House Energy & Commerce Committee

Meet John Shimkus: Anti-Climate Science GOPer Who May Head House Energy Panel

Eric Kleefeld | November 29, 2010, 8:43AM

Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL)

As we survey the Republicans set to take charge of House committee chairmanships, we can see how some of them have said the darnedest things. For example, just look at the possible next chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL).

The committee's current ranking GOPer, Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX), endangered his bid for the chairmanship this past June, when he publicly apologized to BP for the way they were cajoled into setting up a $20 billion escrow fund to compensate victims of that whole underwater oil geyser in the Gulf of Mexico.

But let's take a look at Shimkus, who is a key alternative candidate to Barton for that chairmanship, and his pronouncements on climate policy and other issues -- and how environmental catastrophes cannot possibly happen, because God will not allow it.

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