Rep. John Shimkus: Capping C02 emissions will steal "plant food"

[Megadeth6633]

why does this always have to happen in the us...

[Kotszu]

I blame Illinois for this shit.

[jffryh]

god. How did plants manage to exist at all before the beginning of the industrial revolution?

if god wont destroy earth with a flood maybe we could do it with dought instead. no?

apparantly it pays to be a tool.

[Jshect]

Finally Bush has a rival for the dumbest politician award

[Jshect]

Shimkus is an absolute embarrasment. I really hope this guy is voted out. The environment will be safer when he is off this committee. If he's so concerned about plants why isn't he concerned about deforestation. No his only concern is that Big Bussiness will be able to pollute all they want and he's willing to quote Bible verses or make ignorant psuedoscientific statements about CO2 and plants to see that they can.

[electroluxia]

Well, the lunatic moron is right on one level. god won’t destroy the Earth by global warming. HUMANS WILL. Straitjacket for the gray haired twat center stage, please. cheers.

[zebbev]

He doesn't even believe that a Cambrian period even existed, after all the earth is 6000 year old. This guy is a true representative of the far-stupid-right.

[NappyHeadedHorse]

wait, did he just guarantee me that the earth will not be destroyed by a flood? I feel much better now, thanks John Shimkus! I guess I better stop recycling, too, don't want to kill all of the plants.

[okapitheif]

he is a high functioning retard

[tapolna]

Q: Is Shimkus a brain-cell starved human?

A: Well, we looked into that... Ahem, ... we haven't counted all his brain cells. So ....

Q: Let me rephrase that question. To the best of your ability what is your estimation of Shimkus rational thought processes.

A: Well, sir, it depends on your definition of rational.

Q: Do not evade the question. Is Shimkus rational, is he sane?

A: Sir, rationality is based on cultural values and in the United States ...

Q: Damn it, man, answer the

[bigcubics]

Man ohhh man....this is really weird...why does he intrupt the guy telling facts in the commitee and why is this mr Shimkus having that position he has beeing that rude/arrogant and most of all...that stupid

[HConstantine]

What was the average temperature in the Cambrian, fucktard? Do you think it was that high because there was a lot of CO2 in the air, and then it cooler because it was made into coal and oil by plants? What might happen if we dig it up form the ground and put it back in the air?

At leas I get to vote against this idiot every two years since I live in his district, not that it seems to make any difference yet.

[Jowind]

Congressman Shimkus is a gift from God to the leftists.

[methinxaweezil]

Without smokestacks, how will the plants survive?

What a horrific collision of religion, politics, and ignorance.

[101101101777]

god, saving the environment is MORE IMPORTANT THAN jobs

with all the money to military, ei could be expanded or something to handle the unemployment until new cleaner non destructive industries are created for work

and then he's quoting from the bible like he knows what it says

Humans are the cause, our activities are the source of the problems, the bible talks about humans proving their inability to steward the Earth, and the science says that industry needs to die.

[symelian]

so the idiots are trying to argue that we are "starving the plants" - but the fact that we are destroying forests on a large scale doesn't enter the argument whatsoever ....

the whole point is not saving the environment for itself - the planet cannot be destroyed by us (unless physically destroyed as an object) but we can destroy the environment for ourselves as it can become unsuitable for HUMAN existence .... that's all.... and btw a THEOLOGICAL debate on scientific matters ... ????

[jeremiahdrigg]

wait a second. This senator is saying that we are ok because the bible says that we will not be destroyed unless god decides too. Then he ask a guy about why he thinks we are carbon starved and he refrences beliefes that a millions of years ago we had tons of carbon in the air. I am kinda confused because according to his bible, "the infallible word of god", we are only 6000 years old. Isnt that interesting boys and girls.....

[Alvin691]

@jeremiahdrigg Where did he mention the Bible in this video?

[madzyzome]

Wow that was a hell of a cock stroking session if I ever saw one.

