3 takedowns of the GOP's latest climate change skeptic
Rep. Lamar Smith blasts environmentalists for their "overheated rhetoric" on climate change. They waste little time in firing right back.
In an op-ed in the Washington Post this week, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), the chair of the House Science and Technology Committee and a noted climate change skeptic, offered a laundry list of reasons why people who are worried about climate change and fighting plans like the Keystone XL pipeline are hurting American policy and the country's economy.
Predictably, climate change believers were quick to deliver counterpoints. Here are three of Smith's main points, along with the reactions of his critics.
(And for context: 97 percent of climatologists say global warming is directly linked to human-made carbon emissions.)
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1. Smith says climate change is not linked to extreme weather patterns.
Smith's critics counter that of course climate change is linked to extreme weather patterns — it even says so in that IPCC report. An excerpt:
2. Smith says the Keystone pipeline would not harm the environment.
Smith's critics say that not only would Keystone hurt the environment, it wouldn't be nearly as good for jobs as Smith suggests.
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In a thorough take-down of Smith's op-ed, Think Progress's Ryan Kornowski argues that what Smith says "just isn't true."
3. Smith says global temperatures haven't risen in the last 15 years.
Smith's critics note that warming trends are clear and undeniable. Here's Climate Nexus:
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Carmel Lobello is the business editor at TheWeek.com. Previously, she was an editor at DeathandTaxesMag.com.
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