Bravo, Joe Barton

U.S. Rep. Joe Barton remains a steadfast skeptic on climate change | Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Business News

Mr. Barton offers a litany of reasons why the science of global warming is flawed. At several recent hearings, including one last month, Mr. Barton said the models don't account for the role of water vapor, which forms clouds, in controlling temperatures.

"I don't believe the planet is going to be noticeably warmer 100 years from now because of man-made carbon dioxide emissions," he said. "So I'm not going to be part of some program that has as a premise that carbon dioxide is a pollutant and we have to do major things to reduce it."

Mr. Barton acknowledges that worldwide average temperatures have increased but has said that isn't worrisome because higher temperatures mean a longer crop-growing season and more rainfall. The planet could safely absorb more carbon dioxide and might even benefit from it, he said.

Andrew Dessler, a Texas A&M scientist who signed the faculty letter about climate change and worked as a policy analyst in the Clinton White House, said Mr. Barton's statements are "in opposition to the credible science that is out there."

On some points, including his insistence that more carbon dioxide could be safely pumped into the atmosphere, Mr. Barton gets it "fundamentally wrong," Dr. Dessler said.

"He listens to the people who tell him what he wants to hear," Dr. Dessler said. "He has never come to us, and I think that we would be a logical choice if he wants to hear a mainstream climate view."