Buzzfeed: A Republican Congressman cited the biblical flood as an example of climate change that had not been caused by humans. Texas Rep. Joe Barton made those remarks Wednesday at the Subcommittee on Energy and Power hearing on H.R. 3, the Northern Route Approval Act, a bill that would give Congress the authority approve the Keystone pipeline.First off, no. The Great Flood would not be climate change, it would be a flood (an impossible flood, by the way, since there isn’t enough water on Earth to submerge all land). That’s why it’s called “the Great Flood.” Second, what “natural causes” are you talking about? You actually have to be specific about this stuff, because the continued existence of the human species is kind of important. It’s a real crappy time to be vague.
“I don’t think it’s a secret that I’m a proponent and supporter of the Keystone pipeline,” Barton said.
Barton continued to say he didn’t deny the climate was changing, but argued that the change was due to natural causes, as he has in the past.
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“I would point out that if you’re a believer in in the Bible, one would have to say the Great Flood is an example of climate change and that certainly wasn’t because mankind had overdeveloped hydrocarbon energy.”
The fact is that Joe Barton has earned the nickname “Smoky Joe” by being a trained monkey for polluters — the oil industry in particular. You might remember him as the guy who apologized to BP’s Tony Hayward after the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Seems that turning the Gulf of Mexico into a toxic waste dump is no reason to be unpleasant to hapless oil execs.
Who keeps voting for these obvious clowns?
[photo by Gage Skidmore]
