Rep Joe Barton chairs the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. That makes him in important player in US energy policy. Today Barton cited the Book of Genesis as evidence to dismiss climate change as an urgent problem affected by the kinds of energy we produce and how we use it as a nation.
This comes from Raw Story:
Rep. Joe Barton: Biblical ‘Great Flood’ shows climate change isn’t man made
By David Edwards
Republican Texas Rep. Joe Barton on Wednesday dismissed concerns that the Keystone XL pipeline could contribute to climate change, citing the biblical flood myth described in the book of Genesis as evidence that climate change was not man made.
BuzzFeed’s Andrew Kaczynski obtained video of Barton speaking to the House Subcommittee on Energy and Power in support of the Northern Route Approval Act, a bill that could allow Congress to override President Barack Obama if he refuses to approve the controversial Keystone XL pipeline extension.
“I don’t think it’s a secret that I’m a proponent and supporter of the Keystone pipeline,” Barton explained.
Joe Barton was one of the sponsors of the bill to reroute the Keystone XL pipeline through the "northern route".
“I don’t deny that the climate is changing,” he said. “I think you can have an honest difference of opinion on what’s causing that change without automatically being either all-in that it’s all because of mankind or it’s all just natural. I think there’s a divergence of evidence.”
“I would point out if you’re a believer in the Bible, one would have to say the Great Flood is an example of climate change. And that certainly wasn’t because mankind overdeveloped hydrocarbon energy.”
Barton's reference to the Book of Genesis ranks up there as one of the most preposterous dismissals of a mountain of scientific evidence in favor of man made climate change that I've ever seen.