Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Dumbest Quote Ever?

Not all that long ago, the scientific consensus in astronomy was that the universe was in a steady state - that it had no beginning and would have no end. The few who postulated the big bang theory were derided. Indeed, the "big bang" name was hung on the theory as a form of derision.

Two things have happened to destroy "steady state" as a viable theory. The first was the discovery by Edwin Hubble (for whom the telescope is named) that the universe was expanding. The second was the discovery of residual cosmic background radiation from the big bang.

Global warming is nothing more than a theory, and given that the geologic record suggests that we are between ice ages, it isn't all that sound as a theory. Human causation is also a theory, a theory that completely ignores the dramatic changes in the global temperature 10,000 years ago to end the last ice age. Man could not have been a cause of that period of warming.

Now comes Mark Udall with what may be the dumbest quote from a politician who is actively seeking office ever:

I believe that it is time for universal acknowledgment of what is already the scientific and public consensus-global climate change is occurring and human activity is a primary contributor to that change. The problem presents a major environmental challenge that requires an immediate response from our state and national government.

The scientific and physical evidence of global climate change is overwhelming. The 2007 Nobel Peace Prize winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has concluded that "warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global sea level."

The two men who discovered the cosmic background radiation that supported the big bang theory were both awarded the 1978 Nobel Prize for Physics. That is a science prize. Al Gore got a political version of the Nobel Prize because the science, despite the propaganda from the environmental extremists like Mark Udall, does not support the hypothesis or the hype.

Keep in mind that Mark Udall chairs a subcommittee dealing with NASA. He, above all others, should be open to revisions in scientific theory. He clearly is not, and says so:

I believe that it is time for universal acknowledgment of what is already the scientific and public consensus...

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