They need to be as close to the equator (so in North America, as far south) as possible to get the most centrifugal boost from the Earth (use the least fuel) possible.
Perhaps NASA isn't taking it seriously enough wrt facility placement, but they're hardly alone in that. And lots of people are making huge investments, eg, the city of Venice is building sea walls that they haven't previously needed, despite always having been on the coast.
Global Warming was confusing because, while global average temperatures are rising, the effect locally can be unintuitive, eg, destabilizing the polar vortex had resulted in harsher winters in the northern US.
Science communication is hard and it turns out people are pretty bad at it. I'd agree that doesn't help matters. But climate change is indeed real and a huge problem.