At Science Hearing, Rep. Bill Posey (R-Fla.) Argues Global Warming is a 'Natural Phenomenon'

Posted by Brad Johnson Wed, 26 Mar 2014 20:53:00 GMT

At today’s Science Committee hearing to review the President’s proposed science budget, Rep. Bill Posey (R-Fla.) dismissed human influence on the climate. “We’ve had climate change since the day the earth was formed, whenever that was, depending on whatever it is you believe,” he said with a nod to young-earth creationists, “and we’ll have climate change until the earth implodes, whenever that is.”

Posey questioned White House Science Advisor John Holdren in depth, clearly skeptical that there could be both natural climate changes over the billions of years the earth has existed and human-induced climate change.

Obviously we’ve had global warming for a long time. You can’t have one seamless ice age that encompasses three ice ages. We had to have warming periods between each of those. And so that is a natural phenomenon. Just because we’re alive now, the tectonics plate shifts aren’t going to stop, the hurricanes tsunamis aren’t going to stop, the asteroid strikes aren’t going to stop, they’ve been going on for eons and they’re going to continue to go on for eons.

“The difference between the circumstances you’re describing and the circumstance we’re in now is the changes imposed on the climate in large part due to human activity are faster than the ability of ecosystems to adapt,” Dr. Holdren responded, “and maybe even more importantly, faster than the ability of human society to adapt.”

“There are a lot of stresses, as you point out, we can’t control, but the stresses we can control that are placing burdens on our society we ought to think about controlling,” Holdren continued.

“No doubt about that,” Posey quickly interjected before challenging Holdren on how much of present-day climate change is due to human behavior.

“The natural changes, which we understand, and which are underway on a long term basis as we speak, would be if they were the only influences, be cooling the planet rather than warming it,” Holdren replied. “We would be in a long-term cooling trend as a result of the natural forces affecting climate which we understand. We are instead in a warming trend which suggests that human activity is overwhelmingly responsible for the difference. We would be having cooling based on natural forces, we’re having warming.”

Interrupting Holdren, Posey latched on to the mention of “cooling” to make a stammering joke about global cooling and Al Gore. “I remember the ‘70s,” he said. “That was the threat, we’re going to have a cooling that’s going to eventually freeze the planet. And that was the fear before Gore intervented—invented the Internet, you know, or uh, the other terms.”

Posey, who represents the coastal Florida district that includes the Kennedy Space Center, had previously expressed similar views on ice ages and global warming in a 2011 interview with conservative activist Victoria Jackson.

Full transcript:

POSEY: We had someone from the National Science Foundation, the head actually, and she said she wasn’t a scientist so she couldn’t answer any questions. I was just curious so I asked her, how many ice ages she thought this earth had been through. Everything I can gather the minimum is three, maximum five to seven. I was just curious how many you think we’ve gone through?

HOLDREN: I can’t remember off the top of my head. I think the numbers you have given are in the ballpark. I would have to look at the record. The earth has undergone climate changes throughout its entire history. The difference is that for most of that history there weren’t seven billion people on the planet who needed to be fed and clothed and kept prosperous, and the other difference is the pace of change was generally much slower.

POSEY: [interrupting] I’m running out of time. I’m running out of time. I’m aware of that. Obviously we’ve had global warming for a long time. You can’t have one seamless ice age that encompasses three ice ages. We had to have warming periods between each of those. And so that is a natural phenomenon. Just because we’re alive now, the tectonics plate shifts aren’t going to stop, the hurricanes tsunamis aren’t going to stop, the asteroid strikes aren’t going to stop, they’ve been going on for eons and they’re going to continue to go on for eons.

What do you think the temperature was on earth before the disappearance of the dinosaurs?

HOLDREN: There have been periods when the temperature was 3, 4, 5 degrees Celsius warmer than it is now. The difference between the circumstances you’re describing and the circumstance we’re in now is the changes that are being imposed on the climate in substantial part due to human activity are faster than the ability of ecosystems to adapt, and maybe even more importantly, faster than the ability of human society to adapt. There are a lot of stresses, as you point out, that we can’t control. But the stresses we can control that are placing burdens on our society we ought to think about controlling.

POSEY: No doubt about that. I don’t think there’s anyone, I haven’t heard anyone say, ever, from either side of the spectrum, that there’s no such thing as climate change.

I mean we’ve had climate change since the day the earth was formed, whenever that was, depending on whatever it is you believe, and we’ll have climate change until the earth implodes, whenever that is.

The question is: how much of the climate change do you think is influenced by human behavior?

HOLDREN: The climate change we are experiencing now, the climate change we’ve been experiencing for the past several decades is, according to academies of science, acccording to ipcc, according to the view of most of the scientists who work on this, largely due to human activities. We are superimposing on slow natural climate change, a rapid, human-induced climate change.

POSEY: But as a percentage, as a percentage, let’s say you anticipate the climate would change x amount in a year without the existence of humans on it. How much more do you think as a percentage do you think is influenced by human behavior?

HOLDREN: The natural changes, which we understand, and which are underway on a long term basis as we speak, would be if they were the only influences, be cooling the planet rather than warming it. We would be in a long-term cooling trend as a result of the natural forces affecting climate which we understand. We are instead in a warming trend which suggests that human activity is overwhelmingly responsible for the difference. We would be having cooling based on natural forces, we’re having warming.

POSEY: [interrupting] I remember the 70s. That was the threat, we’re going to have a cooling that’s going to eventually freeze the planet. And that was the fear before Gore intervented—invented the Internet, you know, or uh, the other terms.

Uh, I, I’d read, um, that during the, um, uh, period of the dinosaurs the, the earth’s temperature was 30 degrees warmer, um. Does that seem fathomable to you?

HOLDREN: 30 degrees sounds like a stretch to me but I will review the literature and get back to you.

POSEY: Thank you, Dr. Holdren, very much. I yield back.