Climate denialism harms speculative science

I want to follow up on Eli's comment below that "There is a place between blogs, arXiv and Science for really speculative papers, but the authors need to strongly defend themselves." Yes, and Hansen's paper is properly occupying that place, assuming it can stay defended.

But then, think about a speculative paper that went for the mirror-opposite side of the spectrum, saying "what if we've been wrong about everything about climate change and here's a negative feedback mechanism previously undiscovered that will safely limit things." Let's further assume this turns out not to be a Galileus paper but a Bozo paper, as seems likely. The normal consequences of publishing something that's wrong is bent, by denialism.

Normally, the bad consequences of publishing a paper in a scientific journal that turned out wrong are minimal - you only wasted some space that could've publicized a useful scientific result (possible exception for applied science like medical journals, but even there a single wrong study is unlikely to immediately change medical practices). With that minimal downside, why not publish something that questions everything on the chance in ten thousand that it turns out to be right?

Climate denialism, OTOH, means publishing a wrong paper that questions whether we have a problem will cause damage to the real world, because denialists will use their considerable power to magnify it beyond its importance. Just as a lie can fly while truth limps, a wrong paper will fly just as fast when used by liars and the self-deceived.

Papers like Hansen's aren't too harmed, except for being published more hastily because denialists have used up the last 30 years that could have bought us more time to think. It's speculative work in the other direction that's harmed by the misuse from denialists.

Where that leaves journal editors is less clear - what if it really is the Galileus paper they're considering? We'd really want it published. I guess where it leaves the editors is that they should invest a little extra effort in trying to figure out where the paper falls on the Galileus-Bozo spectrum.