The Republican Party is deliberately lying to the American public about the dangers of climate change, and presidential contender Tim Pawlenty proved it when he appeared on Fox News and claimed that “science indicates” that global warming is due to natural causes.

“I denounced it for a number of reasons, one of which is the science is bad, and it’s in great dispute,” Pawlenty explained Tuesday. “There is climate change — there’s always been climate change — but until recently, people were worried as much about global cooling.” …

“So there is climate change, but the reality is the science of it indicates that most of it, if not all of it, is caused by natural causes,” he said on Fox News. “And as to the potential human contribution to that, there’s a great scientific dispute about that very issue.”

There’s absolutely no doubt that Pawlenty is lying here; either he knows that there is no “great scientific dispute” and is lying about that, or he’s lying when he claims to have investigated the issue and changed his mind — because there’s no way an impartial reading of the scientific evidence for human-caused climate change could ever lead an honest person to conclude that it’s in dispute. Yes, there are always disagreements about details, and arguments over interpretations, but the vast preponderance of evidence leaves no doubt that carbon dioxide produced by human activity is the main driver of the climate changes being measured and studied around the world.

Pawlenty isn’t alone in his determined ignorance; nearly all of the top people in the GOP spout similar nonsense. What the Republican Party’s leaders are doing is incredibly dangerous, and incredibly irresponsible. They’re setting the United States up for failure and disaster in the coming years.

This isn’t the only type of science Pawlenty denies; he’s also a creationist, who believes that public schools should teach creationism alongside evolution in science classes: Pawlenty: Another GOP Creationist on the Rise.