[Flameboy1042]

Wow, you guys are idiots, the girl in the back is smiling a smug smile of satisfaction. I know you guys have never gotten a woman off or properly pleased one, but thats the "O" face. She was happy to see her congressman vigilantly defending the beliefs of the people of IL who elected him to that office.

[myrmecia1977]

Well you can scratch IL off my list of places to visit then - if i want that shit I can visit a leper colony.

[Flameboy1042]

Yes, because lepers have no faith, are all atheists, and readily believe that science is the be all end all. There are plenty of reasons to visit IL, be you American or not. I'm sure the IL visitor's center has plenty of locales that would easily cater to even the broadest of demographic, not to mention "the taste" in Chi-town. Look it up. I believe the term for you is narrow minded, and pig headed. I'm from AL, btw.

[myrmecia1977]

Now there flame boy - care to change your name to something more appopriate. Pussy? or Limp Dick? Toughen up bitch

[Flameboy1042]

Wow, attacking my handle really pushes your point that your a total douche bag.

[myrmecia1977]

and if thats all you have in response you must be fucking pathetic.

[aceg81]

@Flameboy1042 I think she was happy that he was shutting the hell up before he made himself look like an even bigger moron.

[Enthropomorphia]

Gosh I wanna marry that girl giggling at the back! =) As for John Schmuck... go back to preschool. Thanks.

[imreloadin2]

Haha that girl is incredibly cute, I concur. Also she is obviously intelligent hence her laughter at this ignorant Illinois dumb-fuck.

[TurdSnatcher777]

Mr. Shimkus should be hastily removed from office, and preferably removed from any public appearances for the rest of his natural life. The man describes himself as a "man of faith," a pitiful P.C. term for someone who so dogmatically adheres to unfounded religious claims that they are as reasonable, lucid, and competent as a schizophrenic on a LSD trip. His resorting to the Bible in a public policy discussion based on scientific reports is so intellectually bankrupt and saddening...

[ScrewAttackChina]

agree. you said it so well I have nothing to add

[bielo123]

fuck u you god damed hippie shut the fuck up just as many scientist agree that there should be more carbon in the air than those that say it should be taken away

[TurdSnatcher777]

lol @ a bible-thumping backwoods sister-fucking trailer trash inbred mutant calling me a hippie.

when you can make a sentence that isn't comprised entirely of irrelevant nonsense, insults, lies, and displays your own illiteracy and dishonor, please contact me. otherwise, i have little interest in anything you have to say.

[myrmecia1977]

What the fuck would you know bie - your obviously still fucking the syphletic goat that passes for your mother, how the fuck can you be so ignorant and still breathe?

[rams392]

no co2, no green plants, no life. that's a fact.

manmade global warming is a fearmongering lie to control people. don't let them fool you! don't believe the co2=pollution hype!

check: green-agenda com

[imreloadin2]

I enjoy the fact you have seemed to have developed a fundamental sense of a scientific concept. If you took a second to think about it though it all makes sense. Obviously there is always going to be carbon dioxide in the atmosphere because all animal life excretes it through respiration. HOWEVER, there weren't millions of cars driving around 100 million years ago were there? The point everyone is trying to make is that we've popped out of our natural rut and have started on an accelerated path.

[rams392]

about 500 million years ago, in the paleozoic era, atmospheric co2 was more than 10 times higher than today...

today total human greenhouse gas contributions

add up to about 0.28% of the greenhouse effect. 95% is natural water vapor.

[clokverkorange]

No, there were not cars 100 million years ago, however, the entire face of the planet was literally covered with plant life. That 7-11 on the corner? 100m years ago, plants. The Interstate 15? Plants. Florida? Plants. SEATAC airport? Plants. San Diego? Plants.

The thing about that many plants is they give off CO2 CONSTANTLY. Cars give it off intermittently. Unless you drive your car for 14 hours a day every day of the year, that is.

[blade740]

I think you have it backwards. Plants turn CO2 INTO O2.

[DeanMorrison]

FAIL...

