I really believe that Americans, and to a somewhat lesser extent the whole world, is losing the skill of separating reality from fiction.
Modern electronic media, and its ability to synthetize realistic moving images of false things — starships, crashing tital waves, elves — has broken down the brain’s basic ability to recognize instantly what is real, and what is not.
On a political level, this means that entire populations can be manipulated more easily than before.
Convincing people that because burning fuel heats the environment, it will heat it catastrophically, is a fairly easy “sell.”
I also believe that, by offering a small amount of money, one could convince 30% of Americans to assert publicly and probably swear in writing that snow is black.
Why waste your money?
Snow IS black. It only looks white, because it falls through a cold, wet layer of atmosphere that gives it a frosty coating.
When the coating melts off, what is left is the core of black, sticky goo that is the actual snow. It takes days to dry out, and then becomes new soil.
For some reason, the stuff that falls on bare ground has more snow content (sometimes enough to scrape an inch or so off of rubber boots after walking in it) than the stuff that falls on cars, houses, concrete, etc.