REP. KING: CLIMATE CHANGE IS A RELIGION

FROM THE MADDOW BLOG

ON CLIMATE CHANGE: 

'It's more of a religion than a science'

By Steve Benen

  -  

Fri Aug 9, 2013 12:29 PM EDT

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Associated Press

About a year ago, former Rep. Bob Inglis (R-S.C.) made the case that his party has no choice but to come around on climate change -- "the facts," he said, will "overwhelm" Republican resistance.

Last week, Inglis' argument picked up some welcome support from four former EPA chiefs from Republican administrations, all of whom got together to write a New York Times op-ed on the "Republican Case for Climate Action."

Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) must have missed it.

On the environment, King said efforts to fight global warming are both economically harmful and unnecessary. "It is not proven, it's not science. It's more of a religion than a science," he said.

He said that even if carbon dioxide in the atmosphere causes the earth to warm, environmentalists only look at the bad from that, not the good.

"Everything that might result from a warmer planet is always bad in (environmentalists') analysis," he said. "There will be more photosynthesis going on if the Earth gets warmer. ... And if sea levels go up 4 or 6 inches, I don't know if we'd know that."

First, climate science is based on voluminous, objective, peer-reviewed research. Second, it's a little weird to hear a conservative Republican suggest religion is inherently untrustworthy.

But the larger takeaway from King's remarks is that we may well be entering the next phase of climate denial. There have traditionally been three parts to this, but King points to a fourth.