Democracy Has Prevailed.

October 15, 2010

More On Toomey's Anti-Science Agenda

From the Huffingtonpost:
Pennsylvania Senate candidate Pat Toomey raised eyebrows when he said in a local radio interview on Friday, that the degree to which human activity is to blame for global warming is being "very much disputed" and "debated."

It's not the first time he's made the argument.

"There is much debate in the scientific community as to the precise sources of global warming," Toomey claimed in June.

Trolling Opensecrets.org, HuffPost found Toomey's top contributors include oil and coal giants Koch Industries ($15,000) and Murray Energy ($16,655).
This is the part from the piece I loved:
Though his claims are sharply at odds with scientific consensus, which holds that human activity is primarily responsible for global warming, Toomey's position on climate change will likely be the position held by a majority of GOPers in in the 112th Congress.
See that first sentence? That's a too-diplomatic way of saying Toomey's wrong on global warming.

Here's how the Huffington piece ended:
"This is just the latest example of Congressman Toomey's refusal to hear perspectives that don't fit into his own narrow mindset, even if those perspectives are backed by a large volume of credible evidence," said Sestak campaign spokesman Jonathon Dworkin. "But try as he might, Toomey can't escape from the facts. Pennsylvania needs a public servant dedicated to finding practical solutions to the problems we face, not another closed-minded ideologue bent on insisting that the 'world is flat.'"
Pat Toomey - scientifically ignorant darling of big business.

12 comments:

EdHeath said...

In maybe five years there will some dramatic pictures showing how arctic ice has shrunk summer to summer or winter to winter (by maybe fifty percent). Plus there is likely to be another gas price shock in the next five years, another sudden rise to over $4 a gallon. It will be one or more of these events that will cause the public to clamor for some action (hopefully the clamor will be for action on global warming, not for more drilling).

The thing is, when the public finally does come to its senses, will it be too late for the damage to be quickly abated? Despite what lying conservatives say, Europe is a perfectly fine place to live, they have a good health care system (with small differences from country to country) and perfectly good economies (again, varying from country to country, Greece providing the example of how they need to reconsider currency issues). The reason I bring them up is that Europe has eased its way into carbon reductions with varying degrees of success and causing various levels of discomfort, but they are light years ahead of us in adapting to the idea of addressing global warming. By comparison, we keep putting our fingers in our ears and LALALALALALA. By the time we do admit there is a problem and start to address it, it will be so much more painful to do.

I swear every conservative needs to go back to economics 101.

Pgh_Knight said...

I am really tiring of the Sestak/Toomey race...

I don't think much of either of them.

Now... the race for Governor still gets me going.

jay said...

Here's what's really frightening, Ed: We already have dramatic pictures of entire ice shelves collapsing and know that Artic ice is melting at an alarming rate. I've read numerous accounts that we are actually passed the point of reversing any of these trends and that the kind of plans and policies that we're talking about enacting are really designed to mitigate the effects.

It's so frustrating because conservatives and many libertarians live in this La-la land where they can't understand the difference between climate and weather and how the two interact. We've all encountered some recalcitrant conservative loon who will make a joke during a bout of intense wintry weather by saying, "So much for global warming," completely failing to comprehend how changes in global temperature are responsible for creating such intense weather effects. Or they'll say, "Well, a hundred years ago they had these monster storms, too," failing both to note the frequency of such weather and that their century-old examples correspond with the dawn of the Industrial Age.

For me, there is no greater conservative principle than the idea of conserving our natural environment, using resources wisely, and replenishing them where we can.

But they can't even begin to grasp these ideas because they can't get their small minds around the notion that we inhabit a planet of finite resources. Sure, geological forces can produce more oil, for instance, but over a period of thousands of years. How can you get someone understand the concept of geological time when they can't even accept established geological facts like plate tectonics or carbon-dating?

Many conservatives are just flat-out stupid people who would much rather be subjugated by the corporatocray than believe in the idea of government as a means for protecting against too much power vested in private interests. They naively think that "What's best for business and profits" is what's best for them, when that is not at all the case. If we didn't have agencies like the EPA making sure that businesses don't pollute our air and water, Pittsburgh would still be the way it was a half-century ago because carelessly disposing of industrial waste materials is better for profits.

