The Republican's Global Warming Amateur Hour

What do you get when you take an ignorant Republican Congressman and cross it with a serious policy issue like climate change?

Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL) shared a moment of sheer absurdity with Britain's stuffiest global warming denier Lord Christopher Monckton in last week's Energy & Commerce hearing on climate change adaptation. Please note, Monckton has no formal training in the science of climate change, but it was decided by the Republican members that he would make for great expert testimony at the hearing -- no more suitable has the phrase WTF ever been.

Are they going to call Kermit the frog to testify at the next national security hearing?

Shimkus encouraged Lord Monckton to talk about how Earth is a "carbon starved" planet, making it seem as though we desperately need to seek out new sources of CO2 emissions if we have any hope for survival as a species. After all, the pair agreed, "carbon dioxide is plant food," so why on Earth would we want to cut carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants and other sources?

As a journalist, one might hope Lord Monckton would know better, but you wouldn't get that impression from listening to his zany answers to Shimkus's questions.

For example, Monckton cites the Cambrian period as evidence that plants love carbon dioxide.

As the National Wildlife Federation points out, the irony abounds.

"A time when there were no land plants? That's your shining example? Come on. Lord Monckton may be the darling of the denier crowd, but he wouldn't stand a chance on "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?"

Leading the horse to water, Shimkus asks, "If we decrease the use of carbon dioxide are we not taking away plant food from the atmosphere?"

"Yes indeed you are," Monckton replied.

See. You're killing Bugs Bunny's carrots, you dirty hippies! We need more CO2, not less!

Can't you hear the RNC convention chants already? "More pollution now! Burn, baby, burn!"

Republicans don't want to hear from real scientists like the climatologists at NASA and the National Academy of Sciences. They prefer to hear only from people who parrot the right wing's forgone conclusions -- what's good for Big Business and polluting industries is best for America.

Fossil fuel pollution equals life, and anyone who says otherwise hates salad.

You can't find reality TV this good.

Watch Monckton's plant food remarks at NWF's Wildlife Promise blog.

Comments

[DashRIPRockIII]

"Please note, Monckton has no formal training in the science of climate change, but it was decided by the Republican members that he would make for great expert testimony at the hearing -- no more suitable has the phrase WTF ever been." - Kevin Grandia

"Please note, Al Gore has no formal training in the science of climate change, but it was decided by the Democrat members that he would make for great expert testimony.­...no more suitable has the phrase WTF ever been." - Dash RIPROCK III

Don't mess with "The Moncktster" Kevin. You're in way over your head.
Reviewing AIT and Apocalypse? No! clearly demonstrates that Lord Monckton
is the more knowledgeable between the two.

Hey Kevin, I have an idea. I know Gore is afraid to debate Monckton. Would you
like to publicly debate me?

[DashRIPRockIII]

Well said Ubi, well said!!!!!!

[Richard2]

It was the greatest living American physicist, Freeman Dyson, who mentioned that if you tried to measure the amount of CO2 in the air above a field of corn in summer, you would find that there would barely be any, as the corn plants would be sucking the CO2 from the air. And exhaling oxygen, which humans and other animals need to breathe. A little extra CO2 in the air might even stimulate some additional plant and food growth.

Climate measurements in 2008 and 2009 appear to indicate that global warming is not happening as envisioned. There has been no net increase in global temperature since 1998. Also, the rise in th Pacific Ocean's sea level has slowed, based on Dr. Willis'work at JPL, and the monitoring at stations along the Pacific Coast of the U.S. The coastal cities aren't facing a problem of flooding from the sea, they just face the everyday problems of every city everywhere.

The number of bad weather events has not increased over the last few years, so the property insurance companies should be safe, except in Florida, where hurricanes have always been a problem. The damage to New Orleans was unique; it was the only American city with large neighborhoods built below sea level, protected only by flimsy man-made barriers. Now that most of the population of New Orleans has moved to other areas, that population is now safer than previously.

[FYIifyourinterested]

I would challenge the global warming deniers to put their money where their mouths are:
Start an insurance fund that specializes in insurance for floods, drought, eroding beachfront property and forest fires. Offer glacier insurance to ski resorts. Though the vast majority of scientists and people on the front lines of these challenges see a worldwide change, the crowd in denial see coincidence. If there's no general trend, as they suggest, then scientific minds like Monckton can safely wager their inheritance on their not being a trend. The company could have an ostritch as their cartoon mascot.

[UbiVeritas]

What do you get when you take an ignorant blogger and cross it with a serious policy non-issue like climate change? This article.