It goes way deeper than that. I had the pleasure of hearing one of these guys speak. His background is that he has been a part of this fellowship of climate folks for over 30 years. 30 YEARS! This is his life work. He is a professor in the field, he regularly attends these various world conferences, he participates as part of the IPCC. He publishes papers.
These is no way this guy can let himself accept any information that would make his life work a lie. At stake is his self-worth, his income and facing that he wasted 30 years of his life.
In any other field a scientist can make a mark for himself by proving everyone else wrong. There is fame and money for these scientists who can turn accepted truths on their heads. In this field, there is only total loss. Loss of self, loss of fame and loss of income.
Even religion does not have this strong a hold on most people. These people cannot ever be independent on this issue. They have too much at stake. These emails merely provide a glimpse into their very sad world.