I see it through the lens of AGW denial - that really started in earnest around that time - and pushed by all the same junk tanks (Heritage, Heartland, Cato, Alec, AEI, AFP yada yada)
& included common themes like conspiracy ideation (Climategate) & general evidence denial
I think that's the post 9/11 war on terror effect, which helped further empower and galvanise right-wing Christian Evangelists, a key demographic of the rightward shift in US conservatism.
Comments
I see it through the lens of AGW denial - that really started in earnest around that time - and pushed by all the same junk tanks (Heritage, Heartland, Cato, Alec, AEI, AFP yada yada)
& included common themes like conspiracy ideation (Climategate) & general evidence denial