Voracious Global Warming Denier Bachmann Named to House Republican Panel April 29, 2009

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), whose name will be immediately familiar to anyone who has been tuned into the recent spate of increasingly paranoid and outrageous rantings of the Republican Party, has been named by House Republicans to a panel designed to deal with the nation’s energy policies.  Rep. Bachmann has a few bills in the energy field, as is described in her website statement on the appointment to the Republican energy group. 

 

One reason this is important to note is that it demonstrates the House Republicans’ desire to maintain the “drill baby drill” mantra, although perhaps a bit less vocally.  Three of the four energy bills Bachmann describes in her web announcement would basically fast-track drilling.  One would even take away the government’s power, either judicially or administratively, to review any leases once they were reviewed by the President or a designee.  Another bill would require the government to waive regulations with respect to existing leases if the price of oil exceeds $100 per barrel.  This kind of focus on drilling and fossil fuels is simply a continuation of the current, non-renewable, globally dangerous energy policy that the United States has had for years. 

 

Another reason this is important is because it highlights the House Republicans’ desire to impede efforts to find a solution to global warming.  If the House Republicans were serious about helping to combat global warming, they would not appoint a member of Congress to a working group to help craft energy policies who said this:  “The big thing we are working on now is the global warming hoax.  It’s all voodoo, nonsense, hokum, a hoax.” 

 

I think it will be important to remember this when, as the debate over our federal response to global warming increases, we see more and more Republicans and conservatives raise red herrings and try to delay our efforts to green our economy.