In the USA, more so than anywhere else, resistance against the government regulation of carbon‐based lifestyles is tied to claims against the veracity of the scientific climate knowledge and the theory of anthropogenic global warming (AGW). In their deconstruction of what some consider a critical empirical test of AGW, self‐styled climate sceptics exploit the paradox of scientific authority, highlighting the ‘placefulness’ of a supposedly placeless climate science. The controversy about the empirical observation of 20th‐century temperature change directs our attention to the role of place, in its dual sense as locality and social rank, in the making of authoritative scientific knowledge and the climate change controversy. This paper debates whether the deconstruction of instrumental surface temperature records will have the desired effect of undermining orthodox politics of climate change.