As reported here, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ron Johnson airs his views on what causes global warming.
“I absolutely do not believe in the science of man-caused climate change,” Johnson said. “It’s not proven by any stretch of the imagination.”
Johnson, in an interview last month, described believers in manmade causes of climate change as “crazy” and the theory as “lunacy.”
“It’s far more likely that it’s just sunspot activity or just something in the geologic eons of time,” he said.
Reality: “a number of independent measurements of solar activity indicate the sun has shown a slight cooling trend since 1960, over the same period that global temperatures have been warming.” (Source)
There’s more:
Average Earth temperatures were relatively warm during the Middle Ages, Johnson said, and “it’s not like there were tons of cars on the road.”
Or as the science states: “The Medieval period is found to display warmth that matches or exceeds that of the past decade in some regions, but which falls well below recent levels globally.” (Source) Local weather is not the global climate, in other words.
I still find it remarkable that people like this could end up in positions of significant power.
Sadly Mark, you wouldn’t if you lived there.
Speaking of where you live, the current British government looks determined to put the coal back in coalition. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/aug/15/coal-fired-power-stations-coalition
Cameron and his little egg might not deny the science of anthropogenic climate change but they’re not exactly jumping into the gap to stop it.
Or even if they’d like to, they can only do so much even in terms of paying lip service to a “greener Britain” which doesn’t mean stopping global climate change either of course, without alienating the business combines that run their politics and provide their long term backing.
Sad state of affairs, all around.
Eric
Stop being surprised. You’re talking about my country, where we elected George W. Bush two times in a row and came inches from voting in a woman who is less capable of running one of the most powerful countries in the world than a gerbil with brain deficiencies. This is the country I live in, where people can say things like “I don’t believe in science” and have it actually mean something to other people. The reality is that anyone who thinks “science” is about “belief” is conflating facts with faith. They’re not the same and never will be the same…
Hi Eric – yes, I suspected as much as you regarding coal, though Chris Huhne claims otherwise:
http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/news/Guardian_lett/Guardian_lett.aspx
To be honest, my big fear is that nothing will be done by government in search of cleaner energy production. They’ll leave it up to the market – gawd help us.
SMD – I often wonder just how a country can be so disparate as the US – and also how frustrating it must be for a citizen when faced with someone like Palin.