My search for a suitable place to recognize the hard work of Congressman Joe Barton (R-TX) has finally come to an end. I just found out there's an official Moron Registry!
At Yesterday's hearing on climate change adaptation before the House Energy & Commerce Committee Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) made all sorts of ridiculous claims about global warming, the most idiotic being a suggestion that us humans will deal with the issue by finding some shade.
Such a ludicrous and ill-informed claim leads me to two possible conclusions, either Barton has completely lost it, or the $2.5 million he received in donations over the years from the oil, gas and utility lobby is doing its magic.
I suspect it's a bit of both.
What makes Barton look even more ridiculous is that his claims appear to be based on evidence provided to him by a gentleman named Christopher Monckton who he cites in his statement. Monckton is not a climate scientist, has never published any scientific research and is in fact a journalist by training.
This is the same Monckton whose answer to the AIDS epidemic was:
.... there is only one way to stop AIDS. That is to screen the entire population regularly and to quarantine all carriers of the disease for life. Every member of the population should be blood-tested every month ... all those found to be infected with the virus, even if only as carriers, should be isolated compulsorily, immediately, and permanently."
I wonder who Barton turns to for advice on health care policy? The local flower shop?
Any responsible lawmaker uses the best available experts to inform policy decisions. If Barton was to do that he would see that the likes of the US Academy of Science or NASA (both organizations are at his disposal) are very concerned about this issue and have decades of research to justify their concern.
Here's the video, watch it and laugh because it is nothing more than a complete joke.
And I'm not the only one who thinks Barton is officially a moron: Joe Barton is dumber than you thought possible