Atmospheric CO2 Is At A Record Level (& Still Climbing)

The following is from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration:

Carbon dioxide is accumulating in the atmosphere faster than ever — accelerating on a steep rise to levels far above any experienced during human existence, scientists from NOAA and the Scripps Institution of Oceanographyoffsite link at the University of California San Diego announced today.

Scientists at Scripps, the organization that initiated CO2 monitoring at Mauna Loa in 1958 and maintains an independent record, calculated a May monthly average of 426.7 ppm for 2024, an increase of 2.92 ppm over May 2023’s measurement of 423.78 ppm. For Scripps, the two-year jump tied a previous record set in 2020.

From January through April, NOAA and Scripps scientists said CO2 concentrations increased more rapidly than they have in the first four months of any other year. The surge has come even as one highly regarded international reportoffsite link has found that fossil fuel emissions, the main driver of climate change, have plateaued in recent years.

“Over the past year, we’ve experienced the hottest year on record, the hottest ocean temperatures on record and a seemingly endless string of heat waves, droughts, floods, wildfires and storms,” said NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad, Ph.D. “Now we are finding that atmospheric CO2 levels are increasing faster than ever. We must recognize that these are clear signals of the damage carbon dioxide pollution is doing to the climate system, and take rapid action to cut fossil fuel use as quickly as we can.” 

Ralph Keeling, director of the Scripps CO2 program that manages the institution’s 56-year-old measurement series, noted that year-to-year increase recorded in March 2024 was the highest for both Scripps and NOAA in Keeling Curve history. 

“Not only is CO2 now at the highest level in millions of years, it is also rising faster than ever,” said Keeling. “Each year achieves a higher maximum due to fossil-fuel burning, which releases pollution in the form of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Fossil fuel pollution just keeps building up, much like trash in a landfill.” 

Atmospheric CO2 At Highest Level In Last 3 Million Years

(This image was found at slideshare.net.)

A few days ago, I told you about the fact that January of 2020 was the hottest month since records have been kept (about 141 years). Now we learn of an even more frightening statistic. A recent National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) report says there is now more CO2 in the atmosphere than in the last 3,000,000 years.

We simply cannot afford to keep the climate-denying Republicans in control of the White House or Congress any longer. We are running out of time, and more delay in addressing global climate change (global warming) will be disastrous. We are already past the point where we could have prevented significant climate change. But we can still mitigate the damage if we act quickly.

Here is part of what Jordan Davidson at EcoWatch reports about the NOAA report:


According to a recent National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) report, the last time carbon dioxide levels were this high was 3 million years ago "when temperature was 2°–3°C (3.6°–5.4°F) higher than during the pre-industrial era, and sea level was 15–25 meters (50–80 feet) higher than today."

That period, the Pilocene Era, is unrecognizable from today. Giant camels walked around on the ice-free land above the Arctic Circle, as NBC News reported.

Earth first passed the 400 million parts per million of CO2 in the atmosphere in 2013. Rather than take it as a dire warning, we have become inured to that level of concentration and have seen it rise slightly in subsequent years. In 2018, the concentration was 407.4 parts per million (ppm), according to NOAA. This year, CO2 concentrations are predicted to peak at 417 ppm, according to NBC News.

That level will put humans in new, unfamiliar territory. "For millions of years, we haven't had an atmosphere with a chemical composition as it is right now," said Martin Siegert, co-director of the Grantham Institute at Imperial College London, to NBC News.

In fact, just two weeks ago, on Feb. 10, NOAA's Mauna Loa Observatory, an atmospheric baseline station in Hawaii, recorded the daily average of CO2 levels on as 416.08 parts per million, according to Common Dreams.

Carbon Dioxide concentrations are an effective measure of how many fossil fuels we are burning. Coal and crude oil contain carbon that plants have pulled out of the atmosphere through photosynthesis over million of years. However, in short order, human activity has returned that trapped carbon back into the atmosphere, as NOAA reported. . . .

Elevated concentrations of carbon dioxide are a hallmark of the climate crisis since they are associated with higher temperatures, melting ice and sea level rise, among other effects. . . .

Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is also notable for its contribution to ocean acidification. According to NOAA, when CO2 reacts with water molecules, it produces carbonic acid and lowers the ocean's pH. Already, the ocean's surface pH has dropped from 8.21 in pre-industrial times to 8.10.

