hoax ever perpetrated against the American people '' and for having claimed to have debunked the alleged hoax in February 2015 when he brought a snowball with him in the Senate chamber and tossed it across the floor . Organised campaigning to undermine public trust in climate science is associated with conservative economic policies and backed by industrial interests opposed to the regulation of emissions . Climate change denial has been associated with the fossil fuels lobby , the Koch brothers , industry advocates and libertarian think tanks , often in the United States . More than 90 % of papers sceptical on climate change originate from right-wing think tanks .  The total annual income of these climate change counter-movement-organizations is roughly $ 900 million . Between 2002 and 2010 , nearly $ 120 million ( # 77 million ) was anonymously donated via the Donors Trust and Donors Capital Fund to more than 100 organisations seeking to undermine the public perception of the science on climate change . In 2013 the Center for Media and Democracy reported that the State Policy Network ( SPN ) , an umbrella group of 64 U.S. think tanks , had been lobbying on behalf of major corporations and conservative donors to oppose climate change regulation .   Since the late 1970s , oil companies have published research broadly in line with the standard views on global warming . Despite this , oil companies organized a climate change denial campaign to disseminate public disinformation for several decades , a strategy that has been compared to the organized denial of the hazards of tobacco smoking by tobacco companies .

American Legislative Exchange Council <=SEP=> The American Legislative Exchange Council ( ALEC ) is a nonprofit organization of conservative state legislators and private sector representatives that drafts and shares model state-level legislation for distribution among state governments in the United States .   ALEC provides a forum for state legislators and private sector members to collaborate on model bills -- draft legislation that members may customize and introduce for debate in their own state legislatures . ALEC has produced model bills on a broad range of issues , such as reducing regulation and individual and corporate taxation , combating illegal immigration , loosening environmental regulations , tightening voter identification rules , weakening labor unions and opposing gun control . Some of these bills dominate legislative agendas in states such as Arizona , Wisconsin , Colorado , Michigan , New Hampshire , and Maine . Approximately 200 model bills become law each year . ALEC also serves as a networking tool among state legislators , allowing them to research conservative policies implemented in other states . Many ALEC legislators say the organization converts campaign rhetoric and nascent policy ideas into legislative language .   ALEC 's activities , while legal , received public scrutiny after being reported by liberal groups in 2011 and after news reports from outlets such as The New York Times and Bloomberg Businessweek described ALEC as an organization that gave corporate interests outsized influence . Resulting public pressure led to a number of legislators and corporations withdrawing from the organization .

Ted Cruz <=SEP=> Rafael Edward `` Ted '' Cruz -LSB- ˈkruːz -RSB- ( born December 22 , 1970 ) is an American politician and attorney , who has served as the junior United States Senator from Texas since 2013 . He was a candidate for the Republican nomination for President of the United States in the 2016 election .   Cruz graduated from Princeton University , New Jersey , in 1992 , and from Harvard Law School , Massachusetts , in 1995 . From 1999 to 2003 , he served in various political appointee positions : the Director of the Office of Policy Planning at the Federal Trade Commission ( FTC ) , an Associate Deputy Attorney General at the United States Department of Justice , and a Domestic Policy Advisor to George W. Bush on the 2000 George W. Bush Presidential campaign .   Cruz served as Solicitor General of Texas , from 2003 to 2008 , appointed by Texas Attorney General , Greg Abbott . He was the first Hispanic , and the longest-serving , Solicitor General in Texas history . From 2004 to 2009 , Cruz was an Adjunct Professor at the University of Texas School of Law in Austin , Texas , where he taught U.S. Supreme Court litigation .   Cruz ran for the Senate seat vacated by fellow Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison and , in July 2012 , defeated Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst during the Republican primary runoff , 57 -- 43 % . He defeated former State Representative Paul Sadler in the November 2012 general election , winning 56 -- 41 % . He is the first Hispanic American to serve as a U.S. Senator representing Texas , and is one of three senators of Cuban descent . He chairs the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Oversight , Federal Rights and Agency Activities , and is the Chairman of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Space , Science and Competitiveness . In November 2012 , he was appointed Vice-Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee .   Cruz began campaigning for the Republican presidential nomination in March 2015 . During the primary campaign , his base of support was strongest with `` women , white evangelical Protestants , people over the age of 50 , and those who identified themselves as conservatives '' , though he had crossover appeal to other factions within his party , including libertarian conservatives and millennials .   Cruz 's victory in the February 2016 Iowa caucuses marked the first time a Hispanic person won a U.S. presidential caucus or primary . He eventually emerged as the main challenger to frontrunner Donald Trump . He suspended his campaign for president on May 3 , 2016 , after losing the Republican primary in Indiana to Trump .

Global warming <=SEP=> Global warming , also referred to as climate change , is the observed century-scale rise in the average temperature of the Earth 's climate system and its related effects . Multiple lines of scientific evidence show that the climate system is warming . Many of the observed changes since the 1950s are unprecedented in the instrumental temperature record which extends back to the mid 19th century , and in paleoclimate proxy records over thousands of years .   In 2013 , the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) Fifth Assessment Report concluded that `` It is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century . '' The largest human influence has been emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide , methane and nitrous oxide . Climate model projections summarized in the report indicated that during the 21st century the global surface temperature is likely to rise a further 0.3 to for their lowest emissions scenario and 2.6 to for the highest emissions scenario . These findings have been recognized by the national science academies of the major industrialized nations and are not disputed by any scientific body of national or international standing .   Future climate change and associated impacts will differ from region to region around the globe . Anticipated effects include warming global temperature , rising sea levels , changing precipitation , and expansion of deserts in the subtropics . Warming is expected to be greater over land than over the oceans and greatest in the Arctic , with the continuing retreat of glaciers , permafrost and sea ice . Other likely changes include more frequent extreme weather events including heat waves , droughts , heavy rainfall with floods and heavy snowfall ; ocean acidification ; and species extinctions due to shifting temperature regimes . Effects significant to humans include the threat to food security from decreasing crop yields and the abandonment of populated areas due to rising sea levels . Because the climate system has a large `` inertia '' and greenhouse gases will stay in the atmosphere for a long time , many of these effects will not only exist for decades or centuries , but will persist for tens of thousands of years .   Possible societal responses to global warming include mitigation by emissions reduction , adaptation to its effects , building systems resilient to its effects , and possible future climate engineering . Most countries are parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ( UNFCCC ) ,  whose ultimate objective is to prevent dangerous anthropogenic climate change . Parties to the UNFCCC have agreed that deep cuts in emissions are required and that global warming should be limited to well below 2.0 C-change relative to pre-industrial levels , with efforts made to limit warming to 1.5 C-change .   Public reactions to global warming and concern about its effects are also increasing . A global 2015 Pew Research Center report showed a median of 54 % consider it `` a very serious problem '' . There are significant regional differences , with Americans and Chinese ( whose economies are responsible for the greatest annual CO2 emissions ) among the least concerned .