Surprise! 31 House Committee Members Ponder Climate Change, Deny It

March 16th, 2011 by Tina Casey

The House Energy and Commerce Committee is considering legislation to block the EPA from reducing greenhouse gas pollution, and given the current state of affairs it’s no surprise that yesterday every member of the majority party on the committee – all 31 of them – voted down three amendments that would have at least acknowledged the scientific experts on climate change. The reality of climate change is also affirmed by the Department of Defense, but apparently what the DoD thinks is not important any more, either. So just who are these committee guys listening to?

Climate Change and See-Saws

Together, the three amendments would have asserted that global warming is a real phenomenon, that it is linked to an increase in certain pollutants, and that the increase is due to human activity. Yes, we all know that termites make their contribution, too, but the key factor is the human-related increase. It doesn’t have to be an impressive-looking increase, just enough to disrupt the balance. If you have two elephants equally balanced on a see-saw, you don’t need a whole other elephant to throw things out of whack. Any kid in a playground could tell you that, but I guess it’s been a long time since certain members of Congress have hung around in playgrounds – and besides, it’s pretty hard to find a see-saw in a playground any more.

What Ray Mabus Said

Fortunately, you don’t have to consult a kid about climate change, you can just listen to Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, who has been shepherding the Navy toward alternative energy. Mabus has emerged as an eloquent Department of Defense spokesperson on energy, climate change, and the national security implications of a continued reliance on fossil fuels, whether foreign or domestic.

From Whose Mouth to Congress’s Ear?

If certain members of Congress are not inclined to consider the opinion of science and national defense experts, it’s fair to ask where they are getting the information that enables them to craft a reasoned, thoughtful opinion on serious legislative matters of long term national significance. That’s easy enough to find out. The House of Representatives has an easy online contact-your-congressperson tool, and you don’t even have to know who your representative is. Just plug in your zip code and it tells you, then look them up on the Energy and Commerce Committee website. Hey, there’s my guy…

Image: Monkey on by changehali on flickr.com.

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Tags: Department of Defense, Ray Mabus, United States Environmental Protection Agency, United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce

About the Author

Tina Casey Tina Casey specializes in military and corporate sustainability, advanced technology, emerging materials, biofuels, and water and wastewater issues. Tina’s articles are reposted frequently on Reuters, Scientific American, and many other sites. Views expressed are her own. Follow her on Twitter @TinaMCasey and Google+.

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Keith Rice

Anthropogenic climate change is NOT universally accepted by science. But because it is the most profound case of fear-mongering in history (all life on the planet is in imminent danger) as well as demonizing traditional enemies of the Left, it has become a darling in anti-business circles. The endless hysterical claims (Thomas Friedman: LOL already!) sound remarkably like the position by some scientists of the early 20th century that were in a panic over dire the consequences of stringing electric wires through population centers.

If the fear mongers have their way, it’s back to the stone age, where, as we all know, there was nothing to fear.
http://climatechange.foreignpolicyblogs.com/ Bill Hewitt

The antipathy of the Republican Party today in this country toward climate science is actually breathtaking. This is the only major political party on Planet Earth that contests the reality of anthropogenically induced climate change. William Hague, the UK Foreign Secretary, a Conservative, said: “Climate change is one of the gravest threats to our security and prosperity. Unless we take robust and timely action to deal with it, no country will be immune to its effects.” Angela Merkel, Germany’s Chancellor, a Conservative (with a PhD in physics), said: “We cannot afford failure with regard to achieving the climate protection objectives scientists tell us are crucial. That would not only be irresponsible from an ecological point of view, but would also be technologically short-sighted, for the development of new technologies in the energy sector offers major opportunities for growth and jobs in the future.” Nicolas Sarkozy, President of France, a Conservative, said: “To sum up, we have to choose between disaster or the solution. We are deciding for the whole planet and what we don’t decide, those who follow us will no longer be able to decide. Rarely has a choice been so crucial for the future of mankind.”
DeserveLiberty

The only reason the Department of Defense “affirms” the “reality” of climate change is because the DoD affirms anything that is spoken from the top of the executive branch. If at 7:00 a.m. the White House announced that “the sky is now purple,” by 7:01 a.m., the DoD would hold a presser announcing affirmation of sky purpleness. By 7:02 a.m., DoD would be implementing a department-wide training program to ensure that all the troops were “trained” to know that the sky is now purple.

Reality is that the top of the top-down DoD is just another political and social engineering weather vane in DC. It quickly spins to align with whatever wind is blowing from the white house. To pretend otherwise, for the purpose of propping up your own misguided social controlling agenda, is disingenuous and an insult to the real men and women of the military who wear the uniform for the proper and intended reasons (unlike many in DC who are political sell-outs for their own gain).
- Paul S.
  
  I realize logic doesn’t hold a lot of sway with oyu, but the military saw that running around the desert with heavy armament required a large caravan of fuel tankers to follow, a very vulnerable target. Logic dictates that increasing efficiency increased safety. Ask any kindergarten kid, they’ll educate you.
  - Tina Casey
    
    Paul S., no need to be insulting. I’ve covered that ground many times in Cleantechnica, and I agree with you, at least regarding the logistics of fuel supply.
joel duetsch

Thanks for the information….. you are now bookmarked!
Fusion rocks!
Mike Kloppel

Lucky for me we elected some rational men and women or articles like this might matter.

Anthropomorphic global warming = joke.
Jim

Surprise, the earth has had seven previous Ice Age events. None of which were caused by humans, cars etc. Is the climate changing or will it change, Yes it will eventually but not because of a made up cause. Can we make emissions better, Yes we can but should we give up our rights to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness to appease the loons pushing phony science, NO. I live in a free country, if I want a muscle car with a big cam then I will have it, good job Republicans for stopping the legislation of behavior and preserving our rights. Global warming alarmist Al Gore has been proven a liar in a court of law, BTW wasn’t he involved in the Y2K Hoax also?
anOPINIONATEDsob

The republicans are so set upon taking the rest of the taxpayers hard earned money that they really believe the clean up of a global warming disaster will be profitable for their corporate benefactors. This delusion will be the downfall of the republican party, Unfortuneatly it will also be the downfall of the human species along with a great many others!
Robert

Leave it to humans….American brainwashed humans…to actually fight for denial of climate change science, instead of saving our imperiled planet and the human race. How stupid and egoic can these stupid idiots be? If nothing is done about climate change, I will simply stop paying taxes.
KB

No experiment on record shows a link between increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide and climate. Human influence on climate is not a testable hypothesis. The earth has been warmer than present without the benefit of fossil fuel use by humans. The earth began cooling during the past two decades creating well documented data fraud among climate scientists to obscure the truth.

The atmosphere is 90% opaque in the carbon dioxide absorption spectrum. More carbon dioxide could hardly influence black body radiation from earth to space.