As Ed’s piece (immediately below) on Nigel Lawson reflects, December saw the transformation of climate change discussion. By month’s end, dismissing so-called “deniers” was out. Honoring skepticism was in.

Why? Two events, of course: the outcome (more aptly non-outcome) of the Copenhagen summit and the release of the University of East Anglia emails.

Despite President Obama’s strenuous efforts in opposition, China and a number of developing nations made clear that they were not about to sacrifice the economic progress they had achieved since the world turned from statism towards markets two decades ago. There would be no installation of growth-choking global statism under the guise of addressing what they saw as a non-crisis climate crisis. The release of the East Anglia emails, of course, strengthened their position, calling into doubt virtually all the scientific literature supporting the crisis theory. In the span of thirty days, the long dismissed questioners of the “climate change consensus” found themselves center stage, new stars of this show.

The communications lesson here is about redefining moments. You are making your case and no one is listening. You feel that there is no way to break through. Still you keep at it. Then something happens and all of a sudden the world views you and your issue differently. At such moments, those who have persisted through the wilderness years (as Winston Churchill termed his time making unheeded warnings about the coming of a true global crisis) find opinion moving rapidly in their direction. People will say that your new success is thank to great timing. You will know that it is as much thanks to great persistence.