"The rate of rise in the last decade has been faster than previous decades," said Betts, as NBC Newsreported. "We're just tracking ever onwards, and 400 ppm is now a distant memory."

Global CO2 Emissions Rose Again In 2019

The chart above is from the Global Carbon Budget by the Global Carbon Project.

It shows that a disturbing trend continues. Worldwide carbon emissions (CO2) rose again in 2019, and is again at a record level. The rise was lower than in recent years (2019 - 0.6%, 2018 - 2.1%, 2017 - 1.5%), but that still means climate change is getting worse -- not better. We need a significant reduction in CO2 emissions -- not a slower increase.

Coal is still the worst in producing these emissions, but it actually decreased by 0.9% in 2019. Oil increased by 0.9% and gas increased by 2.6%.

In the Paris Accords, the nations of the world agreed to reduce the emissions causing global warming. This new report shows they are not yet doing that. It could well be because the United States announced it was withdrawing from the agreement, and did away with a lot of its environmental regulations. When the United States (one of the worst offenders) won't reduce its emissions, that encourages other nations to follow suit.

Record Fossil Fuel Burning In 2017 (Producing Record CO2)

The chart above shows the amount of carbon dioxide pumped into the atmosphere since 1959. When the Paris Accords were signed, it was hoped that this increase would stop. It has not. A record amount of fossil fuels are being burned this year, producing a record amount of carbon dioxide.

The following is just part of an article at Alternet, written by Damian Carrington (for The Guardian):

The burning of fossil fuels around the world is set to hit a record high in 2017, climate scientists have warned, following three years of flat growth that raised hopes that a peak in global emissions had been reached.

The expected jump in the carbon emissions that drive global warming is a “giant leap backwards for humankind”, according to some scientists. . . .

Global emissions need to reach their peak by 2020 and then start falling quickly in order to have a realistic chance of keeping global warming below the 2C danger limit, according to leading scientists. Whether the anticipated increase in CO2 emissions in 2017 is just a blip that is followed by a falling trend, or is the start of a worrying upward trend, remains to be seen.

Much will depend on the fast implementation of the global climate deal sealed in Paris in 2015 and this is the focus of the U.N. summit of the world’s countries in Bonn, Germany this week. The nations must make significant progress in turning the aspirations of the Paris deal into reality, as the action pledged to date would see at least 3C of warming and increasing extreme weather impacts around the world.

The 12th annual Global Carbon Budget report published on Monday is produced by 76 of the world’s leading emissions experts from 57 research institutions and estimates that global carbon emissions from fossil fuels will have risen by 2% by the end of 2017, a significant rise.

“Global CO2 emissions appear to be going up strongly once again after a three-year stable period. This is very disappointing,” said Prof Corinne Le Quéré, director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at the UK’s University of East Anglia and who led the new research. “The urgency for reducing emissions means they should really be already decreasing now.”

“There was a big push to sign the Paris agreement on climate change but there is a feeling that not very much has happened since, a bit of slackening,” she said. “What happens after 2017 is very open and depends on how much effort countries are going to make. It is time to take really seriously the implementation of the Paris agreement.” She said the hurricanes and floods seen in 2017 were “a window into the future”.

The new analysis is based on the available energy use data for 2017 and projections for the latter part of the year. It estimates that 37bn tonnes of CO2 will be emitted from burning fossil fuels, the highest total ever.

Climate Change Is NOT The Only Problem With Rising CO2

There has been much discussion of the effect of greenhouse gases on global climate change (especially carbon dioxide, which is the primary greenhouse gas). And this should be enough to cause humans to take action to control the rising CO2 levels (which is currently at 400 parts per million, and rising). But now there is evidence that climate change is not the only problem associated with elevated levels of CO2. Studies now show that elevated CO2 levels also affect the cognitive and decision-making abilities of humans. This is some pretty scary stuff, and I urge you to read the entire article at Think Progress.

Here is part of that thought-provoking article:

In a landmark public health finding, a new study from the Harvard School of Public Health finds that carbon dioxide (CO2) has a direct and negative impact on human cognition and decision-making. These impacts have been observed at CO2 levels that most Americans — and their children — are routinely exposed to today inside classrooms, offices, homes, planes, and cars. 

Carbon dioxide levels are inevitably higher indoors than the baseline set by the outdoor air used for ventilation, a baseline that is rising at an accelerating rate thanks to human activity, especially the burning of fossil fuels. So this seminal research has equally great importance for climate policy, providing an entirely new public health impetus for keeping global CO2 levels as low as possible. . .

