Joe Barton, GOP Congressman, Explains Why CO2 Is Harmless: "It's In Your Coca-Cola" (VIDEO)

Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) has long been one of the most outspoken global warming skeptics in the Congress.

This morning, on C-SPAN, he denounced the pending cap-and-trade legislation by stating that "the stupidest thing that Congress could do this year is pass Waxman-Markey."

Barton, who has resisted proposals to reduce the country's oil dependence, explained that there shouldn't be any concern about carbon-dioxide emissions because CO2 is relatively harmless:

I'm creating it as I talk to you. It's in your Coca-Cola. your Dr. Pepper and your Perrier water. It's necessary for human life. It's odorless, colorless, tasteless, doesn't cause cancer, doesn't cause asthma. There's nobody that's ever been admitted to a hospital because of CO2 poisoning.

Watch the video:

Barton, who has consistently prevented any Congressional action on global warming, was condemned today for his stance in the Economist, which profiled him in its "Profiles In Stupidity" column:

We've chronicled Mr Barton's stupidity (there really is no other word for it) before. Anyone looking for exhibit A in what's wrong with the Republican Party should start with the good congressman...

Please don't get me wrong, it's not simply that Mr Barton is a climate-change sceptic. There are plenty of those and some make decent arguments against moving ahead with measures to control emissions. The problem with Mr Barton is that he is wholly uninterested in the science and statistics of the global warming debate. He is about as curious as a dead cat, as is his colleague in the Senate, James Inhofe.

Comments

[applescruff]

This is right up there with Rush's explaination for declining fish populations in the Berring Sea. Blaming Polar bears who now use floating ice sheets to better reach the fish that were previously out of reach.

[gnomic]

Was Barton volunteering to spent, say, 20 min in a container filled with harmless CO2? I'll be happy to listen to him tell us how harmless it is after that.

[Extranjero]

I bet the CO2 was not the only thing that was in Rep. Barton's Coca Cola......­..........­.Cuba Libre!!!!!

[mamacat]

It is getting to the point where the only time I want to listen to a Republican politician is when they are being quoted in a comedy routine. Really, these guys are wasting my time.

[realpolitic]

Yes, they get sillier and sillier. If we were in grammer school and made the arguments they do, we would fail!

[TazoWolf]

"There's nobody that's ever been admitted to a hospital because of CO2 poisoning.­"

When the CO2 hits about 7% to 10% of your ambient air, you DO
die. It's CO2 narcosis. Plus, it's WELL KNOWN in the medical profession that respiratory acidosis involves a buildup of CO2 in the blood... and can be rapidly fatal. (there's more to it than that, but put simply, that's accurate).

CO2 narcosis USUALLY occurs when a person is given too much oxygen, actually. A person's breathing slows, which slows expiration of CO2, leading to a toxic buildup in the blood. However, the same can happen if the CO2 in the environment is above a certain level, and a person is unable to expel enough to make up for the difference. Symptoms include confusion, tremors, convulsions, coma, and even death.

Barton really should do his research before opening his mouth. Any medically minded individual could tell him that too much CO2 can be deadly. But that's not the point of its factoring in global warming. C02 is a greenhouse gas. It contributes to global warming. DUH!!!

[fumes]

seriously taz.. you're scared of CO2? so just how often do you find yourself on this brink of dying from same? once a week? twice? remember it's colorless and odorless and can sneak up on you at any time..

[TazoWolf]

I'm not scared of CO2. I was just saying that Barton is wrong in saying people can't be poisoned by it, and giving the medical perspective.

[elmerfude]

I keep trying to warn you people. The thing with carbon dioxide is it stimulates the growth of house plants and they are attracting salad eating aliens. But the aliens are taking a liking to meat. Just this morning I saw one take off with a squirrel. It is only a matter of time before they mix us with greens to make solent green.

[rblackbird]

CO2 is only .038 % of ambient air. The likelihood of it becoming 7-10% of ambient air is so remote as to be unworthy of concern. This contention does not move the discussion forward.

