Rohrabacher (R-CA) makes, quite possibly, the stupidest suggestion ever on climate change

From Bad Astronomy:

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/05/31/dana-rohrabacher-r-ca-on-climate-change-makes-wrong-even-wronger/#more-32559

He is a far-right Republican in California, and toes the GOP stance of climate change denial. Recently, he made a statement that’s pretty bizarre, and it’s making the rounds on the internet. There was a hearing of the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee (which he chairs) about UN climate policies and the US contributions to it. On the stand as a witness was the "top U.S. climate diplomat" Todd Stern… and Rohrabacher asked him this:

"Is there some thought being given to subsidizing the clearing of rainforests in order for some countries to eliminate that production of greenhouse gases? … Or would people be supportive of cutting down older trees in order to plant younger trees as a means to prevent this disaster from happening?"


...

Unsurprisingly, Representative Rohrabacher’s statements are getting him lambasted across the web, so I decided to go to his site and see if he had a followup to it. He does, and oh my, it’s a beaut:

Once again those with a global agenda have created a straw man by misrepresenting the position of their critics. I do not believe that CO2 is a cause of global warming, nor have I ever advocated the reduction of CO2 through the clearing of rainforests or cutting down older trees to prevent global warming. But that is how my question to a witness during my subcommittee hearing on May 25th is being reported. I simply asked the witness, Dr. Todd Stern, who is a supporter of a global climate treaty that would dramatically hurt the standard of living for millions of human beings, if he was considering a policy that would address naturally emitted carbon dioxide, which makes up over 90% of emissions.

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If you don't read Bad Astronomy, you should. But, holy hell, Rohrabacher is an idiot.

:dunce: :dunce: :dunce:

...but after reading the OP, I agree. Your idiot is a bigger idiot than mine.

supposedly representing ME in DC. Am I lucky or what?

He claims to have been a speech writer for st ronnie. It appears whorbacher hasn't moved far from 'you see one redwood, you've seen them all'.

you know like Bushes Tax policy, or the off shoring of jobs, gutting the EPA etc...

If the proposal actually hurt the standard of living I have no doubt he'd be all for it.

then he moved to Huntington Beach in 1992 when he got put in the 36th district.

Doesn't everyone learn the carbon dioxide / oxygen circle of life stuff by 3rd grade?

Am I reading his remarks wrong?

Plants are a holding pen for carbon compounds. The point is that the more of them we have, the more carbon compounds are locked up in plants.

during the day as they photosynthesize. There is a net intake of CO2. So cutting down the trees would mean more CO2, not less.

competing for the stupidity trophy. Maybe it could be a travelling trophy, with a new winner each year. (month? week?). My favorite has been Ted Stevens and the internet tubes, but I think Rohrabacher just topped him.