Significantly, the Harvard study confirms the findings of a little-publicized 2012 Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) study, “Is CO2 an Indoor Pollutant? Direct Effects of Low-to-Moderate CO2 Concentrations on Human Decision-Making Performance.” That study found “statistically significant and meaningful reductions in decision-making performance” in test subjects as CO2 levels rose from a baseline of 600 parts per million (ppm) to 1000 ppm and 2500 ppm.

Both the Harvard and LBNL studies made use of a sophisticated multi-variable assessment of human cognition used by a State University of New York (SUNY) Upstate Medical University team, led by Dr. Usha Satish. Both teams raised indoor CO2 levels while leaving all other factors constant. The findings of each team were published in the peer-reviewed open-access journal Environmental Health Perspectives put out by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, a part of NIH.

The new study, led by Dr. Joe Allen, Director of Harvard’s Healthy Buildings program, and Dr. John Spengler, Professor of Environmental Health and Human Habitation at Harvard, used a lower CO2 baseline than the earlier study. They found that, on average, a typical participant’s cognitive scores dropped 21 percent with a 400 ppm increase in CO2. . .

The researchers explain, “The largest effects were seen for Crisis Response, Information Usage, and Strategy, all of which are indicators of higher level cognitive function and decision-making.” The entire article is a must-read as is the LBNL-SUNY study. . .

All of this new research is consistent with — and actually helps explain — literally dozens of studies in the past two decades that find low to moderate levels of CO2 have a negative impact on productivity, learning, and test scores. See here for a research note and bibliography of some 20 studies and review articles.

For most of human evolution and modern history, CO2 levels in the air were in a fairly narrow and low range of 180 to 280 parts per million. Also, during the vast majority of that time, humans spent most of their time outdoors or in enclosures that were open (like a cave). Even once humans built dwellings, those were not tightly sealed as modern buildings are. So even though we generate and breathe out CO2, homo sapiens were not generally exposed to high, sustained CO2 levels.

But in recent decades, outdoor CO2 levels have risen sharply, to a global average of 400 ppm. Moreover, measured outdoor CO2 levels in major cities from Phoenix to Rome can be many tens of ppm higher — up to 100 ppm or more — than the global average. That’s because CO2 “domes” form over many cities primarily due to CO2 emissions from traffic and local weather conditions. 

The outdoor CO2 level is the baseline for indoor levels. In buildings — the places where most people work and live — CO2 concentrations are considerably higher than outdoors. CO2 levels indoors that are 200 ppm to 400 ppm higher than outdoors are commonplace — not surprising since the design standard for CO2 levels in most buildings is 1000 ppm. In addition, that differential increases when more people are crammed into a space and when the ventilation is not adequate. As the Harvard researchers point out, in recent decades, buildings have become more tightly sealed, and there has been less exchange of inside air with fresh outside air. . .

But the implications for climate policy are stark. We are at 400 parts per million (ppm) of CO2 today outdoors globally — and tens of ppm higher in many major cities. We are rising at a rate of 2+ ppm a year, a rate that is accelerating. Significantly, we do not know the threshold at which CO2 levels begin to measurably impact human cognition.

The LBNL study found a measurable negative impact on human cognition at 1000 ppm. The Harvard researchers had a more comprehensive study that found significant negative impact at 930 ppm. Moreover, many measurements made by the Harvard team point to a much lower threshold, as the top figure shows. Equally important, the researchers found “The exposure-response between CO2 and cognitive function is approximately linear across the concentrations used in this study.” So the impact threshold may be quite below 930 ppm. Clearly more research needs to be done to solve this detective story.

The latest IEQ research does offer strong suggestions that the threshold could be near (or possibly even below) levels the entire world could experience outdoors over the next hundred years — levels that are essentially irreversible for centuries.

As one clue to where that threshold may be, we can turn to recent research from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) for the U.S. General Services Administration, which found a threshold of about 600 ppm. At 1,282 workstations in 64 diverse buildings across the country, CMU measured CO2 levels and surveyed occupancy perception of air quality. . .

We have to do everything we can to keep outdoor CO2 levels below 600 ppm because something serious starts happening then.