And if anyone thinks that a business wouldn't poison its potential customers in the name of profits, recall the problems with toxic toys manufactured in China by US corporations or the dangerous additives in many foods. By the time it affects your health or kills you, there's a new generation of customers to exploit.

Piltdown Man said...

I really don't know whether Pat Toomey believes this shit, or if he is just playing the card he knows his base will buy into. That's the point we're at in politics. The pols themselves are empty vessels into which is poured the poll and focus group tested concepts of one side or the other. Toomey says what he thinks will "work," Sestak does the same. Very depressing. Of course, even more depressing is the fact that PEOPLE actually believe this....

Toomey isn't a stupid person. He didn't get to where he is by being a nitwit.

Indeed, what he learned on Wall Street is just how easy it is to fool people...

Pilt

Pgh_Knight said...

I am leaning towards Toomey.

I don't think he's overly "in bed" with the Chinese (was anyone ever more "in bed" with the Chinese than Bill Clinton?). Or, that in he's elected he will personally privatize social security.

The main reason for me, is that I think the government best represents the interests of all people when there is a balance of power between the legislative and executive branches of the federal government.

Just trying to see the forest for the trees.

Piltdown Man said...

Knight -

I might agree with you if I didn't know the political machine as well as I do.

This isn't some grad school debate about the limits of power or the sanctity of our Constitution, it's an ad campaign to get someone elected. Thus, Toomey, who really was and is a "Wall Street insider," only cares about finding a narrative that people will buy into -- and then vote him into office.

What he and his buddies want is a completely unencumbered playing field for themselves. They want to gut any sort of regulations, so that they are free to make more money. It's as simple as that.

High-sounding talk about "The Framers" and "big government" are nothing more than red meat for an angry, dispirited and unemployed electorate.

Pgh_Knight said...

I am not engaging in "High-sounding talk about "The Framers" and "big government""...

What I am saying is, that when one political party has control of both the legislative and executive branches of government then that party can enact legislation that does not fairly represent the will of all the people. A balance of power requires compromise.

Dayvoe said...

I have to ask PGH Knight a question:

When has the current crop of GOP/Tea Party candidates ever indicated that it will "compromise"?

At the core of the GOP/Tea Party movement is the push for ideological purity and the purge of any candidate not living up to those standards. These folks do not compromise - unless "compromise" means "agree with me and that'll show we're compromising."

Piltdown Man said...

To pick up on Dave's comment, I have to say this; when one party controls those branches of government, it's because the voters choose them to do so. That's kinda how the system works, ya know....? Been working pretty well for something over 20 years now....

What are you, a kid who was brought up with the "everybody gets a trophy" mentality?

Piltdown Man said...

200 years.

Too quick on the "publish" button.

EdHeath said...

PK, do you understand what happens in the Senate these days? Republicans put personal holds on huge numbers of legislation. Currently there are hundreds of bills which have passed the House held up in the Senate. This absolute BULLSHIT that Democrats are running roughshod over government and are engaging in out of control spending is totally a LIE being perpetrated on the American people, that only has credence with the uninformed who watch Fox News because conservatives repeat it like a frickin' chanted mantra, over and over again so that despite reality, people believe it.

I stand by my first comment. You frickin' conservatives have managed to successfully shout down and drown out rational calm scientists, and also twisted the rules of polite behavior in the Senate so that know nothings like Inhofe and Coburn can hold up even the mildest of legislation that wouldn't reduce greenhouse gases but might try to reduce the rate of increase of greenhouse gases, and yet even that is unacceptable to you.

You know, we could provide leadership to the world. America could be the exceptional nation you conservatives say it is. But at every turn you twist and distort the values Americans once held dear. You force us to torture prisoners of war, you force us to imprison people indefinitely without trials. And on climate change, you let the Chinese take the lead in wind turbine industries, and the Germans take the lead on solar. Then you moan that the Chinese and Indians will never agree to reduce their greenhouse gases. Well, why should they when we refuse to make the most minimal reductions ourselves? Why should they do what we are unwilling to? Why is that so hard to understand?

rich10e said...

What I like most about you Ed is when someone disagrees with you , you throw a temper tantrum, and question their intelligence!The quintessential leftist progressive debating point"You're dumb;I'm not!!"