Rep. Joe Barton cited the Great Flood as depicted in the Bible as evidence that climate change has not been entirely caused by humans, arguing there’s a “divergence of evidence” on the causes of global warming.
The Texas Republican made the comments at a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing Wednesday on legislation to authorize the much-debated Keystone XL pipeline,
according to ABC News.
“I would point out that if you’re a believer in the Bible, one would have to say the Great Flood is an example of climate change, and that certainly wasn’t because mankind had overdeveloped hydrocarbon energy,” Barton reportedly said.
The congressman said even though he supports hydrocarbon development, he doesn’t deny the climate is changing.
“I think you can have an honest difference of opinion on what’s causing that change without automatically being either all-in — that’s all because of mankind or it’s all just natural. I think there’s a divergence of evidence,” he said.
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