Well, this is troubling. Despite mounting scientific evidence that climate change is wreaking havoc upon people across the globe and our ecosystems (check out this regional chart by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency), some Republican lawmakers continue to insist that the movement is a hoax.
According to Addicting Info, three of these lawmakers–California Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, Texas Rep. Lamar Smith, and Wisconsin Rep. James Sensenbrenner–have been chosen by GOP leaders as potential replacements for Ralph Hall, the outgoing chair of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology.
Just last year, Rohrabacher called climate change the “greatest-of-all propaganda campaigns” and “a threat to our freedom.” Smith and Sensenbrenner have made similar claims. Addicting Info reporter Ann Werner also pointed out that Rohrabacher has publicly declared that carbon monoxide is not a toxin.
Giving any of these three authority over governmental programs like NASA, the National Science Foundation, and the National Weather Service is asking for trouble. But this time, future generations will be forced to pay the price –and distressingly, this is nothing new.
Mitt Romney, the former governor who came nail-bitingly close to winning the 2012 presidential election, is a climate change denier. Back in 2009, failed Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin called climate change “bogus” on Twitter. And Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who recently dodged a question about the Earth’s age by telling the interviewer, “I’m not a scientist, man,” reportedly “doesn’t believe the scientific evidence for human-influenced climate change.” He is considered by some to be a prime candidate for the 2016 GOP presidential ticket.
Sadly, this anti-science stance extends to an array of other issues, like rape and women’s reproductive rights. This past election cycle, failed Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin claimed that “legitimate rape” almost never resulted in pregnancy because “the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.” And guess who enjoys a spot on the Committee on Science, Space and Technology? If you said Akin, you’re invited to scream into pillows with your college’s science department, which may one day be submerged by melted ice caps.
Image via wired.com
