Joe Barton (R-TX) Added to the Official Moron Registry

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At Yesterdayโ€™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 someย 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 recieved in donations over the years from the oil, gas and utility lobby is doing itsย magic.

I suspect itโ€™s a bit ofย 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 byย training.

The biggest thing Monckton has done in his life appears to be making a boardgame puzzle. This is the same Monckton whose answer to the AIDS epidemicย was:

โ€ฆ. 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 โ€ฆ all those found to be infected with the virus, even if only as carriers, should be isolated compulsorily, immediately, and permanently.โ€

I wonder who Barton turns to for advice on health care policy? The local flowershop? 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 theirย concern.

Hereโ€™s the video, watch it and laugh because it is nothing more than a complete joke. So much so that I have made a request that he be added to the Official Moron Registry. I think he might actually have a shot at Moron of the Year – maybe even theย decade!

And Iโ€™m not the only one who thinks Barton is officially a moron: Joe Barton is dumber than you thoughtย possible

Rep. Barton: Climate change is โ€˜natural,โ€™ humans should just โ€˜get shadeโ€™ โ€” invites โ€˜expertโ€™ TVMOB (!) toย testify


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Kevin is a contributor and strategic adviser to DeSmog. He runs the digital marketing agency Spake Media House. Named a โ€œGreen Heroโ€ by Rolling Stone Magazine and one of the โ€œTop 50 Tweetersโ€ on climate change and environment issues, Kevin has appeared in major news media outlets around the world for his work on digital campaigning. Kevin has been involved in the public policy arena in both the United States and Canada for more than a decade. For five years he was the managing editor of DeSmogBlog.com. In this role, Kevinโ€™s research into the โ€œclimate denial industryโ€ and the right-wing think tank networks was featured in news media articles around the world. He is most well known for his ground-breaking research into David and Charles Kochโ€™s massive financial investments in the Republican and tea partyย networks. Kevin is the first person to be designated a โ€œCertified Expertโ€ on theย political and community organizing platformย NationBuilder. Prior to DeSmog, Kevin worked in various political and government roles. He was Senior Advisor to the Minister of State for Multiculturalism and a Special Assistant to the Minister of State for Asia Pacific, Foreign Affairs for the Government of Canada. Kevin also worked in various roles in the British Columbia provincial government in the Office of the Premier and the Ministry of Health. In 2008 Kevin co-founded a groundbreaking new online election tool called Vote for Environment which was later nominated for a World Summit Award in recognition of the worldโ€™s best e-Content and innovative ICTย applications. Kevin moved to Washington, DC in 2010 where he worked for two years as the Director of Online Strategy for Greenpeace USA and has since returned to his hometown of Vancouver, Canada.

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