Joe Barton

I was more than a little incredulous when I read that Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) claimed via Twitter to have stumped Energy Secretary Steven Chu with a simple science question. After all, Chu is a Nobel Prize-winning physicist, while Barton doesn’t exactly have the firmest grasp of science. And, having witnessed the exchange firsthand at [...]

Since its inception in 1970, Earth Day has catalyzed as much hysteria as it has environmental stewardship. During the holiday’s first half-decade of observance, many Americans, encouraged by a complicit press, fretted over the impending ecological disaster that would result from global cooling. And the very first Earth Day celebration was accused of being a [...]

Is this really the talking point Republicans want to use in their fight against climate change legislation? At a congressional hearing last week, Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) argued that we could afford to keep increasing the levels of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere, since dinosaurs got by just fine in a carbon-rich environment.
“Today we have [...]

Remember Joe Barton (R-Texas)? The ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee who admitted recently that he’s “probably below average in [his] ability to understand” the nuts and bolts of climate change legislation? Well, he just had some more invaluable insights into global warming. His basic message: No biggie — humans can adapt.
He [...]

It’s very hard to have a debate with someone when your underlying assumptions are radically different. Inevitably, things will get pretty heated.
That’s what happened at a House Energy and Environment Subcommittee hearing this morning on “The Role of Offsets in Climate Legislation.” Chairman Edward Markey (D-Mass.) attempted to engage six expert witnesses in a nuanced [...]