Boehner Cites Cow Farts To Downplay Global Warming (VIDEO)

Minority Leader John Boehner described the overwhelming scientific consensus that carbon dioxide is contributing to climate change as "comical" during an appearance on Sunday, noting that cow flatulence contributes CO2 to the environment all the time.

Appearing on ABC's This Week, the Ohio Republican was asked what to describe the GOP plan to dealing with greenhouse gas emissions, "which every major scientific organization said is contributing to climate change."

Boehner replied: "The idea that carbon dioxide is a carcinogen that is harmful to our environment is almost comical. Every time we exhale, we exhale carbon dioxide. Every cow in the world, you know when they do what they do you've got more carbon dioxide."

"It's clear we've had change in our climate," he added. "The question is how much does man have to do with it and what is the proper way to deal with this? We can't do it alone as one nation."

The argument that carbon dioxide has not influenced climate change is something that global warming deniers have pushed for years. The oil industry-funded Competitive Enterprise Institute launched advertisements several years ago proclaiming that CO2 is "essential to life" because "we breath it out."

The preponderance of scientific evidence, of course, shows that carbon dioxide can be a dangerous pollutant at excessive levels. In 2007, the Nobel-prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reported that "warming of the climate system is unequivocal" and "very likely" man-made.

Boehner's argument that the amount of C02 in the air is natural, meanwhile, is disproved by data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

"Natural sources of CO2 occur within the carbon cycle where billions of tons of atmospheric CO2 are removed from the atmosphere by oceans and growing plants, also known as 'sinks,' and are emitted back into the atmosphere annually through natural processes also known as 'sources.' When in balance, the total carbon dioxide emissions and removals from the entire carbon cycle are roughly equal. Since the Industrial Revolution in the 1700's, human activities, such as the burning of oil, coal and gas, and deforestation, have increased CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere. In 2005, global atmospheric concentrations of CO2 were 35% higher than they were before the Industrial Revolution."

Perhaps surprisingly, Boehner isn't the first Republican congressman to raise flatulence in the discussion of global warming. A few years ago, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher claimed that a past incident of climate change may have been caused by "dinosaur flatulence, you know, or who knows?"

Here's video of Boehner:

Comments

[annaan]

boehner is always well tanned because he spends lot of time outdoors behind cows in grazing fields and that is how he developed his expertise in co2 (shouldn't it be methane) emission problems.

[MikeLicht]

Earth Day 2009: our long global cow flatulence nightmare is over.

See

http://notionscapital.wordpress.com/2009/04/22/earth-day-2009/

[bobo6]

Boehner must certainly be considered an expert on Bovine excretions as are most of his Republican colleagues.They are very familiar with what comes out of the rear ends of not only cows but bulls.

[Clearing-Brush]

Does anyone take this guy seriously anymore?

[tfloyd]

Boehner is an idiot. Anybody that downplays global warming as being insignificant is also an idiot. Humans are the cause of increased CO2. How can anyone think or preach otherwise. The earth is intricately balanced and has always taken care of itself. It will clean itself up and we as humans will be the first to go. We caused it, we are continuing to cause it, and it will be our downfall. Animals, if left to themselves will keep populations (and farts) at bay. The trees and plant life in the rainforests and other places that we destroy will keep CO2 emmissions at bay. That, my friends, is nature. It is perfectly balanced without human influence.

[dwright]

The Tan Man speaks again. I can't believe that this fool continues to get elected. This is our problem - we have the ability to vote these idiots out and we don't. We worry too much about small "things"they may have done as teens and other stupid items from their past, which most people have done and we won't vote for them. The qualified and intelligent people that SHOULD run won't be cause they will be picked apart by things that really don't matter.

[popart]

John Boehner no doubt thinks he is pretty cute guy.....and a real "entertain­er".....co­mical even....well I think he is just not much into environmental sciences.....i do think that he likes to have his picture taken a lot though.

[rainbowstate808]

It is scary that some of our elected officials are so clueless about science and how it works. This guy is involved in policy making on science based issues and he sounds like a 6th grader. He has no clue what he is talking about.

[rac24]

I must say, I'm not above thinking that Boehner had a communications ace tell him to wear a green tie the same morning that he attempted to debunk global warming. HE'S GOIN' GREEN!!!

I just hope the tie was made in America.

[LemonMeringue]

With all the intelligent, well-intentioned, brilliant, experienced men and women living in this country, how is it that so many complete boobs get elected to Congress?

There are more qualified (intelligent, well-intentioned, brilliant, experienced) people in my small town whom I know personally than there are in the whole House and Senate.

[gustafson]

It is bad enough that they (Repubi"con:s ) hate the thought of beleiving in Science, Now they are hating cows for FARTING... what a bunch of Hate Mongers.... Around here (Michigan) the Farmers are actually using the cow poop to run all there equipment on there farms. And maybe if John would stop exhailing, there would be less hot air, which also heat up the earth............

[gatogato]

Is the foremost value of this "new Conservatism" denial?

[shishkabob]

Come to think of it, equating cow farts with CO2 is also pretty silly. Cow digestion does produce methane, which is itself a potent greenhouse gas, but it seems that farts do not contain a significant amount of CO2. See http://www.heptune.com/farts.html for the chemistry of farts. It seems that cows release their methane via their mouth rather than their anus. So perhaps we can save the world by stopping cow burps!

[ebanks84]

Why not plug both ends to be sure :).

[squander123]

Aw, poor cows!!)

[thrugreeneyez]

BTW, Boehner the gas emitted from the digestive systems of the hundreds and thousands of cows raised for beef consumption is methane not CO2. Boehner certainly isn't a rocket scientist, is he? Get your facts straight, Boehner!

[shishkabob]

The really stupid statement was stating that CO2 is not a carcinogen. When has there ever been a credible claim that CO2 is a carcinogen? I first I thought this was a straw man , but I now think it was a just ignorance of chemistry.