Cow fart tax just a lot of bull

Jim Sensenbrenner's been getting some media mileage with a claim that Democrats want to tax cow flatulence as a way to fight climate change (which he doesn't believe is happening.) Actually, prim and proper F. Jim says farts, not flatulence, because that's more likely to get attention.

Only one problem: His "fears" are total bullshit.

A dollar hardly covers his emissions

WisPolitics reports on the recent "Future Wisconsin" conference held by conservatives:

U.S. Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Menomonee Falls, made a surprise appearance.

Sensenbrenner began by giving a dollar to the master of ceremonies, WISN-AM talk radio host Jay Weber. He joked that it was to buy a carbon credit to offset the hot air that he was about to give off.

"This issue is back. This issue is alive and well and our beloved governor has signed onto this," Sensenbrenner said, referring to global climate change.

Sensenbrenner believes that conservatives will be able to use climate change as an issue to show that conservatives are on the side of the people in the state of Wisconsin and throughout the country.

After 39 years as a state and federal legislator, Sensenbrenner clearly owes more than a buck.

On polar bears, Sensenbrenner plays ostrich

Environmental News Service reports:

WASHINGTON, DC, January 17, 2008 (ENS) - Key polar bear habitat should be held off limits to oil and gas drilling until federal wildlife officials have determined whether the species should be listed for protection under the Endangered Species Act, the chair of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming said today.

"Order matters," said committee chair Ed Markey a Massachusetts Democrat. "You don't put on your shoes before your socks … and we shouldn't be selling the drilling rights in this important polar bear habitat before deciding how we are going to protect them."

Markey convened the hearing in the wake of an announcement on January 7 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that it will delay a decision on whether the polar bear should be listed as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act.

The delay makes it likely the decision on listing will come after the U.S. Minerals Management Service sells oil and gas leases in Alaska’s Chukchi Sea, inhabited by some 2,000 polar bears.

Guess who objects to the delay? Our guy, F. James Sensenbrenner, a non-believer in climate change.

The scientific evidence indicates "going ahead with the lease will not have a major impact on the habitat of polar bears in this part of the sea across Alaska," said Representative F. James Sensenbrenner, a Wisconsin Republican.

That drew the ire of Representative Jay Inslee, a Washington Democrat, who argued that such a view ignores the growing evidence that global warming is well underway and already harming the polar bear.

"This is the last chance for the polar bear," he said. "It is unbelievable to me that people are still adopting the attitude of the ostrich. One million square miles of the Arctic disappeared this summer … stunning the scientific community. This is visual evidence. It is not theoretical, it is not hypothetical. It is gone."

No word on whether Sensenbrenner was wearing his socks over his shoes.

Kyoto treaty 'a failure' and he seems glad

"A decade after Kyoto, it is clear to me that the [Kyoto] treaty produced far too few results; it is a failure." -- Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner.

Do you think it might have produced more results if the US had participated?

Sensenbrenner, of course, has a long, bad record on global warming. He calls himself a veteran of the climate wars, but it's hard to tell on which side.

Jim Sensenbrenner, climate warrior

When it comes to global warming, Jim Sensenbrenner wants to have it every which way.

He calls himself "a veteran of the climate wars," but it's hard to tell just what it is he's fighting.

The Politco reports:

As the ranking member of the new Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, Sensenbrenner, 64, finds himself in the curious position of leading his party on a committee he dismisses as nothing more than a publicity stunt. In fact, Sensenbrenner voted against the creation of the committee last March...

He acknowledges that Earth is getting warmer. He takes issue, however, with some Democrats, who he thinks are overstating the perils of an increasingly hot planet and unfairly blaming the phenomenon on human beings and the greenhouse gases they help produce.

"How much climate change is caused by human activity and how much is caused by the natural climatic cycle, I don't think there is a real consensus on," he said.

That means George Bush and some conservatives don't agree with the scientific community, which says it is quite clear that humans have a major share of the blame for global warming.

You won't be surprised to hear Sensenbrenner's an Al Gore-hater:

Sensenbrenner also seems to strongly dislike Gore, who he sees as creating unwarranted hysteria over the potential consequences of global warming. Gore's name came up repeatedly during an interview with The Politico, with Sensenbrenner insinuating that Gore had a large role in the hyperbole surrounding the debate.