Another day, another GOP candidate in denial about the scientific facts of climate change. This election season in the U.S. has been overrun with GOP and Tea Party-backed candidates who deny the existence of global warming, and therefore willingly ignore and denigrate science as a whole.
The latest example is Wisconsin GOP candidate for U.S. Senate, Ron Johnson, who calls climate change "unproven."
"The science of global warming is unproven," he said. "It just is," Johnson told The Associated Press on Thursday.
"I'm not even sure if, if it were a fact, whether we could do anything about it anyway," Johnson said.
This isn't a major change of heart for Johnson, who called global warming "lunacy" earlier this summer. He has labeled any and all who subscribe to the overwhelming scientific consensus that climate change is real and driven by human activity "crazy." He has described legislative efforts to address global warming pollution as "a fool's errand."
Here's a video of Johnson saying all that, plus this: "It's far more likely that it's just sunspot activity or something just in the geologic eons of time where we have changes in the climate." Note also his response at the end to the question about what he thinks CO2 does, "I think it's sucked down by trees and helps trees grow."
There's your science lesson for today, kids, courtesy of the GOP science department.
The Wisconsin Democratic Party put together a mashup mocking Johnson's various statements on climate change:
Johnson is running against incumbent Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold, whose campaign office was quick to declare Johnson's views "out of touch with reality."
"His belief that he knows better than most of the scientists in the world is dangerous," said Feingold campaign spokesman John Kraus.
Dangerous and entirely baseless, but unfortunately all too common these days as the right wing continues its war on science and reason.
As RL Miller writes in her latest 'Climate Zombies' installment at Grist, "their stupid has gone viral. And if they win, humanity loses."
With just four weeks left to go until voters head to the polls, the GOP's anti-science, climate denial movement rages on. For a complete look at the cast of science-hating characters, be sure to follow RL Miller's ongoing 'Climate Zombies' series tracking every Republican candidate for House, Senate, and governor who doubts, denies, or derides the science of climate change.
Democracy is utterly dependent upon an electorate that is accurately informed. In promoting climate change denial (and often denying their responsibility for doing so) industry has done more than endanger the environment. It has undermined democracy.
There is a vast difference between putting forth a point of view, honestly held, and intentionally sowing the seeds of confusion. Free speech does not include the right to deceive. Deception is not a point of view. And the right to disagree does not include a right to intentionally subvert the public awareness.
You don't see this every day. President Barack Obama used Twitter today to call out climate deniers in Congress who are blocking political action to address climate change. 
The tweet links to this video released by Organizing for Action, the 501(c)(4) campaign group that promotes the President's national agenda.
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Comments
Sunspots or witches?
These types do not know the difference.
They should be rounded up for a tour of some of the climatically challenged places on the earth – the poles, tropics and high mountain glaciers. Better still make them live in each for awhile gone native, i.e. no air-conditioning, bottled water, portable toilets, and imported food or shelters, not even tents.
Then send them, if they are not gibbering wrecks rather than just simply gibbering as now, on a study course given by some of the leaders in climate education such as David Archer whereby they will learn the difference between science and voodoo beliefs and how the 'zombies' which they repeat are created and by whom.
Don't forget the Wegman gang, John McCain, Carly Fiorina, Marc Morono and James Inhofe. Which later reminds me. Ian Plimer having learned the 'Gish Gallop' from creationists and the creationists are watching, learning and waiting to help with taking the world down into a new 'dark age' of ignorance and myths with a repetition of the fire of the library of Alexandria but writ large.
$5billion for midterms $1billion in 2008 elections
The companies upped their game in these elections and outspend the general election in 2008. The money buys what the donor requests.