We can all relax, and forget about the global warming problem.
John Shimkus, Republican congressman from Illinois, assures us that the planet won’t be destroyed by global warming. Why is he so sure? Because God promised Noah.
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Um, nowhere in Genesis 8:22 (which he quotes) does it say God won’t destroy almost everything. Or at least as long as the Earth endures (he must have missed that bit).
Someone should point out Revelation 8:8 (wherein a mountain of burning carbon gets thrown into the sea and a global red tide arises) to him sometime.
Just sayin’
The Yooper
“I think in the age of dinosaurs, when we had the most flora and fauna, we were probably at 4,000 parts per million.”
Hmm, my version of the Bible here doesn’t seem to say anything about dinosaurs or carbon dioxide – he must be using the American translation.
Many of us were on Shimkus’ case at the time he was saying the silly things for which he has now gained international fame:
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/33210_What_Me_Worry/comments/#ctop
I was convinced a few years back that the AGW discussion in the American electorate was becoming just another instantiation of the “culture wars”.
There is still benefit, I believe, for the serious-about-AGW community to interact with the those who have learned to battle the creationists, and learn lessons about culture war strategies and what doesn’t work.
Shimkus is the classic example of the religiously motivated American “conservative” who is trying his best to reframe what the world around is telling him, into his current worldview. For these people to switch thinking-patterns to embrace really what the whole scientific endeavor has discovered about life and this planet … is asking too much.
You have to get yourself a red-state edition. My copy says the dinosaurs were terrorizing mankind to death with CO2 scare stories, and God extinctioned them.
Yeah, I saw this video. The really funny thing is that Screw-tube kept taking it down as “inappropriate” or “spam”. What can I say? It’s representative democracy. How could the guy not be stupid?
The Enlightenment was clearly something that only happened to other people..
I honestly cannot see how we are ever going to do anything about global warming if people like this are even taken seriously.
Now, that’s the kind of manly leadership we need. Speaking to cbp’s point, cognitive consonance was never a hallmark of the deniarati.
It is amazing that the Daily Mail has such an article, and even more amazing that the comments are rated properly. That is, the deniers are down-rated, and the sane voices are up-rated.
It then makes you wonder. Did Britain freeze over for the Daily Mail to have a positive contribution to journalism?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1328413/The-Winter-Wonderland-heads-south-theres-plenty-bad-weather-way.html
Well, as far as the Daily Mail is concerned, Britain has been going to hell for a long time (indeed, since we failed to elect the Nazis that they supported in the 1930s..). And we have clearly frozen over, as the picture shows. Hence, by deductive logic, the Daily Mail must actually infected by sanity.
Stranger things have happened. Figuratively speaking, of course.
I don’t remember the Bible saying “Thou canst emit as much as thou wantest”.
Anyway, my faith in God says that lies will not prevail, and people will change their ways to limit the consequences of AGW.
Using religion to justify irresponsible behaviour a new low in this “debate”.
Horatio would think that, as a Lutheran, Shimkus would believe in the “Rapture.”
And the evidence that global warming is an augur of the second coming is very strong indeed.
“Rapture Index”–who knew?
And just when I was starting to feel better–I’ve been so worried about Dai 2010 and the whole drought thing. Shimkus reassures me–then, Horatio, you bring it all crashing down again.
Fear not, Kevin.
The spoof will set you free.
You’re sweet, Horatio–incorrigible, of course, but sweet!
Previous comments by Shimkus on GW (from Wiki):
2009 Comments on global warming
On March 25, 2009, in introductory remarks made to Christopher Monckton, 3rd Viscount Monckton of Brenchley during a United States House Energy Subcommittee on Energy and Environment hearing, Shimkus had this to say on the role of carbon dioxide in global warming:
“It’s plant food … So if we decrease the use of carbon dioxide, are we not taking away plant food from the atmosphere? … So all our good intentions could be for naught. In fact, we could be doing just the opposite of what the people who want to save the world are saying.”
uhhhhh…..yeah John……….. right……….whatever you say. (anyone seen my meds??)
This guy wants to be head of the House Energy and Commerce Committee which Barton (I believe) was supposed to head up. Issa and Barton want to start up the Climate Wars ASAP trying to make up for any ground lost in the the last two years . What a freak show thats gonna be. The science is irrefutable but in the Tea Party State of Mind that exixts in our society right now that fact is more or less irrelevant.
Kinda gives you the feeling maybe we’re in the midst of the Apocalypse right now but it just hasn’t really sunk in yet.
I see it this way:
In the post-1945 period, there was a generation who had on one hand witnessed the usefulness of science and technology when it comes to winning wars, and a large proportion of whom had also served in various capacities in the services. Hence the success of both rationality in public policy, and general social solidarity.
