Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) told constituents on 12 August 2013 that climate change 'is a total fraud' designed by liberals to create 'global government'. Now Rohrabacher wants to have a public debate where he would presumably be expected to present facts that could help him prove this statement. Photo: The Nation

By Nick Wing
13 August 2013 (The Huffington Post) – Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) told constituents over the weekend that climate change “is a total fraud” designed by liberals to create “global government.” Now Rohrabacher wants to have a public debate where he would presumably be expected to present facts that could help him prove this statement. The GOP congressman and renowned climate science denier — and also a member of the House Science Committee — issued a challenge to Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) over the weekend, after the Democrat suggested the current uncharacteristically extreme wildfire season warranted a serious discussion about how climate change is affecting the temperature and length of the state’s dry season. “I challenge Barbara Boxer to a debate on climate change, on global warming,” Rohrabacher said, according to CBS Los Angeles. “I challenge her to defend her positions, and not just call a bunch of names, not just try to scare the public into accepting her expansion of government power over our lives.” The California Republican also accused Boxer of taking advantage of the ongoing blazes to push an environmental agenda. “I think this exemplifies the tactics — the scare tactics — of those who’ve been pushing this global warming fraud on us,” he said. “They’ll take something that is dramatic, like a fire, and try and use that; or a tornado, or a hurricane and say ‘see, people are being hurt.'” A Boxer aide said the senator “stands by her statement” about severe wildfires being connected to climate change, but wouldn’t comment on the possibility of a debate with Rohrabacher. The California wildfire season is still young but, as the Associated Press recently reported, it has already scorched a massive swath of land. [more]

GOP Congressman Challenges Barbara Boxer To Debate To Prove Climate Change ‘Is A Total Fraud’

By Nick Wing
12 August 2013 (The Huffington Post) – Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), a longtime member of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, recently brushed aside concern that the wildfires currently scorching across his state and causing millions of dollars of damage have anything to do with climate change. In fact, he told constituents at a town hall that “global warming is a total fraud,” employed by liberals to “create global government.” In a video captured by Lee Fang of The Nation, Rohrabacher laughed off a claim made last week by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) that the unusual intensity of this year’s wildfire season should give rise to a more serious debate about how climate change is affecting the temperature and length of the dry season. “Just so you’ll know, global warming is a total fraud and it’s being designed because what you’ve got is you’ve got liberals who get elected at the local level want state government to do the work and let them make the decisions,” Rohrabacher said. “Then, at the state level, they want the federal government to do it. And at the federal government, they want to create global government to control all of our lives.” The friendly town hall audience seemed to agree with Rohrabacher’s contention that humans were incapable of changing earth’s climate, giving a collective chuckle. The congressman then appeared to make an offhand reference to Agenda 21, a set of UN-created sustainable development recommendations that the tea party and other Republicans have put forth as an example of how the government will use the threat of climate change to seize property and control the lives of its citizens. “It’s step by step by step, more and bigger control over our lives by higher levels of government. And global warming is that strategy in spades,” Rohrabacher said. “Our freedom to make our choices on transportation and everything else? No, that’s gotta be done by a government official who, by the way, probably comes from Nigeria because he’s a UN government official, not a US government official.” Rohrabacher’s climate change denialism and misunderstanding of science is well-documented. He’s suggested that prehistoric climate change could have been caused by “dinosaur flatulence,” and that clear-cutting rainforests would eliminate greenhouse gas production. Regardless of Rohrabacher’s beliefs, California’s still-young fire season is expected to be more devastating in 2013 than it has been in years, thanks in part to both climate change and the fact that the state is still awaiting the Santa Ana winds, which typically fuel the blazes. [more]

Dana Rohrabacher, GOP House Science Committee Member: ‘Global Warming Is A Total Fraud’