In an ideal world, science wouldn't be influenced by politics, and politics would be informed only by accepted science. However, faced with overwhelming agreement among experts that human-caused CO2 emissions are largely to blame for a rapid increase in global temperature, too many politicians are looking for an opposing view.

Political conservatives are disdainful, even hostile, toward global warming because accepting it would demand policy changes costly to fossil-fuel industries that emit millions of tons of CO2.

And that could hurt the pocketbooks of politicians who collect hefty contributions from those industries. Progressives seem better able to see the benefits of changing to less-polluting renewable energy sources.

Meanwhile, climatologists, 97 percent of whom agree that the Earth and its inhabitants are put at risk by ever-increasing human-generated greenhouse-gas emissions, continue to sound the warning, ignoring politics. That is until politicians embrace questionable science to prop up their political agenda. Then some speak up.

Eighteen earth scientists at conservative Brigham Young University, owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, boldly did just that in a letter last week to Gov. Gary Herbert and members of the Legislature. They told the Republican leaders in polite terms that their acceptance of "fringe"-science global-warming skepticism is irresponsible.

"We have no specific political agenda to support but agree that whatever action is taken, it should be informed by the best available scientific evidence," the letter states. The scientists encouraged legislators "not to manipulate the scientific evidence to suit any political agenda."

The group responded after a meeting of the Public Utilities and Technology Interim Committee at which legislators provided a pulpit to Alabama climatologist Roy Spencer, one of only a handful of scientists who dispute the evidence of human-caused global warming.

The BYU scientists refuted several of Spencer's claims and said that, as a group, they believe warming is a serious problem that should be addressed.

Committee co-chairman Rep. Mike Noel, R-Kanab, championed Spencer and later complained to Utah State University President Stan Albrecht that a USU professor also described Spencer's work as "fringe."

Noel and others who should be acting in Utah's best interest would do well to learn from scientists, not argue with them.