[shonester]

Misleading. He didn't make the claim. He asked the question. To which....got an answer the average person would not even think of. It reminds me of when everyone wanted to make fuel from corn - but didn't take into account the tons of pollution created in the production of the fuel.

[xempla]

I don't understand. Where's all this talk of religion coming from in the comments here.

What the guy in the video is talking about is basic science. CO2 does aid plant life. It's necessary for photosynthesis. Without it plants die. Greenhouse growers use it to grow bigger, stronger plants. The biomass on earth has been increasing with the increase in CO2. It's why we have enough food to feed such a large population, contrary to previous predictions from Earth day people.

[rhobesauce]

The reason we have enough food to feed people is due to petroleum-based fertilizers, which will run out when we use all the petrol to fuel our cars.

Then we will starve to death. Great idea.

[Simplify1122]

Shimkus quoted NO READ from the bible at the SAME meeting about how GOD will decide the end the earth.

[TheHolySpirit]

This perfectly demonstrates the illogical logic of those that are taken in by religious scriptures and manage to bend them around into something that somehow makes sense to them!

[deeema107]

what a moron!

[boardsenseless]

John Shmuckus!

[WKClifford]

Global warming is not a threat because god has already said in the bible that the Earth will not be destroyed by a flood. And to think we wasted all that money on peer reviewed scientific research that has come to indicate otherwise.

[FinnHawk]

I know! who needs scientists when all you need to do is read the Bible... sheesh! ;)

[Knucklesdude]

what a fucktard

[slopmaster1]

Welcome to the new religion.GLOBAL WARMING -CLIMATE CHANGE>So what happens when the next meteor hits?Or the next gamma ray?Super vulcano?How many carbon credits am i gonna have to buy to offset that?LOL.What BS.

[AHughman08]

i hate this.

[dachill1]

what a bunch of dumbasses

wh wh what ? plant food?

gtfo

[fuckwhoeverbannedme]

look at the lady at the end of the video xD

She just cant stand his stupidity haaha

[SuperBravoOne]

Did this guy or anyone on his staff even graduate high school? Do they know what the carbon cycle is? do they know that theres a diffrence between changes in atmosphere over millions of years and over hundreds of years?

[wpditerl]

Oh boy, aftermath66, you make yourself look pretty damn stupid when you cite a source called "The Great Global Warming Swindle" What kind of reputable, serious scientific material would have such a crude name? I don't even need to look it up to know that it is obviously biased and non-scientific. Probably in the same league as "expelled: no intelligence allowed" in terms of integrity. The most embarrassing part for you is that you refer to it as if it holds a lot of weight.

[wpditerl]

Besides being completely and utterly idiotic and a blatant misrepresentation of information, isn't this guy directly breaking the principle of a separation of church and state? Aren't repubs the ones who are always ranting about "real" americans and patriotic shit, then this guy uses religion to directly influence a political decision. Nevermind that it is idiotic. "plant food"!! How about no politicians who are older than 50. These senile old farts haven't been to school in more than 25 years!

[rockmann]

There are about 50 other elements or compounds that could limit plant growth on this planet. Nitrogen, phosphorus, water to name a few. Fuck, even most isolated farmer knows that. Increased carbon does not necessarily mean increased plant growth. That is what the forest service data has shown. There was not a single scientifically accurate statement made in this entire discussion and this concept is 9th grade earth science. Its called the carbon cycle, nitrogen cycle, and water cycle.

[Goose555]

This is retarded. I wonder how plants ever before we began burning fossil fuels.

[VampV04]

So...what's the point of putting carbon dioxide into our atmosphere so that our plants can eat happily, if were deforesting more and more every day...

Republicans think they can argue the right way, but Shimkus is an idiot.

We need younger people in the government, younger people who were born with common sense.

I think theres a very vast amount of things we need fixed. And this congressman is being lazy, and ignorant

[goodinohio]

7000ppm then 400ppm now.

BURN MORE STUFF!

