Toomey on Global Warming’s Causes: “Very Much Disputed”

Congressman Toomey Agrees with Christine O’Donnell on Global Warming

MEDIA, Pa. – This week, the Washington Post and Thinkprogress.org reported that Congressman Toomey doubts the role of human activity as the cause of global warming – a position that puts him in the same camp as fellow Tea Party-backed Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell, but at odds with broad and nearly unanimous scientific consensus. According to the National Academies of Science, the “compelling case that climate change is occurring and is caused in large part by human activities is based on a strong, credible body of evidence.” [National Academies of Science, 5/19/10]

It turns out that Christine O’Donnell and Congressman Toomey share more than just an extreme view on global warming. According to The Hill, global-warming denier Sarah Palin is helping to bankroll their campaigns.  [The Hill, 10/12/2010]

“This is just the latest example of Congressman Toomey’s refusal to hear perspectives that don’t fit into his own narrow mindset, even if those perspectives are backed by a large volume of credible evidence,” said Sestak campaign spokesman Jonathon Dworkin. “But try as he might, Toomey can’t escape from the facts. Pennsylvania needs a public servant dedicated to finding practical solutions to the problems we face, not another closed-minded ideologue bent on insisting that the ‘world is flat.’”

In a recent interview on WITF Radio, Congressman Toomey was asked about his stance on global warming, to which he replied: 

“My view is, I think the data is pretty clear. I think there has been an increase in the surface temperature of the planet over the course of the last hundred years or so. I think it’s clear that that has happened. The extent to which that has been caused by human activity, I think, is not as clear. I think that is still very much disputed, and it’s been debated.” [WITF, 10/4/10]

As Thinkprogress.org wrote, “Pat Toomey, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, agrees with Christine O’Donnell about global warming …Toomey questions the overwhelming scientific evidence that manmade pollution from burning billions of tons of oil and coal is warming the planet. ‘There is much debate in the scientific community as to the precise sources of global warming,’ Toomey told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in June, even though the National Academies of Science have explained that the ‘compelling case that climate change is occurring and is caused in large part by human activities is based on a strong, credible body of evidence.’” [Thinkprogress.org, 10/12/10; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 6/14/10; National Academies of Science, 5/19/10]

The Washington Post added, “The leading beneficiaries of this season of Tea Party craziness are Republican candidates who hold extreme views on specific issues but nonetheless come across as moderate and reasonable when compared to the likes of Sharron Angle and Christine O’Donnell. Case in point: Pennsylvania Senate candidate Pat Toomey.” [Washington Post, 10/12/10]

As who American Spectator described as the “original Tea Party candidate,” it’s no surprise that Congressman Toomey shares the same views as extremist figures like Christine O’Donnell and Sharron Angle (“man-caused climate change mantra of the left”). [American Spectator, 7/21/10; Climatewire, 5/26/10]

And who do they all turn to for funding? None other than global warming-denier Sarah Palin, who according to CBS News equated decades of methodical scientific study as “a bunch of snake oil.” According to The Hill, “Palin donated a total of $10,000 to the Senate campaigns of Christine O’Donnell in Delaware and Kelly Ayotte in New Hampshire. The PAC also gave donations of $5,000 to the Senate campaigns of Marco Rubio (Fla.), Joe Miller (Alaska), Rob Portman (Ohio), Pat Toomey (Pa.), Rand Paul (Ky.) and John Hoeven (N.D.).” [CBS News, 2/9/10; The HIll, 10/12/10]