US attitudes towards science--different from rest of the world?

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/09/whys-gop-only-science-denying-party-on-earth.html

This article reminded me of Hannah's "Science of Anathema" post about the anti-vaccination movement. Instead of vaccinations, this article is looking at attitudes towards climate change.

A new study done by a Swedish political scientist examined political attitudes about climate change in nine different countries and found that the US GOP is the only conservative party that denies the validity of climate science or doesn't believe in taking action to curb it. Even in countries like Canada and Australia where the fossil-fuel industry is a large part of the economy, their conservative parties still endorse measures to limit climate change. In other words, "the “moderate” [American Republican presidential] candidates are still, by international standards, rabid extremists."

This work seems to suggest that the US has become something of an anomaly in recent years in terms of its attitudes towards scientific learning. It might be a strange thought to consider while we're attending this institution of higher education but is this a reality in most of the country? How did American attitudes stray so far from the rest of the world's or has the US always been more inclined to see science as a massive hoax? How is this reconciled with the US's image as the center of technology and innovation or does this signal a turning point in American culture?