[sarah95pekoe]

my critique comes in lolcat:

teh stupid. it burnz!!!!!1!!!1

if only i cud lolz @ this, then it wudn't be so scareeee.

[darkchiron]

This Shimkus guy is DANGEROUSLY stupid. Why the hell have a non-scientific mind on a committee which requires a scientific mind? You can't go into a committee discussing observed evidence and say "I think we can ignore this because God said it'll be alright."

What the fuck.

[scata99]

If his opinion is representative of millions of religious americans he has a right to be there.

[darkchiron]

They don't have the 'right' to pollute the scientific process with their tales of the supernatural. You cannot have someone interpreting scientific evidence who will deny it all because their dogma tells them to.

That is dangerously stupid.

[whomtheSonsetsfree]

DOGMA??? It's NOT "Dogma" It's the TRUTH!!

[whomtheSonsetsfree]

God gave man the abilities to do these things! WE have a RIGHT to speak out about t=what GODS WORD SAYS!

PERIOD!

[darkchiron]

Believe that all you want. That doesn't give you the right to disregard every study on climate change because you don't think your sky god is going to kill off humanity.

[Alvin691]

@darkchiron So DANGEROUS means correct. Progressives are so silly.

[darkchiron]

@Alvin691 So you still don't disagree with my point that he's stupid? So your position is that he's correctly stupid?

[EnigmaComposer]

that girl from the other video is laughing at this moron (at the end when the giant poster is removed) hahahahaha

[Matty73]

jpbalkenende is right, aftermath,

you most certainly are a retard.

[Mangina9000]

All hail the Jesuses of the Republican Party! Let's make all our decisions based on the rantings of inbred Lords and the gut feelins' of creationist douchebags who fell out of bed and into the House of Congress.

[samisyosam]

Yeah, because we'd all love to be living in the Precambrian period...

Also, why the hell do people keep bringing the bible into this?

[Anoraky]

Was this man like this when he stood for election or did he only recently, go insane ?

[yougavemeheadlice]

I believe that there might be a little more scientific proof for global warming than there is for god.

[2bigguy66]

If you start with what you want to believe, you can find science to back it up. Whether you buy the greenhouse effect or not, the premise is this, the sun heats the earth. The atmosphere, based on its make up, traps the heat, etc. You can buy it or not, but don't be stupid -- at least understand the theory you are trying to debunk. ID TEN T

[Squiffel]

Is this all a big joke? Cut Co2? Did they not go to highschool? Are they trying to kill everyone?

[jpbalkenende]

@Squiffel

First god created the refineries, then he endowed the earth with plants and trees.

Haven't you been paying attention in Bible class?

[givemeabreakhere]

Only an idiot could believe that the air we exhale is a pollutant. Plants do require it to survive. Newsflash: the sun warms the earth, not hot air. Only government subsidized scientists and political tools still cling to this stupid global warming crusade.

[Aftermath66]

I'm glad that there are others who know the truth or have the intelligence to seek it.

[jpbalkenende]

Intelligence? You wouldn't know intelligence if it hit you in the face.

"Newsflash: the sun warms the earth, not hot air." this quote is so dumb I think even 1200 AD clergy would be embarrassed to use it. It's populist drivel science from the gut.

[Aftermath66]

Your right I am an idiot the sun and its solar flares have nothing to to with earth's temperature. Please kill yourself!

[jpbalkenende]

@Afyermath

Solar flares don't last decades. And no you are not an idiot you are borderline retarded.

[Aftermath66]

THE WEATHER ALWAYS CHANGES IT HAS HAPPENED IN THE PAST WITHOUT HUMAN INFLUENCE YOU FUCK NUT... if the earth is heating up due to greenhouse gases then according to the theory the higher the altitude the warmer the air will be. The problem is that our weather balloons are showing the opposite. You need to educate your self before you open your mouth. GOOGLE up "The Great Global Warming Swindle" before you reply to me again. HAVE A NICE DAY

[jpbalkenende]

"if the earth is heating up due to greenhouse gases then according to the theory the higher the altitude the warmer the air will be. The problem is that our weather balloons are showing the opposite"

HOLY CRAP xD I thought you had expended your stupidity quota for the day but you just keep on giving! LMAO!

