Ron Johnson, a wealthy business executive and leading Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Wisconsin this year, is beginning to receive scrutiny for his extremist views. Last month he was asked whether or not he agreed that “man-caused global warming is a proven fact.” His reply:
I totally disagree…I’m always surprised that people think this is the sweet spot in global history in terms of this is where we should be climate-wise. We live in Wisconsin — I’m glad there’s global warming or we’d be standing on top of a 200 ft. thick glacier. So I think it’s absolutely not proven, and for us to be contemplating fixing something that is not proven is absurd.
Yes, that’s what’s absurd. For a debunking of the truly absurd standard right wing talking point about the “sweet spot,” see:
- Must have PPT #1: The narrow temperature window that gave us modern human civilization
- Humans boosting CO2 14,000 times faster than nature, overwhelming slow negative feedbacks
- Science: CO2 levels haven’t been this high for 15 million years, when it was 5° to 10°F warmer and seas were 75 to 120 feet higher “” “We have shown that this dramatic rise in sea level is associated with an increase in CO2 levels of about 100 ppm.”
- Nature Geoscience study: Oceans are acidifying 10 times faster today than 55 million years ago when a mass extinction of marine species occurred
Think Progress has more on Johnson in this cross-post.
Johnson has been criticized recently for opposing an anti-sex offenders bill, the Child Victim Act,.” Last month, when asked if he would support drilling for oil in the Great Lakes, Johnson “” who owns more than $100,000 in BP stock “” replied, “I think we have to, get the oil where it is.” At a town hall on Wednesday in Howards Grove, Wisconsin, ThinkProgress asked Rep. Tom Petri (R-WI) “” who was sporting a Ron Johnson for Senate bumper sticker “” if he agreed with Johnson’s support for Great Lakes oil drilling. Petri said he personally hasn’t supported Great Lakes drilling, but seemed genuinely baffled by Johnson’s radical views, and refused to comment:
TP: Ron Johnson, the Senate candidate here in Wisconsin, says he opposes the drilling moratorium and he even goes as far as saying he wants drilling everywhere, even possibly the Great Lakes. Would you support that kind of position?
PETRI: Well I haven’t but I don’t know the details of what exactly is being talked about and I sort of hate to respond to someone else’s characterization of an individual’s position without knowing what they actually said myself.
Anti-government, anti-regulation radicals running for U.S. Senate this year have shocked even GOP lawmakers with their political positions. Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), who helped Kentucky Republican Rand Paul win his primary earlier this year, was surprised to learn of Paul’s opposition to the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Civil Rights act, when asked by ThinkProgress. DeMint said he would have supported the Civil Rights Act, quickly distancing himself from Paul.