Senator Inhofe: "CO2 is not a pollutant"

[LynneSin]

http://mediamatters.org/items/200612080007

INHOFE: Yes, there is -- we're going through a warming period but, throughout history, we've gone through these warming periods. It was warmer in the '30s than it is today; it was warmer in the 15th century than it is today. Let's let God work his thing, keep the cycles going, and if there's something that we can do -- certainly, we do want to clean up the air, clean up the pollution -- CO2 is not a pollutant.

HENNEBERG: But one Inhofe critic says the science is undeniable, and so the senator has to pick another target.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In this town, if you don't get your way, you blame the media.

HENNEBERG: And California Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer, who will take over as chair of the committee in January, indicated that she's not buying it either.

SEN. BARBARA BOXER (D), CALIFORNIA: We can't, as policymakers, it seems to me, turn our backs on the overwhelming scientific evidence and opinion.

HENNEBERG: In fact, Senator Boxer said yesterday that global warming is, quote, a potential crisis of a magnitude we've never seen. And when she chairs the committee, she says one of her goals is to press for mandatory caps on industrial carbon dioxide emissions.

[mark414]

1. this is definitely one of the best things to come out of this election

boxer taking over for inhofe...you don't get much more of a turnaround than that...

[Deep13]

2. Then breathe it, asshole.

Here is a text book example of traditionalist vs. progressive perception. On the one hand we have the guy who wants people and especially rich people to do whatever they want and bases his opinion on values and beliefs. On the other hand is Boxer who sees the scientific evidence and just cannot make that reality go away.

[Solon]

3. This guy is an idiot...

Hasn't he ever heard that too much of a good thing is bad for you? That's the whole point, CO2 may not be a pollutant, its actually good for the planet, if we didn't have as much as we did before Industrialization, the Earth would have been a full 60 degrees cooler globally than it is now, and that isn't a good thing. It also is utilized by plants for energy, with oxygen as a by product. This is all well and good, however, since Industrialization took place, 150 years ago, the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere has increased, dramatically, and is now the highest its been for what, 200,000 years or so. Its so high its overwhelming the CO2 absorption of plants, and the ocean, soon enough we are going to hit a tipping point, and disaster is just around the corner.

Just as too little CO2 is a bad thing, having too much is also a bad thing, and should be prevented and counteracted.

[MrCoffee]

4. if they cap toxic gas, Inhofe would be prohibited from speaking

[Stinky The Clown]

5. Sen Inhoff: "I'm a crazy-assed gasbag"

[ashling]

6. Since Inhoffe is so sure

that CO2 is not a pollutant and is so good for you, he should be willing to let himself be sealed in a room which would then be pumped full of CO2. :)

[Hippo_Tron]

7. One thing is for sure, Senator Inhofe is certainly a pollutant

[LiviaOlivia]

8. Inhofe=Big Oil whore

and a really stupid ineffective one at that. You'd think with all the profits big oil has made under BushCo that they could have got more value for their stolen dollars.

I hope Oklahoma can change their position in this country from being members of the "Church of the false god named Bush" to being Americans.

[KKKarl is an idiot]

9. It is an embarrassment that this guy

is from the same state I am from. When he comes up for re-election they will vote him in again like he is a God because most people take stupid pills down here before they vote.

[LynneSin]

10. I once lived in PA with Rick Santorum as my senator

you have my sympathy