Repub Congressperson outdoes Bachmann on the stupid:

[rvablue]

Discussing the bill on C-Span’s Washington Journal this morning, Rep. “Smokey Joe” Barton (R-TX) defended his head-in-the-sand approach to climate change by fundamentally misunderstanding the science, misstating the reality of carbon dioxide emissions, and mocking fuel-efficient cars. Some highlights:

– “I would also point out that CO2, carbon dioxide, is not a pollutant in any normal definition of the term. … I am creating it as I talk to you. It’s in your Coca-Cola, you’re Dr. Pepper, your Perrier water. It is necessary for human life. It is odorless, colorless, tasteless, does not cause cancer, does not cause asthma.”

– “And something that the Democrat sponsors do not point out, a lot of the CO2 that is created in the United States is naturally created. You can’t regulate God. Not even the Democratic majority in the US Congress can regulate God.”

– “If you think greenhouse gases are bad, life couldn’t exist without greenhouse gases. … So, there is a, there is a climate theory — and it’s a theory, it’s not a fact, it’s never been proven — that increasing concentrations of CO2 in the upper atmosphere somehow interact to trap more heat than the atmosphere would otherwise.”

— “You know, that life style is going to become more and more difficult if you get these vehicles smaller and smaller and less and less efficient in terms of being able to travel distances without having to recharge or refuel.”

http://thinkprogress.org/


I go back and forth on whether I believe if these people actually believe what they are saying...yeah, it's possible that someone this dumb could be voted into office, but then I think how can someone cling to ideas that defy all logic, facts and science?

Don't these people have families? Kids? Grandkids? Don't they care if their children and grandchildren will have access to clean water, clean air, safe food, etc? I don't get it??? :shrug:

[dorkulon]

1. Their kids will be rich, so they'll get to live in the inevitable bubble-towns.

Fuck the rest of us. I think that's pretty much what they're thinking.

[rvablue]

6. I've thougth this too in the past when mulling this....

They are so arrogant and entitled that it blinds them to what might happen in the future -- they just assume that they and theirs' will be fine.

[napi21]

2. Someone should 'splain to him that too much of anything KILLS!

A lady DIED because she drank too much WATER too fast!

[jtrockville]

3. Maybe just give him some pure CO2 to inhale?

So he can prove how safe it is?

[FSogol]

4. I suggested a little while ago: Putting those CO2 deniers in a room full of

CO2 and seeing how long it takes for them to believe it is hazardous. Let Smokey Joe go first.

[hobbit709]

5. There's republicans and there's TX republicans.

And the ones here try to outstupid each other every chance they get. There's a three-way race with Barton, Sessions and Gov. Goodhair to see which one can come up with the dumbest statement of the week.

[louis-t]

7. "And auto accidents, don't you think God could

stop them if He wanted to? And hurricanes are God's way of getting rid of the gays. And..blah, blah." Here is a non-scientist acting as if he is a scientist. It's the way of the repugs. :crazy:

[damntexdem]

8. He was telling the truth: "I am creating it as I talk to you."

Everything that came out of his mouth was horrid mental pollution.

[11 Bravo]

9. Unfortunately for Barton, Bachmann has trademarked "The Dumbest Person in Congress".

[Arkansas Granny]

10. I work with someone like this. It's a combination of ignorance and apathy at

it's worst: I don't know and I don't care. The guy I work with doesn't believe in global climate change for starters. He says it's just natural cycles and it will sort itself out. He refuses to look at any facts and doesn't accept any scientific data (besides, he has seen some scientists that refute some of the evidence) regardless the source. He doesn't worry that the ice shelves and glaciers are melting because there's still lots of ice up there. Besides, even if it did all melt the rising water levels wouldn't affect him and people could just move to higher ground. And warm weather is a good thing anyway, right?

I tried to discuss it with him once, but realized that he will not listen because he doesn't want to hear. He is an intelligent man otherwise and I just can't fathom his willingness to deny the reality of the situation.

[hobbit709]

11. He is right in a way.

It will sort itself out. The real question is "Will humans still be here after the sorting?"

[Arkansas Granny]

12. That's very true. His thought is, however, that since humans didn't cause it,

there's no reason to take any kind of action to try to slow or reverse it. I honestly feel that he thinks he and his family are going to be "raptured" before that happens and he doesn't give a shit about what happens to anyone who's "left behind".

[Tutankhamun]

14. Humans will be here. It's civilization that won't.

Civilization as we know it anyway.

[BR_Parkway]

13. Can't regulate God ? How about if we tax all the churches and call

it cap and trade?