by the Center for Biological Diversity
Climate deniers are creative types. They have to be.
Earlier in July, during a committee hearing in the Kentucky state Senate, Republican Brandon Smith argued — in reference to the EPA’s new requirement that power plants cut their carbon emissions by 30 percent in the next 16 years, which he apparently mislikes — that Mars and Earth share “exactly” the same temperature.
Seeing as there are no coal mines or factories on Mars, he reasoned, climate change on Earth must be caused by something other than CO2 emissions. “Nobody will dispute that,” he said.
OK, so the climates on the two planets are a bit different, the average temperature on Earth being about 57 degrees Fahrenheit while the average temperature of Mars hovers around negative 81. But let’s not quibble — it’s so nice to see creativity in a lawmaker.