Video surfaces of Republican candidate Ron Johnson blaming climate change on ‘sunspot activity’
Greg Sargent at the WP writes about Wisconsin Republican candidate Ron Johnson and Johnson’s dogged anti-AGW science. This had been reported earlier, but the video just surfaced. Sargant includes it in his column but Youtube has already removed the video. However, Sargant created a transcript:
Johnson:
If you take a look at geologic time, we’ve had huge climate swings. We’re sitting here in Wisconsin. Had it not been for climate swings, we’d be sitting on a two or three hundred foot thick glacier. Man wasn’t around back then. So no, I absolutely do not believe that the science of man-caused climate change is proven. Not by any stretch of the imagination. I think it’s far more likely that it’s just sunspot activity, or something just in the geologic eons of time where we have changes in the climate.
The Middle Ages was an extremely warm period of time, too. It wasn’t like there were tons of cars on the road. So it always strikes me as a little absurd for anybody to think, Okay, this is the sweet spot in geologic time for climate. And it’s such a good place, that we have spent trillions of dollars, and do great harm to our economy, on a fool’s errand. I don’t think we can do anything about controling what the climate is.
Now all these standard denialist talking points have been refuted over and over, but I bring it up here because it is becoming clear that at least at the local level science denialism has become a plank of the GOP platform.
Also from today, in a different state:
Sen. candidates stress what sets them apart in Portsmouth debate
It was symbolic when the six Republican candidates for U.S. Senate [for Judd Gregg’s seat in NH] stood up together side-by-side during a debate Wednesday. It resembled their positions on major issues.
All said they would have voted against extending long-term unemployment benefits. All argued Elena Kagan should not have been appointed to the Supreme Court. All said man-made global warming hasn’t been proven.
Their similarity was acknowledged by fringe candidate Gerard Beloin, a roofer from New Boston.
“We’re all singing the same song in a six-part harmony.”
State after state, the local GOP are lining up behind the Tea Partiers’ anti-science worldview (much as they also do with the theory of evolution.) There are few exceptions (one being the MI GOP candidate for governor, but he carefully frames his comments as to avoid offending the atavists as much as possible.)
And, Wisconsin and New Hampshire are not traditionally thought of as being part of the backwards Bible Belt but are states once thought of as having better educated populaces.
The GOP has embraced mindless populism full throttle.