Note in the chart below that we are currently heading toward levels of outdoor global CO2 that will affect humans. If we do nothing (which is what we are currently doing), the level by 2100 will be about 910 ppm. If the countries actually do what they say they want to do, the level will be about 675 ppm by 2100 -- a level that is still far too high (and will both cause serious global climate change, and significantly affect human cognitive and decision-making abilities). We must take radical action to protect both the environment and humanity. Not doing so is simply unthinkable.

CO2 Is At A record Level And It's Continues To Rise

The Republicans love to deny the global climate change (i.e., global warming) that is happening by saying that there has always been a cycle of warming and cooling -- and that this is completely natural (and not man-made). They are partially right.

The chart above, from the NOAA/Scripps Institution (and reported by the NY Times), shows the cycle of rising a falling amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere for the last 800,000 years. CO2 is the primary cause of the global warming. It has indeed cycled up and down over that extended period.

But there is a problem with the cycle theory. Over that 800,000 year period, the amount of CO2 in the air has never exceeded 300 parts per million. But now it is for the first time reaching 400 parts per million (more than 33% higher than it has ever been). How is this happening? The obvious answer is that humans have indeed had a deleterious effect on the environment (through the overuse and abuse of fossil fuels).

Scientists now say this is very likely the last year that will report levels of carbon dioxide under 400 ppm. The El Nino weather phenomenon will help push the CO2 level well above 400 ppm, and although it has been above that level for short periods in the past, they don't think it will fall back below the 400 ppm level again. In fact, they say that even if we take action to lower the CO2 level, it may well take several generations to get it back below the 400 ppm level again.

We are letting this global climate change get out of hand -- and it's just being done to protect corporate profits (so they don't have to pay to clean up the mess they are creating). I wonder if future generations will accept that as a valid excuse. I suspect they will consider us a greedy and inconsiderate generation of fools -- uncaring people who didn't consider the future (or those who would have to live in it).

GOP & Public Disagree On EPA Regulations

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has just announced new and stricter regulations for new power plants -- regulations that will mandate they produce a much lower level of CO2 emissions (which is a primary cause of global climate change). The regulations are something the Obama administration can do without congressional approval.

But the congressional GOP is upset about the new regulations -- first, because they oppose everything proposed by President Obama (just because it was proposed by the president), and second, because most of those congressional Republicans sold out long ago to the energy industry (both the oil, gas, & coal industries, and the electricity producers who use those energy sources).

And those GOP representatives in the House of Representatives are planning to eliminate the new regulations. When the debt ceiling fight comes up next month, they are planning to demand the new EPA regulations be abandoned (along with the defunding of Obamacare) -- or they will cause the nation to default on its debts by refusing to raise the debt ceiling. The problem is that it once again puts the Republicans at odds with the desires of most Americans.

That is the findings of a new Rasmussen Poll (done on September 20th and 21st of 1,000 likely nationwide voters, with a 3 point margin of error). That survey found that 53% of likely voters agree with the new EPA regulations, while only 33% oppose them (and 14% don't know what they think about those regulations).

Atmospheric CO2 Still Growing Rapidly

Perhaps the most problematic of the greenhouse gases is carbon dioxide (CO2), because it is almost completely due to humans burning carbon based fuels. For the last 800,000 years, the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere remained constant at about 280 parts per million. But after the start of the Industrial Revolution, the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere began to rise -- and about mid-20th century, it began to rise rapidly (as more and more burning of carbon-based fuels occurred).

But we are now poised to set a milestone record in atmospheric CO2. This year will mark the first time in human history that the average CO2 in the atmosphere will top 400 parts per million for sustained periods. Scripps Institution geochemist Ralph Keeling said, "I wish it weren't true, but it looks like the world is going to blow through the 400-ppm level without missing a beat. At this pace we'll hit 450-ppm within a few decades."

Why is this important? Because the higher the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere, the more damage is caused to the global climate. Climate scientists have generally agreed that to prevent any global climate change, the CO2 concentration should remain no larger than 350-ppm. We have already topped that, and are reaping the consequences now with severe weather changes.

We are already at the point where it could take many decades to get the CO2 concentration back down to 350-ppm (if immediate action was taken). If we continue to do nothing and let the concentrations of CO2 grow, we could soon reach the point where it would take hundreds of years to get the concentration back down to a manageable level -- meaning we are probably sentencing our children, grand-children, and great-grand-children to an ever-worsening climate disaster.

The nations of the world should be getting together to take significant action to correct this problem (or at least stop the increase in CO2 concentration -- so the Earth can begin to heal). But all they are doing is meeting every now and then to argue about the situation -- and nothing is being accomplished.

