The mind set you describe is simply the rationalization of short sighted selfishness.  

If they acknowledged there was a problem it would require either guilt or sacrifice.  It's easier simply to not believe that there is a problem;  no guilt and no sacrifice required.

But the doomer mentality is also probably a rationalization of short sighted selfishness,  so I wouldn't be too hard on them.    

   

I'm liberal on some issues and conservative on others.

It's the conservative in me that drove me to start digging into Peak Oil a few years ago after Shell revised its reserves downwards by 25%. I have always equated conservatism with pragmatism in the past. A pragmatist is always scanning the horizon for possible threats.

But certainly not the people who call themselves conservatives today.

The current Republican party is just a photo negative of the Democrats. They both pander to special interest groups, just different ones. They both are heavily funded by corporate interests, just different ones. Both of them are into big government spending, just to different target constituencies. Neither organization is willing to stand up and address real issues. Look at the Democrats on peak oil.

Now this is not to say that there are people in both parties who are awake and thinking but the vast majority of both parties want to have their cake and eat it too. They only differ in their opinion of who gets the cake. The notion that there may not be any cake hasn't yet entered their stream of consciousness.

As for Republicans, they've bought into the false religion of endless growth. To challenge that challenges their core beliefs. Whenever you challenge someone's core religious beliefs you can expect fierce resistance, and the Republicans dedicated to endless growth are no exception to that rule.