As I said you are a GENUINE retard, bravo!

[firstlk420]

oh please ttax me tax me tax me!

IT'll Save the planet!!

But only through carbon taxes!!!

Lets just through our money away and switch to electronic currency, then they the Federal government can just take it when they want!

No fuss, no mess.

[jpbalkenende]

Dude nobody is stopping you from putting all of your 'fake' paper and electronic money in gold or whatever paranoid safety haven you have cooked up.

[firstlk420]

Dude, Its easy to make assumptions about how I live an throw me in a category of gun shooting, paranoid, angry, illinformed, nutjobs. But your more intelligent then that and stick to discussing the issues. I'll just sit here in my bunker and curse the world.

God! is everyone a fucking brainless tool of insults and quick judgements? How about a little critical thought. It wont hurt that bad, I promise.

[jpbalkenende]

"Dude, Its easy to make assumptions about how I live an throw me in a category of gun shooting, paranoid, angry, illinformed, nutjobs"

I.. I didn't say you shoot guns...

Anyway you appear to fear some imagined threat of tyranny. Which is annoying considering there are people dealing with ACTUAL tyranny all around the world.

Fact is your fake money buys the same goods today as it did 50 years ago, the slowly declining nominal value of currency doesn't diminish this elementary fact.

[firstlk420]

Dude why do you insist on claiming I was talking about the decline of our monetary system. Re-read my OP and slow your role.  I was sarcastically talking about how everyone is just going "yeah globing warming is a problem" without realizing that our government is saying a solution is to tax carbon emmissions. Do some educated research. There are bills going through congress that will wipe out the rest of the small farming industry for good. Stop talking semantics and discuss thingsinrelation

[jpbalkenende]

Well it very much seems like you were attaching sinister ulterior motives to taxing carbon emissions rather than just... you know Taxing carbon emissions. Pricing in negative externalities.

I think an easy solution to this is (or at least part of) is to distribute whatever revenues the fed gets from Carbon emissions proportionally back to the states it was derived from. So they can reinvest that money in their own state, hopefully making up for loss of production.

[firstlk420]

Unfortunetly, you cant remove important industry and small bussineses through taxation and expect economic stability through the circulation of money. Circulating money doesnt produce anything really. Also, Im am worried about tyranny. If you study history and what taxation overdrive causes, it leads to too much government influence. Baisically free markets would no longer be free. The thing that gets me is no one is even asking questions about loosing our freedoms through monetary policy.

[jpbalkenende]

"Unfortunetly, you cant remove important industry and small bussineses through taxation and expect economic stability through the circulation of money."

If we accept that these industries are levying the negative effects of their production on third parties (which is what an externality is) than their supply demand curve is a distortion that can be fixed by levying those external cost on the producers. Ie a tax.

[firstlk420]

I may have tones of doom and gloom, but I read alot about history and what Taxes represent if they are used to dictate policy.

[jpbalkenende]

"and what Taxes represent if they are used to dictate policy."

No policy dictates taxes.

"If you study history and what taxation overdrive causes, it leads to too much government influence."

You may say this in a matter of fact-ly manner but I'm not going to accept it at face value. Can you be more specific?

[jpbalkenende]

LOL this is so retarded.. The Cambrian era? Yeah sure if us humans model our society, cities, infrastructure and land use after Pangea and the dinosaurs I'm sure we will consult these pseudo scientist crackpots! What a feeble argument it's embarrassing coming from a scientist.

[Wujenli]

AMEN.

[nirbija]

And by the way, how many mammals and humans especially were around to breathe Earth's over abundance of carbon when the level was much higher?

Those who can't appreciate that human activity &pollution can destroy the life-giving environment, are the very ones MOSTLY responsible for polluting earth, water, fire air and space, and make them destructive to human health

Apart from the nasty pollutants coming from fossil fuel, FOSSIL FUEL IS RUNNING OUT!

