When Nancy Pelosi ruled the House of Representatives with an iron fist, one could chuckle at Republicans who came to committee hearings quoting scripture as the rationale for their positions on energy policy. But now, when one of those very same Republicans is in the running for the chairmanship of the House Energy and Commerce committee, it just doesn’t seem so funny.
[…John Shimkus, R-Ill] starts by quoting Genesis 8, Verses 21 and 22, in which God makes Noah a promise.
Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though all inclinations of his heart are evil from childhood and never again will I destroy all living creatures as I have done.
As long as the earth endures, seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, will never cease.
Shimkus continues: “The earth will end only when God declares its time to be over. Man will not destroy this earth. This earth will not be destroyed by a flood.”
I’m glad that John Shimkus can sleep at night, faithful that that God’s word is “infallible, unchanging, perfect.” But for those of us who are less confident in humanity’s ability to keep from massively screwing up, the thought that the Bible will be determining government energy policy is massively ulcer-inducing.
#22 I suspect that there ARE several elected atheist politicians right here in the good old USA. But they aren’t stupid enough to admit it!
My stepfather’s father was an atheist Baptist Minister. Needless to day, he kept his actual beliefs well hidden from the public.
Sadly, for the foreseeable future, you pretty much MUST admit to some religious affiliation in order to attain elected offices (higher than say county supervisor) in the USA. Maybe in the year 2525, if man is still alive.
these are the most bigoted, hateful and lame ass comments i’ve ever seen. You libs always manage to one up yourselves. congratz
@jman
Ever get out of your mom’s basement?
jman
I don’t trust governments. I don’t trust religions. You’re telling me that some bloody awful concoction of the two is going to be better?
This wouldnt be any worse than carbon credits.
This is opposed to the Obama Administration, which believes energy policy should be based on lying about experts agreeing with them.
http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=336F1906-ADD8-D678-CA4D64A4EC1C59CA
Using the bible to justify the abuse of God’s creation is an abomination.
MikeN said,
Let me guess… you DON’T believe in the science of climate change but you DO believe in the myth that Bush’s tax cuts for the rich created jobs?
see how soon we forget how the wing nuts ruled their committees and agencies.now it has come to bible policy…
alfie boy:
There are lots of conservatives who are concerned about carbon emission levels. Toss cap and trade (too fucking complicated).
Here’s a good conservative proposal:
The US is most countries biggest trading partner and this is a strength you can exploit. Reduce payroll taxes and the amount of that reduction would be applied as a tax on carbon dioxide emissions. This would mainly hit coal plants and natural gas facilities.
This tax would be removed from exported goods and imposed on imported products. This would neutralize the competitive advantage on nations like China and India. It would also improve US workers price point on goods.
Of course, this is a bad idea. It involves policy and thought. It involves stopping and thinking for 5 minutes. Better go to your bible/koran/torah (it’s all the same porridge) and see what some pre-medieval goat herder said about trade policy.
Import duties are illegal under the wto. Course, for a few more years, we are the biggest bear in the woods. Who’s more hurt by a lack of consumer goods? The consumers or the providers?
Just too sad we are losing a fight/war that we refuse to recognize. Thats very Dumbocrap of the entire Congress: Dem’s being spineless and the Pukes being corrupt makes us a comatose giant being fed on by the velociraptors.