GOP Rep. Akin: Regulating CO2 Will Make the Seasons Stop

Yesterday Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) argued on the House floor yesterday that legislation to limit CO2 emissions would cause the seasons to stop changing. Aiken confused climate and weather, and he argued that seasonal change from winter to spring was, “good climate change.” He also asked why the government would want to run the weather.

Here is the video from Think Progress:

Akin said, “This whole thing strikes me if it weren’t so serious as being a comedy you know. I mean, we just went from winter to spring. In Missouri when we go from winter to spring, that’s a good climate change. I don’t want to stop that climate change you know. Who in the world want to put politicians in charge of the weather anyways? What a dumb idea.”

This man is a member of Congress and he doesn’t know the difference between climate and weather. Is anyone really surprised? As a public service to all the Republicans in the House, here is the Webster’s definition of weather. Weather is “the state of the atmosphere with respect to heat or cold, wetness or dryness, calm or storm, clearness or cloudiness.”

Webster’s defines climate as, “The average course or condition of the weather at a place usually over a period of years as exhibited by temperature, wind velocity, and precipitation.” Maybe I am not given Akin enough credit? It could be that he isn’t the stupid one, but he thinks that the American people are dumb enough not to know the difference?

Either way, this ranks right up there with Rep. Joe Barton’s CO2 is in Coca-Cola argument, as one of the most mentally challenged arguments made against CO2 regulation by a Republican member of Congress. If this is a political strategy, it is an insult to the intelligence. If Akin didn’t know better, then he doesn’t belong in the House of Representatives.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association