Time to 'green' & healthy the environment!

[nirbija]

Ha ha ha ha ha! LMAO!

"The earth will not be destroyed by a flood".

That is straight up kristian Krap biblical bull! lol

Tell that to the dead from New Orleans and Mississippi Delta.  Tell them that they were destroyed, not by floods but by lightning and fire, named Katrina!

Bet this idiot was mis-educated and has his brain fried by drugs, just like the dumb bush?

[irisjaye]

Wow, finally, an instance where the GOP can embrace science. When it helps kill the planet.

[bfirepllc]

Wow! Just Wow! We really have total fucking morons representing us in congress.

[pavlopwnsyourface]

It really just angers me and saddens me how ignorant some people in congress are. That they are responsible for making laws is just ridiculous.

[NonRandomNonSense]

Gotta love that girl in the background. They moved the poster too quick before she could conceal her laughter.

[macrumpton]

Of course humans probably would not have been able to survive in the climate of the Cambrian or Triassic eras, but anyway, next slide please...

[jpbalkenende]

Our infrastructure and economy certainly wouldn't survive turning the clock back 600 million years in a century in any recognizable fashion. But I'm sure some mass starvation notwithstanding some humans would survive.

[muiere2]

shame on who elected this Dick..

[hellgas0]

I'm looking at a science fair project, done by a child, by the name of Emily A. Danko. Her objective in the experiment was to see if excessive amounts of CO2 would affect plant and seed growth. Results: The growth of the plants did show significant differences. The more CO2 the plants were exposed to, the less they grew. The most growth was found in the control group, at 12.5 centimeters while the least was found in the group exposed to 20 grams of CO2. This plant only grew to 7.5 centimeters.

[GuitarSpeller]

Shimkus claims he cares about the poor? Shimkus is another shithead republican who blantantly lies about caring about the poor and fights efforts to actually help the poor.

[scata99]

Being against government handouts doesn't mean you don't care about the poor. The entitlement complex and nanny state have gone too far.

[sungmee45]

This congressman is right, regardless of what anyone might want to say...These individual, who are they? How in the world they come up with 7 thousand or other figures...Were they ever born then to state this...They are working for the enviromentalist groups, whom the elite groups control...I would not be surprised, they are getting alot of money to say this.....

[hellgas0]

The congressman is wrong.

[jpbalkenende]

@sungmee

You idiot, that 7000 figure is used in this clip to compound that idiotic congressman's case. Must be painful shooting yourself in the foot?

Hahaha, "HOW DOES HE KNOW? WAS HE ALIVE 4000 YEARS AGO IN THE CAMBREAN ERA WHEN THE EARTH WAS CREATED?".

Really nice going there buddy.

[rawmo]

there is a f***ing zombie right behind that puppet idiot.

[DillonX]

It just gets creeperr.

This guy claims to be a great evangical Christian & yet when he learned of Foley's improper conduct with pages, he kept that a secret, even from the pages, and allowed Foley to take a page to "Morton's" - a high-priced DC steak-house.

I believe when I heard the young kid speak, who seems to be the new hope for the GOP, they ask him where he'd like to go eat fpr his14th birthday & he said "Morton's" - I wonder if he'll sit in the same seat where Foley made his moves?

[greyflcn]

So why is Monkton, a Journalist, at a congressional committee, as a "Expert"?

[TadaStudios]

I think the guy is get pay to say this by the coal and oil companies

[applejelly87]

Um...and what was common across both the Cambrian and the Triassic era? THERE WERE NO HUMANS.

[mistaspot1]

Is this guy in the 4th grade or something?

[alsanch1]

Benighted buffoon.

[dreamdewil]

Great, now I have a headache...

[ajc06]

Ah yes, we just went over the great human civilizations of the Triassic Period in history class.

And I would just.. the basic finish with this comment is "aliens probe ass stop sign elephant."

[bittetotoro]

...what...