Aside from their political affiliations, what do Akin and Broun have in common? Membership on the House’s Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. And they’re in good company there. Take the Committee’s chair, Texas’ Ralph Hall. When asked about the evidence that humans were altering the climate, Hall replied, “I don’t think we can control what God controls.” When it was pointed out to him that the National Academies of Science disagreed with his position, Hall basically accused them of being in it for the money. “They each get $5,000 for every report like that they give out.”
His evidence? “That’s just my guess. I don’t have any proof of that.”
These are the people who are helping to set our country’s science policy. The committee is currently considering bills on nuclear energy, rare earth metals, biofuels, cybersecurity, and a response to the current drought.
Editorial: Meet a science committee that doesn’t get science | Ars Technica
Un-fucking-believable.