Republican Presidential hopeful embarrasses himself on climate change

(Today’s guest blogger is Phil Plait who writes Slate’s Bad Astronomy blog. Phil is an astronomer, public speaker, science evangelizer, and author of Death From the Skies! Thanks Phil – I could have said it better.)

In case you haven’t heard, Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is not a fan of reality.

The reality of science, that is. He has a history of presenting global warming–denying talking points and used some of his political power just this past week to pressure NASA into downplaying its role in measuring the effects of global warming on the planet.

Earlier this week, Cruz went on Late Night With Seth Meyers, and they discussed the issue. What Cruz said, in its entirety, is what comes out of the south end of a north-facing bull.

Here’s the transcript:

“I just came back from New Hampshire where there’s snow and ice everywhere. And my view actually is simple: Debates on this should follow science, and should follow data. And many of the alarmists on global warming, they got a problem cuz the science just doesn’t back them up. And in particular, satellite data demonstrates that the last 17 years there’s been zero warming. None whatsoever. It’s why—you remember how it used to be called global warming and then magically the theory changed to climate change? The reason is it wasn’t warming, but the computer models still say it is, except the satellites show it’s not.”

There’s so much wrong in what he said that it’s almost cartoonish. It’s a tour de force of wrongness.

Let’s go point by point.

First: It’s cold in New Hampshire! Yes, because global warming doesn’t mean the Earth is always hot. It still gets cold because we have seasons; the Earth’s axis is still tilted. This is a standard denier talking point meant to distract from the real issue. Cruz starting off with this line is a sure-fire way of knowing that he’s got his head firmly planted in the sand. As Stephen Colbert wrote, brilliantly mocking this kind of ridiculosity, “Global warming isn’t real because I was cold today! Also great news: World hunger is over because I just ate.”

Second: Cruz is right in one sense; we should follow the science. But the real science, not the nonsense he’s saying. Real science doesn’t cherry-pick one result that appears (incorrectly) to back up an outrageous claim, but ignore the overwhelming amount of evidence that this claim is dead wrong.

Third: He says satellite data shows no warming. That is wrong, wrong, wrong. Even giving him the benefit of the doubt, his saying this shows at best a gross misunderstanding of the data. And there is a vast amount of data from other sources showing the Earth is warming up. As the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported in February 2015, “nine of the past 12 months have been either warmest or second warmest on record for their respective months.” And 2014 was one of if not the hottest year on record.

But of all the bizarre nonsense Cruz said in that interview, what really got my teeth grinding was his comment about how it used to be called “global warming” but now we call it “climate change” because the evidence doesn’t support warming. That is at the level of weapons-grade irony. The idea to start calling it “climate change” came from a Republican strategist, in an effort to make it seem less threatening.

By saying that, Cruz has gone full Orwell: His own party made that change in phrase, but he’s accusing scientists of doing it. Ted Cruz is a flat-out science denier. He’s unworthy of a leadership position, especially one that deals with science. Yet he’s chairman of the Senate subcommittee overseeing NASA, and he wants to run for president.

If there’s anything that can counteract global warming, it’s the chill in the air I feel from having to write that last paragraph.

Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio are the new lords of space and earth – we’re screwed!

Senators Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Marco Rubio (R-Florida) are now in charge of the Senate committees responsible for NASA and NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency). As such, they will largely determine how much funding the agencies get. This should scare the crap out of reasonable people and here’s why.

Both Cruz and Rubio are climate change deniers. They are staunchly creationist and seem to believe in a young earth. In the past, Cruz has strenuously advocated a reduction in NASA funding. Cruz seems to be bereft of a single technological clue – he has compared Net Neutrality with Obamacare (and you know how much he hates the Affordable Care Act!). Rubio has consistently compared Obama with Fidel Castro. And they’re both presidential hopefuls, so you know they’ll bend over backwards to curry favour with the most extreme elements of the Republican Party – the Tea Party.

Cruz has been quoted as saying that there’s “no evidence of climate change in the last fifteen years.” This he says, in spite of thirteen of the fourteen hottest years on record having occurred since 2000. Well, you wouldn’t want statistical analysis to get in the way of a good political platform – especially when you have the Invisible Man in your corner. Any way, statisticians are probably just as evil as scientists:).

Rubio is a virtual dumb quote machine. In a GQ article in 2012, he said, in response to a question about the age of the earth, “I’m not a scientist man. I can tell you what recorded history says, I can tell you what the Bible says, but I think that’s a dispute amongst theologians and I think it has nothing to do with the gross domestic product of the United States.” Gee, maybe the President should fire all his scientific advisors and replace them with the faculty of some theological seminary.

Rubio can equally embarrass himself on the subject of climate change. When Rubio appeared on ABC’s This Week, in May 2014, he said “I don’t agree with the notion that some are putting out there, including scientists, that somehow there are actions we can take today that would actually have an impact on what’s happening with climate. Our climate is always changing.” And now he’s in charge of NOAA – oh shit!

Guys who constantly refer to ‘so called scientific theories’ obviously place no credibility in science. The fact that the Republican Party has placed these two pretty boy, Presidential wannabe clowns in charge of two of the biggest science agencies on earth, gives a clear indication of what they think of science. You could just laugh at them but I think it’s too scary to just laugh at. The largest superpower in the world has given the keys to the science lab to a couple of guys who want to kick out the science teacher so they can use the room for prayer meetings.

I can only imagine that if the Republicans win the White House in 2016, the new President’s first act will be to appoint Ken Ham (that’s Ken Ham of Creation Museum and Answers in Genesis fame) as his Chief Science Advisor. Then the good humour will really begin as Ham explains to us that the dinosaur bones are a result of the Great Flood – poor Noah didn’t have room for all of them on his ark.

May the Invisible Man show his divine mercy and save us – we’re going to need it!