The two biggest offenders in increasing the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere are the United States and China. Neither of these nations should be waiting for world agreement on the problem. The U.S. could take unilateral action to drastically cut the CO2 it adds to the atmosphere, and most of the nations of the world would follow our lead -- and put enormous pressure on China to do the same.

Unfortunately, nothing will be done in this country as long as the Republicans retain control of either branch of Congress -- because they simply don't accept the reality of science (believing it is trumped by their 2000 year old religion). The choice we have is clear -- either vote the GOP out of power, or wait until it is too late to take effective action.

(NOTE -- I made the above chart with information from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.)

CO2 Pollution Is Still Rising Worldwide

As far as the scientific community is concerned the evidence for man-made global climate change (commonly called global warming) is overwhelming -- so much so that it is accepted as fact by more than 95% of all scientists, and more than 98% of all climate scientists. And these scientists have issued a clear warning. They say that action must be taken to reduce the warming to a maximum of 2 degrees Celsius (or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), because a rise in average temperature above that level would result in serious and devastating climate changes.

Unfortunately, the corporate interests and too many national leaders lack the will to take the necessary action. In fact, this lack of will is actually allowing the situation to grow worse each year. And it has now reached the point where many scientists no longer believe the warming can be limited to the desired goal of 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit). They say significant action would have to be taken immediately to stick to those goals. Obviously, that is not going to happen.

Just look at the latest figures. According to the journal Nature Climate Change, the amount of new CO2 released into the worldwide atmosphere increased by 3% last year, or about 1 billion pounds more than the previous year. That means that all nations combined pumped about 38.2 billion pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere last year (or about 2.4 million pounds every second) -- and there's no reason to believe it won't pump even more into the atmosphere this year. To say that nothing is being done to curtail global climate change would be an understatement.

To his credit, President Obama is trying to get something done (through actions like the EPA restricting cross-state pollution, and the increase in fuel efficiency requirements for vehicles). His administration's actions are responsible for the U.S. registering a small decrease in the amount of CO2 it is releasing (one of only two countries showing a decrease -- the other being Germany, which is aggressively moving toward clean and renewable energy sources). But congressional Republicans still deny the fact of global climate change, and still block attempts by the administration to take significant action to reduce CO2 emissions.

And corporate propaganda questioning climate science has caused the American public to be very slow in recognizing the seriousness of this problem. Although a majority of Americans finally believe that global warming is real, too many still doubt that it is man-made. This gives political cover to the congressional climate-deniers, and allows the corporations to continue polluting without any real penalties (or having to pay to clean up their own mess).

Unfortunately, this means that very little will be done worldwide. Since the United States is one of the biggest users of energy and abusers of fossil fuels to create that energy (with only China being worse), other nations will not be compelled to take action until the United States (and China) do so. Like it or not, this is one area in which the United States must take a leadership role, because if it doesn't the world will move inexorably toward disaster an an increasing rate. The best case scenario for our grandchildren and great-grandchildren would be a serious decline in the standard of living, and the worst case would be a world incapable of sustaining human life.

Here are the 10 worst offenders, and the amount of CO2 pollution each pumped into the atmosphere last year:

1. China...........10 billion tons
2. United States..........5.9 billion tons
3. India..........2.5 billion tons
4. Russia..........1.8 billion tons
5. Japan..........1.3 billion tons
6. Germany..........0.8 billion tons
7. Iran..........0.7 billion tons
8. South Korea..........0.6 billion tons
9. Canada..........0.6 billion tons
10. South Africa..........0.6 billion tons

CO2. Are We Doing Too Little Too Late ?

For years now, we have been arguing about global climate change (commonly called "global warming") and whether it is caused by increasing levels of CO2 in the atmosphere. Most of the world's scientists believe we are nearing the tipping point, beyond which will cause global catastrophe. Conservatives disagree, saying it is natural for CO2 levels to rise and fall and we shouldn't burden our corporations over something that is natural.

Both sides have a point. It is undeniable that CO2 levels have risen and fell in the past. It is also undeniable that there is a point beyond which serious damage to the world's environment will occur. But what is the tipping point, and how much have the levels of CO2 varied in the past (without causing damage to the environment)?