Problem is, that was 65 years ago. The huge societal benefits from the application of science (think electricity, clean water, personal transport, satellites, etc) are ‘part of the furniture’ as it were – people take them for granted and assume they will always be there. Since there has been no realistic threat to the west since the fall of the Berlin wall 22 years ago, that constraint on public policy has also vanished.
In this environment, any kind of stupidity can flourish. There are no consequences – immediate consequences, anyway – to saying things, and advocating policies, that are completely illogical to the point of self-destructive insanity.
Mad Hatter’s Tea Party
KM: You’re sweet, Horatio–incorrigible, of course, but sweet!
BPL: Don’t incorrige him.
LOL–and groan, too, of course!
With “Shimkus Logic” Heaven sent
Horatio needs no incorrigement.
The goofy poems write themselves
…Or might be written by Santer’s elves.
Santer’s Elves? I like that.
I just set up a quickie blog site http://santerselves.blogspot.com
Anyone who wants to express his/her support for Ben Santer can become one of Santer’s Elves by posting a message of support there.
Comments will be moderated; yahoos who are out to smear Dr. Santer will have their comments promptly s**canned.
Dear God.
If you exist, please forgive me for doubting you.
If you exist, then you know the fact that I am a good person has nothing to do with you. Maybe you can find pride in that.
If you exist then you know I don’t judge people and use you as an excuse. I don’t hate people in your name. I don’t do those things because I don’t like to be judged, not because I am afraid of you. Does that count for anything?
If you exist then you know why I don’t go to church anymore. I used to find peace and solace there. Now I find hatred and bigotry. Never again will I step foot in a church. If you exist, you are always welcome in my home.
If you exist, you know the world has gone crazy. What are you waiting for? Evil is spreading like a horrible cancer and there is nothing we can do to stop it. People are afraid. If you exist, you can’t really blame us. So come already.
If you exist, then forgive me for saying that the Bible is a really stupid book. It says that you created us all and then teaches us to hate each other. Maybe that’s not what you meant to do, but it’s what is happening. If ever there were to be a book worth burning, the Bible is it. Isn’t God supposed to know everything? What happened there? Kind of like creating the mosquito, was it really necessary?
If you exist, please forgive me for not living up to your expectations. What were they again? The 10 Commandments? I’m at about 70%. Maybe you could grade on the curve and give me some extra credit for the “Love Thy Neighbor” and “Judge Ye Not” parts. I have that down pact.
And last but not least God, if you exist, you know that many young people are killing themselves lately. They do this apparently because people are so cruel to them. What a shame. I hope when the time comes that you set the record straight. Of course it will be too late then and your so-called religious leaders will have already done their damage.
Anyway God, that’s all. If you exist, I hope to meet you someday. But if I don’t, because I love another man, then you are not somebody I would want to meet anyway…..
The other Daniel at 1 already covered this, but thought I’d reiterate. That verse quoted is not a promise the world won’t be destroyed…just not destroyed by flood. Perhaps someone should encourage Shimkus to actually read that book he clutches instead of waving it around unopened. And while on his reading binge he might want to read the opening of the seals in Revelation. The description of what happens sounds an awful lot like the scenarios we’ll see if we keep on with business as usual.
And it wasn’t even a promise not to cause significant damage by flooding or other climate related catastrophes, just that he wouldn’t flood the entire world. The Bible doesn’t suggest God ever promised anyone that the floods in Pakistan or New Orleans or others like that wouldn’t happen.
Don’t start with the Revelations stuff. Lots of people believe that this sort of thing will happen, therefore they can’t do anything about it. “It’s God’s will” and all the rest of it. That’s a dangerous path.
If you must make a religious argument, there are much more compelling ones available. The way we treat other human beings, for example. Why should we exploit people in developing countries to fuel our consumer lifestyle?
Oh, and dear Dan – “Evil is spreading like a horrible cancer”? The world has always sucked. There wasn’t a golden age. Take off the rose tinted spectacles and get on with life.
“God gave Noah the rainbow sign.
No more water but the fire next time.”
Dan: …the Bible is a really stupid book. It says that you created us all and then teaches us to hate each other. Maybe that’s not what you meant to do, but it’s what is happening. If ever there were to be a book worth burning, the Bible is it.
BPL: I’m sure it will be very enlightening to the masses to burn books that don’t meet your standards, Dr. Goebbels. Did you realize that you sounded like a denialist talking about climate science? If you’ve never studied the Bible–and clearly you haven’t–you’re not really in a position to pass judgment on it.