An online beef over climate change could be brewing between Barbra Streisand and Republican Sen. Jim Inhofe.
Brooklyn-born diva Babs may have a soft, velvety voice and skin like butter, but she won’t be winning the affections of Inhofe (R-Okla.), who has blamed her and others who believe in science for what he calls the “hoax” of climate change.
As reported in Mother Jones, Inhofe told a reporter covering the 2009 United Nations climate conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, “Hollywood liberals and extreme environmentalists” are responsible for the hoodwink. And its being done to “to advance their radical environmental agenda,” he added.
When pressed by the reporter to name who was to blame, he replied, “the whole liberal crowd,” and then said it was Babs’ bad.
“Barbra Streisand,” he singled out.
Though that same year NASA found that 97 percent of climate scientists believe “climate-warming trends over the past century are very likely due to human activities,” Inhofe has long denied that climate change is real. He has used the Bible to refute it and claims God controls the temperature of the planet. His 2012 book is titled “The Greatest Hoax: How The Global Warming Conspiracy Threatens Your Future.”
Even more frightening? Inhofe is in line to become the chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee — where he and his fellow deniers will no doubt continue their campaign that blames the overregulation of clean air and water for driving up costs.
His press office Twitter feed frequently uses the hashtag #ReinInEPA with links to articles about liberal environmental conspiracy.
Read more: Deal with Global Warming — or Get Ready for a Never-ending Swim
Last week Streisand also took to Twitter to defend herself from Inhofe’s loony allegations. On Dec. 2, she Tweeted a reply to the climate change deniers and Hollywood blamers. She retweeted the story where Inhofe made the comment and tweeted:
Which was followed by:
A few things are pretty clear: Climate change is certainly not a hoax, and Streisand, unless she is in good with The Big Guy (or Gal), has no control over Earth’s climate.
Read more: Like a Real-Life Disaster Movie, Western Antarctica is Melting
What’s less obvious is why conservative politicians continue to engage in this kind of preposterous cultural war, blaming coastal liberals for screwing everything up. No doubt this is a very politically divided country, but claiming it’s a hoax does nothing to tackle these complex issues — or help our country reach any goals. It’s nothing but counterproductive and retrograde.
Haven’t Republicans figured this out yet? Or have they been emboldened to lie to the American people again after victories in November’s midterm elections?
What kind of a message does that send to the rest of the world?
If Inhofe is so concerned with accuracy and hoaxes, maybe he should apologize, read some scientific research and engage in real debate that is grounded in reality before opening his big mouth.
Or maybe Inhofe doesn’t think that is the job of Congress. Blaming Hollywood, East Coast Liberals and engaging in far-flung accusations won’t help either, though.
Noah Zuss is a reporter for TheBlot Magazine.
