Is the left really as anti-science as the right?

It is no secret that conservative mainstream political discourse includes quite a bit of anti-science rhetoric. However, is that also true on the left? Although there are plenty of liberal cases of anti-science, I have a few questions about any one of them:

1. Do a significant number of liberals support it?
2. Is it endorsed by liberal politicians?
3. Is it even part of popular political discourse on the left?

As Chris Mooney points out, the answer to all three of these questions seems to be no. A few things to note about this article. Chris Mooney points out a few examples of anti-science on the left that could potentially be candidates for "Yes" answers to these questions:

2) Nuclear power–this is a pretty good one, because for a long time the left really was anti-nuclear. However, I don’t think that is the case today, and in fact, President Obama’s administration is pretty much pro-nuclear. And again, the author makes no case that nuke opponents are factually wrong about, say, the risk of low-dose radiation. (Although some of them are.)

Conservatives are no strangers to anti-science about nuclear power. However their false statements generally come from the other extreme.

3) Vaccines–polling data suggests that distrust of vaccines is rather bipartisan, but I actually agree with the author in suspecting those data aren’t that good and that this is more of a left wing thing. But of course, liberal journalists like myself, and liberal commentators, have pretty much chased vaccine denial out of the realm of polite discourse. We’ve held our own accountable and really, you cannot defend this view any more without being pilloried.

I'm surprised Chris Mooney didn't point to his recent work on Bachmann's false allegations against the Gardasil vaccine. Make no mistake. Anti-vaxers are alive and well in the mainstream right.