Michele Bachmann: 'Don't Know Much About a Science Book'

by Sunnyjane

Jesus! I'm facing extinction and Bachmann thinks toxic carbon dioxide emissions are a natural by-product of nature.

I regret being the bearer of bad news, Mr. President, but unemployment numbers will rise in January 2015 after all of the Michele Bachmann fact-checkers are laid off from their jobs.  I guess you really do have to take the bad with the good.

It is not news that Bachmann has trouble with facts; hell, she has trouble with reality, why let facts get in the way?  For anyone who remains ignorant of this, um, fact, I suggest you simply go to your favorite search engine and type in Just How Stupid IS Michele Bachmann?  OK, I'll give you a few links here, here and here so you really don't have to go through that exercise. 

With humble apologies to the fabulous Sam Cooke, I will bastardize one of his greatest hits to explain Michele Bachmann in twenty-four words:

Don't know much about history,
Don't much biology.
Don't know much about a science book, 
Don't wanna talk about that list I took. 

Denying the Effects of Man-Made Climate Change

I can see God from my House seat and he says more carbon dioxide emissions are a GOOD thing!

After a hearty laugh and an exaggerated eye-roll, most of what Bachmann spews can be whisked away with a careless wave of the hand.  That she doesn't seem to know the difference between cowboy-film star John Wayne and serial-killer John Wayne Gacy is almost totally irrelevant.  Even her statement that the Founding Fathers, otherwise known as the writers of the United States Constitution, worked tirelessly until slavery was no more in the United States has little consequence; that will surely be corrected for our nation's school children when they study American history -- well, except in Texas, of course.

But when she stands in the House of Representatives and states with authority that the threat of man-made global warming doesn't make sense because it is a natural byproduct of nature, and is part of the fundamental life cycle of Earth,  she is attempting to influence desperately needed legislation that would reduce man-made carbon dioxide emissions that are causing global warming that is devastating to the planet. 

It took Democratic Rep. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon to school Ms. Bachmann on the issue: It’s interesting to listen to her say that something that was naturally occurring simply couldn’t be harmful, ignoring the fact that we have the highest concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere for 2/3 of a million years.  The  consensus of the scientific community — not people making things up on the floor of the House — is that this has been profoundly influenced by human activity, starting with the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, where we started consuming huge quantities of coal, burning fossil fuels, accelerating that over time.  The consensus of the scientific community is that this is in fact a serious problem.
   

I understand that there is absolutely no truth to the tittle-tattle that Bachmann believes that tearing down all greenhouses in America would reduce the effect of greenhouse gases.  That's totally a scandalous rumor -- maybe.

Congresswoman Bachmann has also claimed that there have been no scientific studies supporting the toxic effect of carbon dioxide on humans: But there isn’t even one study that can be produced that shows carbon dioxide is a harmful gas. There isn’t one such study because carbon dioxide is not a harmful gas, it is a harmless gas. Carbon dioxide is natural. It is not harmful.   That is, of course, a totally bogus and stupid claim.  (Is Sarah Palin her fact-checker?  Just wondering.)  As far back as 2004, the New York Times reported in a scientific article that toxic carbon dioxide extends its harmful reach to the oceans.  Another report shows that Fossil fuel combustion releases carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide, methane and other emissions in the air. Although some of these chemicals are naturally occurring, the high concentrations cause pollution and its effects.  And how do countries rank in CO2 emissions?  China is first and the United States is second.  That is not a record of which we can be proud.

Of course, Bachmann is only one of many climate-change deniers in the House of Representatives.  Organizing for America has done an excellent job of bringing them all together in one place.  There is even a click-on map that displays well-sourced quotes of who in your state is a climate-change denier.

End Note

As the National Journal pointed out recently, the subject of climate change may well become a huge issue in near-future elections, especially with young voters, an important  demographic that the GOP lost in 2012: 

...for a 22- or 23-year-old voter, being a climate denier is like opposition to gay marriage in the way it paints Republican politicians as completely out of touch with how they see the world. 

But how will the GOP repair that image when House Republicans passed a bill in 2010 declaring the science behind climate change a hoax?

And Michele Bachmann was a big part of that.