March 27 editorial

Rep. Bachmann and global warming


When we elect members to Congress, it’s with the hope that they will serve with a firm grasp on reality and with a mind open enough to at least try to solve even our most vexing of problems.

That doesn’t seem to be the case with U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., at least on the global warming issue.

In a story that’s making state and national headlines this week, Bachmann — who represents the northern suburbs and St. Cloud area — has introduced a bill with the light-hearted title, “Light Bulb Freedom of Choice Act.”

It’s an attempt to repeal a nationwide effort to phase out conventional light bulbs in favor of the longer-lasting, more-efficient compact fluorescent lights, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.

Bachmann argues that she is trying to preserve homeowners’ and others’ rights to use whatever kind of light bulb they want — even if it costs them more in electrical expenses.

We’re not going to fight her on that, although it’s a little silly to discourage the use of more efficient bulbs. People probably should be able to have some choice in how they light their homes.

But there are things behind Bachmann’s bill — including ignoring sound industry advice plus her take on global warming — that make us question her credibility.

The Star Tribune reported Wednesday that Bachmann recently told a meeting of Sherburne County Republicans that any human connection to global warming is “voodoo, nonsense, hokum, a hoax.”

It is unfortunate to hear a congresswoman simply sweep aside reams of evidence under the rug of a conspiracy theory. It does not become her position, nor the debate.

In our view, it is nearly a lock that humans have contributed to global warming in the past three centuries, or since the onset of the Industrial Revolution and the emissions all kinds of machines have kicked into the air.

It is even more of a certainty that humans have contributed in the past half century, with troubling results. In February 2007, a United Nations panel on global climate change concluded humans have “very likely” contributed to the “unequivocal” climate changes of the past 50 years. We’ve done so in measurable ways — the release of carbon dioxide from smokestacks and tailpipes, the wiping out of forests. Other reports have said the amount of carbon dioxide in the air has exploded in the past 300 years, and continues to rise exponentially.

The results have been big and small: Mass calcification of all kinds of shellfish in the ocean, destruction of coral reefs, melting of the Arctic tundra, species of animals and plants being found farther north and at higher altitudes than ever before.

If you want to quarrel with the amount of man’s impact on the changes, fine — but it is irresponsible to dismiss it as voodoo or a hoax.

When Bachmann takes such a stance, she effectively eliminates herself from any credible aspect of the debate — much like a 15th-century Spanish courtier who kept arguing the Earth was flat even after Columbus had come and gone a couple times.

There is wide agreement among scientists, industry, politicians of both parties that man contributes and that we must act to limit our contributions to warming while we can.

Even on the light-bulb issue, there is a partnership between two groups you sometimes don’t see together, the Star Tribune reported: Environmental groups and electrical and manufacturing industries all agree that the compact fluorescent bulbs are better for the environment.

They contain mercury, which is an environmental hazard, yes, but supporters say that because they last so much longer than a conventional bulb, they actually expend less mercury over the long run when compared that from the electricity needed to light a conventional bulb.

Again, that’s probably a separate debate.

But it gets to Bachmann’s views of science and the earth — there is a real connection, measurable and verifiable. There isn’t some shirtless guy in a hut poking a needle into a globe.



n Correction: Wednesday’s editorial incorrectly said the mass execution of Indians in 1862 took place at Fort Snelling. The hangings were in Mankato.