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from the define-pi==3-has-already-been-tried dept.
It's no secret that some of our federal legislators don't have a firm grip on scientific evidence; it only takes watching a session of the House Science Committee, where one member suggested the climate-driven rise of the oceans might instead be caused by rocks falling into the ocean.
What's often overlooked is that state legislators are even worse (though it's not clear how much this is a product of there simply being more of them). Each year, they oversee a variety of attempts to introduce pseudoscience into the public schools of a number of states.
[...] The legislator in question is Republican Joe Read, who represents an area north of Missoula, home of many fine scientists at the University of Montana. Read has eight bills under consideration in the current session of the legislature, and two of those focus on climate change.
As a result, the [first] bill would prohibit state agencies, officials, and employees from doing anything to cooperate with federal efforts to limit greenhouse gas emissions. If passed, the Montana government "may not implement or enforce in any way any federal regulation, rule, or policy implementing a federal greenhouse gas regulatory program."
But if you thought Read's grasp of constitutional law was shaky, you should check out his reason for objecting to doing anything about climate change. That's laid out in his second bill, which targets both science education and in-state programs designed to reduce carbon emissions. And it doesn't mince words, suggesting that pretty much all the scientists have it wrong: "the [US] National Climate Assessment makes the same errors as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and the National Academy of Sciences is also fundamentally wrong about climate change."
What are those errors? They are not reality based. Rep. Read claims "all Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change arguments to prove claims of increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide have failed," even though we've measured that increase in a number of ways. There are also things that are difficult to comprehend, like the statement that "the carbon-14 data shows that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change claim that human emissions have decreased the 'buffer capacity of the carbonate system' is an invalid claim."
More coverage at the Billings Gazette.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 22 2019, @09:26PM (3 children)
But, if you recall, the result was all sorts of young men in expensive cars their parents bought them coming to Montana from other states, and killing their selves and others, so ultimately "timid" speed limits of 75-80 mph were enacted.
Not to mention that Montana, like other states, caved in to the Reagan administration extortion when the passed the Double Nickel speed limit in the first place, under threat of losing all Federal highway funds.
Point being, Montana is not crazy, it just attracts crazies, like Californicators, Freemen, Maryland Matt, and Greg "Bodyslam" Gianforte, Richard Spencer, and Theodore John Kaczynski. But Joe, it seems, is actually a native-born Montanan, which is a big deal in the state, from Ronan, where there are some Riders. But this also ain't his first Rodeo, as he lost re-election to the Montana Leg in 2012, to Democrat Frosty Boss Ribs [wikipedia.org], after introducing a similarly climate-change denial blll in 2011 [matr.net]. And there is this about Read from Votesmart: "Education: No education information on file." [votesmart.org]
The Fine Summary neglects to mention that Read previously represented District 93, and the both it and District 15 are on parts of the Kootenai/Salish Flathead Reservation.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 22 2019, @10:12PM
Minor edit.
More importantly, District 15 spans from the southeastern part of the Flathead Res, across a major portion of the Bob Marshall Wilderness, to the southern quadrant of the Blackfeet Reservation, almost to Browning. These tribes are traditional enemies. Sounds like a gerrymandered district that only a white republican legislature could have come up with!
(Score: 2) by Joe Desertrat on Saturday February 23 2019, @12:20AM (1 child)
The 55 mph speed limit was passed under Nixon, not Reagan.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 23 2019, @01:34AM
This is incorrect. It was a "different" Republican. States Rights!