It has been hard to answer these questions in the past, because all we had to go on were ice core samples. The ice core samples will only take us back about 800,000 years. Fortunately, scientists have now developed a method for seeing CO2 levels much farther back in time -- about 20 million years. And what they've found is kind of scary.

This new method involves taking sediment cores from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. That gives them the ratios of boron and calcium in the shells of tiny marine organisms called foraminifera. This ration gives them the ph of the water as far back as twenty million years ago, and from that ph they can figure the level of CO2 in the air at any particular time.

Our current level of CO2 in the air is slightly less than 400ppm, and scientists expect we will reach the 400ppm level in about a decade (or less). The International Energy Agency, in it's prescription for controlling CO2 levels, sees them topping out at 510ppm before stabilizing at 450ppm. The energy bill recently introduced in the U.S. Senate also uses the 450ppm figure as a target.

The new research takes us back to the Miocene period, which started a little over twenty million years ago. At that time, the CO2 levels were at 400ppm (about what they are now). This was probably caused by prolonged volcanic activity in the Columbia River Basin in North America.

But the scary part is that at that time, there were no ice caps at the north and south poles. And the sea level was 80-130 feet higher than today. The CO2 level began to decline about 14 million years ago, causing the gradual growth of the ice caps and the gradual lowering of ocean levels. Since that time, the CO2 level has fluctuated naturally between 180ppm and 280ppm.

While the pro-corporate conservatives are correct that there have been natural fluctuations, we have surpassed the high end of that fluctuation for many years now. At 400ppm and beyond we are approaching the tipping point, beyond which we will no longer be able to avoid catastrophe.

We have been debating whether 450ppm of CO2 in the air is doable. That may well be the wrong question. Considering the new research, we should be asking if 450ppm is too high a level to avert disaster. After all, the ice caps are already melting and we are not quite up to the 400ppm level of CO2.

Even if we are able to stabilize the level of CO2 at 450ppm (and that looks doubtful at present), we may just be slowing the coming disaster instead of preventing it. And that's just not good enough.

While some of our lawmakers (and those in other countries) are talking about stabilizing CO2 levels, there doesn't seem to be any urgency in their actions. Sadly, there doesn't seem to be much urgency among the general population either. It's almost as if everyone believes this is a problem, but we have a lot of time to deal with it. All we have to do is pass a law or two, but not ones that would alter our lives, and everything will be all right.

It would be nice if that were true, but this new research shows us it's not. We may already be at or closely approaching the tipping point. Immediate and radical action is necessary. We cannot continue to build coal plants and placate ourselves with myths of "clean coal".

We must stop polluting our air with more and more CO2. If we cannot immediately develop and transfer to really clean forms of energy, then we need to cut our energy use and change our lifestyle.

The alternative is unthinkable for our children and grandchildren.

Joe Barton Is An Embarrassment

"Smokey Joe" Barton (R-Texas) has been an embarrassment to his home state for years, but lately it seems he's completely lost his mind. Never mind that scientists all over the world agree that global climate change is due to all the excess CO2 that man is pumping into the atmosphere. Never mind that even such conservatives as George Bush have finally admitted CO2 is causing global climate change. Never mind that the EPA has declared CO2 to be a pollutant.

"Smokey Joe" has decided that everyone else is wrong he is right, and don't try to confuse him with facts. Industrial polluters are filling his campaign coffers, so they can't be wrong. Just listen to the nonsense he's been spouting lately:

“I would also point out that CO2, carbon dioxide, is not a pollutant in any normal definition of the term. … I am creating it as I talk to you. It’s in your Coca-Cola, you’re Dr. Pepper, your Perrier water. It is necessary for human life. It is odorless, colorless, tasteless, does not cause cancer, does not cause asthma.”

“And something that the Democrat sponsors do not point out, a lot of the CO2 that is created in the United States is naturally created. You can’t regulate God. Not even the Democratic majority in the US Congress can regulate God.”

“If you think greenhouse gases are bad, life couldn’t exist without greenhouse gases. … So, there is a, there is a climate theory — and it’s a theory, it’s not a fact, it’s never been proven — that increasing concentrations of CO2 in the upper atmosphere somehow interact to trap more heat than the atmosphere would otherwise.”

Barton seems to think the voters in his district (just south of the DFW Metroplex) are idiots, and will return him to Congress no matter what he says or does. Maybe he's right. He's been protecting the corporations over his constituents for years and he keeps getting re-elected.

Texans should be ashamed of some of the nuts we send to Congress.