How do we restore confidence in the scientific process?

d/dx made me think yesterday, with a question i couldnt fully understand. what is it like for people with little or no scientific training, trying to make sense of the climate change research? when it gets beyond one's own understanding, one has to take the results on trust. if there is no trust, the response is skepticism. i was a kid in the 'white heat of technology' times of the '60's when there was a great deal of respect and trust in professionals, maybe too much, but it seems the pendulum has swung the other way now, and nobody trusts anyone, most of all people smarter than themselves. why, and how can we get back to a more balanced view as a society?