THE BIBLE FLOOD WAS CLIMATE CHANGE – TX POL

US congressman cites biblical flood to dispute human link to climate change; Texas Republican Joe Barton says deluge 'certainly wasn't because mankind had overdeveloped hydrocarbon energy'

Suzanne Goldenberg, 10 April 2013 (UK Guardian)

“The Texas Republican Joe Barton stands out even among his fellow conservative Republicans who have made it an article of faith to deny the existence of a human component to climate change…Barton cemented that reputation by citing the Old Testament to refute scientific evidence of man-made global warming, drawing on the story of Noah's ark.

“…Barton told a congressional hearing…[The biblical flood] ‘certainly wasn't because mankind had overdeveloped hydrocarbon energy’…[S]peaking at a house subcommittee hearing called by the Republican leadership to promote a bill that would allow Congress to fast-track a controversial pipeline that would pump crude from the tar sands of Alberta to refineries on the Texas coast…”

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“[He reiterated] support for the Keystone XL pipeline…[and added] he did not dispute the existence of climate change – just any connection to human activity, such as the greenhouse gas emissions produced by the burning of fossil fuels…[because] ‘there's a divergence of evidence.’

“Barton has made a reputation for his outspoken rejection of man-made climate change, and for his support for the oil industry…[I]n the wake of the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, Barton became an object of ridicule for offering a profuse apology to the oil company…[because] the White House had reached a deal requiring the company to set aside $20bn for clean-up and restoration costs…”

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