Those who suffer from CO2 poisoning are typically scuba divers who have defective equipment or are improperly trained. Others are those who are caught in closed spaces with no source of fresh air. As they inhale the people will consume the oxygen in the space. As they exhale, they will breath out CO2 which will replace the dwindling oxygen.

[TazoWolf]

True. I was merely providing a contradiction to what Barton was saying... because he's wrong.

[ashabot]

wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong

[Guitarsandmore]

Republicans aren't smart enough to get climate change. When you talk to a Republican you have to reframe the debate around fear based issues such as energy independence and not sending money to countries that support terror. Most Republicans i know seem to get that part quite well. Some of them can even understand how cleaner air will reduce health care costs and reduce disease but not because of Co2. When you burn coal and gasoline you release all kinds of contaminants and pollutants into the air.

Get away from Co2 and reframe the debate. Get away from climate change, they don't buy it.

[flossophy]

Barton is correct.

The left's prescriptions for saving the environment are ineffectual. It's simply a branding slogan for the Democrat party.

[shishkabob]

Did you read the statements in the Economist? Do you think that the Economist is a left wing rag that is the voice of the American Democratic Party? The Economist is British, conservative and they are the ones calling Barton a "Profile in Stupidity'. You need to abandon reason to make your claims.

[TazoWolf]

You might want to read the medical perspective I posted a few comments above. Barton is WAY out in left field in saying CO2can't poison a person. And that doesn't even address some plants, which can be very sensitive to CO2 levels in our atmosphere. He doesn't even mention the fact that Co2 is a greenhouse gas, and therefore a contributor to global warming and the effects we are now seeing due to climate change.

[fumes]

you're taking hand-wringing to a whole new level there taz.. i'm impressed!

[peacegurl48]

Can he really be that stupid? Anti-intel­lectualism is alive and well.

[DiogenesOfAlaska]

How come that this so strongly reminds me of the cigarette ad in George Clooney's 'Good night, and good luck'.

Could it be because it's ... well ... outdated?

Except that Rep. Joe Barton wasn't shooting a movie about the 1950s.

[Yves Papa]

And to verify how "Harmless" coocoo coola is:
Pour a glass of Coke, and place a chicken bone it it.
Let stand overnight.
In the morning, observe that the chicken bone has been dissolved.

Is this harmless enough for you?

[shishkabob]

He was talking about the dangers CO2, not Coke. CO2 is toxic. A small breath of C02 causes you to hyperventilate quite strongly. And when the CO2 hits about 7% to 10% of your ambient air, you DO
die. So he is simply wrong. But C02 toxicity is not the issue, global warming is.

CO2, the dominant gas in Venus' atmosphere is certainly a green house gas. Venus is a hellish place with a surface almost hot enough to melt lead. So all you have to do is tell him that extreme global warming can interfere with his Second Amendment right to carry a gun with lead bullets. Then we can count on his support to combat the evil of increased C02.

[mamacat]

Just for the record, breathing into a bag increases the level of CO2 taken into the body, which is used as a cure for hyperventilation.

[fumes]

what's the CO2 level in a crowded elevator?

[PatA]

Oh, Lordy..I am from Oklahoma (Jim Inhofe) and I live in Texas now.....I need
some Xanax.

[philko]

Maybe it's you.

[phal4875]

Rep. Joe Barton is not necessarily dumb; he is just an average Republican office holder. The GOP members of Congress are becoming fewer in number, and they are also moving in a more predictable direction: anti-science, anti-choice, anti-immigrant, anti-gay, and pro-war.

[o4tuna]

You mean; GOP, keep them stupid. That's all they are trying to do, get the stupid vote.

[foxbat]

Someone needs to institute a mental fitness test for politicians. They can still be politicians if they fail, but they just can't vote on anything that has consequences for anyone else.

I wonder if Barton knows that there's such a thing as water poisoning too. Just because it shows up in things that you interact with on a daily basis doesn't make it harmless ... hydrogen comes to mind.

[RuthlessDictator]

How about a mental fitness test for those who votes for politicians like Barton?

[iconico62]

Barton and Inhofe, they are not CO2 sceptics.T­hey are Us's septics.