Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL) — the guy who thinks that man can’t really destroy the planet because the Bible says only God can — was passed over for chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee in favor of Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI).
But now Upton has named Shimkus to chair the Environment and Economy Subcommittee. That subcommittee has jurisdiction over issues like national energy policy, energy regulation and utilization and the Clean Air Act.
Shimkus, you may recall, questioned whether decrease the use of carbon dioxide was taking away plant food from the atmosphere, declared that cap-and-trade proposals were scarier than terrorism and said global warming was not an issue because God promised Noah he wouldn’t destroy the Earth again after the flood.
Shimkus also defended his positions in an interview with a local television station where he highlighted the upside of global warming.
Here’s the video of Shimkus stating why global warming isn’t an issue we should worry about:
Ryan J. Reilly
Ryan J. Reilly is a D.C.-based reporter for TPM. Prior to joining TPM, he worked for a news website covering the Justice Department and was a researcher for Bloomberg News. His email address is ryan(at)talkingpointsmemo.com.
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