Politicians, pundits and so-called experts say the darnedest things. And, they tend to forget that they have been recorded. The sad truth is some do not care, as they have “evolved their opinion” or “changed their mind.” Nonetheless, these quotes provide nice vignettes into the absurd world of our leaders and so-called thought leaders. It is a reminder that every thing you see and hear should be taken with a grain of salt.
– In 2008, both current Speaker of the House John Boehner and Senate Leader Mitch McConnell said these statements on camera. “Climate change is real and man-influenced and we need to do something about it.”
– Roughly in 2007, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and then current Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi did a television commercial together. Newt said “I was wrong about global warming. It is a problem and both Nancy and I agree we need to do something about it.”
– In 2014, both Boehner and McConnell said roughly “The science is not clear on climate change.”
– In his 2012 Presidential election run, Gingrich said, “I was wrong to say I was wrong about climate change.”
– Last month, Presidential candidate Rick Santorum in response to a question about Pope Francis’ paper on the Catholic Church’s concern over doing something about climate change, “We need to leave this to the scientists.” The Pope not only is supporting what governing scientific bodies are saying, but he also has a Masters in Chemistry, so technically he has some science qualifications.
– A public relations person who is well-compensated by the fossil fuel industry portrays himself as a scientific expert and argues on the split screen shots with scientists on talk shows. In the documentary movie “Merchants of Doubt,” he made fun of scientists saying they were “boring” and took pride in selling a story of climate change being a hoax. These scientists have spent a life studying the problem, but sometimes find it hard to articulate a complex argument into sound bites. When he was asked by Glenn Beck if he was an independent, unbiased expert, he lied and said he was.
– Former Congressman Bob Inglis of South Carolina, who was a climate change skeptic, traveled to Antarctica to see for himself. He came away convinced that the science was real and climate change is the problem as advertised. On the floor of Congress, he made a speech about his findings and that we need to do something about it. He was trounced in the next election by a fossil-fuel backed candidate. He now travels around telling his story as a Republican supporting the need to act on climate change and faces uphill battles everywhere he goes.
Man-influenced climate change is here and is causing problems around the world from Ecuador to Bangladesh to the Cartaret Islands to Miami to the Everglades to Norfolk to Texas to California. The drought areas will become worse and they are. Forest fires will become worse and they are. Sea-level rise will encroach into low-lying areas and it is. Hurricanes will hit shore from an elevated water level and be worse like Hurricane Sandy. And, chemicals in the ground will heat up like a crock pot.
The world can ill-afford a President or politicians to not recognize climate change for the problem it is. Please ask questions of politicians why they believe the way they do and what framed their opinion.
musingsofanoldfart 
Good post. My favorite was : it’s not false, it’s an inoperable truth.”
Unfortunately, there are many favorites to choose from. These are just a few related to climate change. Thanks for your comments.
This is the part of technology that I love! The ability to go back in time and raise the hypocrisy. I’m looking forward to hearing what that Pope has to say on this subject Thursday … the response should be interesting at best.
Lisa, me too. The Pope bashing has been going on awhile when he has made poverty a big concern. On the climate change, Santorum’s comments are one of several made against him to diminish the message. It is akin to the attack’s on Al Gore after “An Inconvenient Truth.” If critics degrade the messenger, then the message is wrong.
I recently got into it with someone who claimed “all scientist are paid by liberals” and “look how cold it was this winter. ” I know you can feel my pain. I just had to walk away from that insanity.
Lisa, where do you begin to counter that line of “reasoning?” Since a friend said it, the least offensive retort might be “Who told you that?” Modifiers not included. BTG
I got into a discussion with a guy about this who said that a man in his church who “taught science” assured them that climate change is overblown. I simply smiled and walked away. There’s really nothing you CAN say!
Hugh, I guess the least indicting retort could have been, “I guess that places you in the 3% of scientists category.” If this was a sporting event, it would be a rout; unfortunately the money heavily backs the 3%. BTG
Note to Readers: I had mentioned recently in my Voldemort reference to climate change where WI Governor Scott Walker and FL Governor Rick Scott have told state officials they cannot use climate change or global warming in public documents or speeches following the lead of President George W Bush’s White House. To me, this is prima facie evidence that the anti-climate change argument is poor when you have to limit debate by edict.
Note to Readers: As an addendum, it disappoints me to see younger politicians like Rubio and Cruz with their stances on climate change. In Rubio’s South Florida area, four counties are spending $200 million to hold back the sea water from coming up through the street drains after mild storms. NOAA has said Texas has and will be impacted greatly by climate change with longer droughts.
Note to Readers: Rick Santorum noted on “Real Time with Bill Maher,” that the 97% of scientists believe in man- influenced climate change is actually 56%. When queried about his source he would not offer one. Politifacts looked into it and the source is a blogger who contrived this figure from other data with his own assumptions, so they stamped it as “untrue.” The previous week, Maher had Dr. Michael Mann, who runs the Earth Science department at Penn State, on his show and asked him about the consensus. Mann said every major science organization believes climate change is real and man-influenced. Note the word “every” in the middle of that sentence.