“That means it will rain more and more places… But it’s surely gotta shrink the deserts and expand the green growth, there’s surely got to be some good in that. So I just look at the other, good side.”
Iowa is struggling to recover from more flooding this week, dealing another blow to the state’s economy. Yesterday, temporary levees broke in Davenport, forcing people to evacuate as waters from the Mississippi River rushed into the city. Yet according to the Sioux City Journal, at least one Iowa leader is still hopelessly out of touch. Asked about the impact of climate change last week, Congressman Steve King highlighted the so-called “good” impacts of climate change, saying: “It might rain harder in some places, it might snow in some of those places. But it’s surely gotta shrink the deserts and expand the green growth, there’s surely got to be some good in that.”
As the Journal rightly pointed out, “Lots of flooding has impacted the Midwest in the last decade, and some people cite it as a concerning derogatory impact of climate change, which scientists say is melting polar ice caps, making storms and hurricanes more powerful and causing rising waters to erode coastal areas.”
King’s latest comments come after he was widely panned for infusing his last response to severe flooding in Iowa with racist stereotypes. As the Huffington Post reported at the time, “At a town hall on Thursday, white supremacist Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) claimed he was told that New Orleans flood victims only ever asked for help, unlike Iowans who ‘take care of each other.’”
“Congressman Steve King is hopelessly out of touch with his constituents,” said DCCC Spokesperson Brooke Goren. “Recent flooding has been a massive blow to farmers, businesses, and homeowners across Iowa – and King’s failure to grasp the challenges posed by climate change proves he simply doesn’t have what it takes to provide hardworking Iowa families with the resources they need.”
Sioux City Journal: Steve King says “good” impacts from climate change could shrink deserts
By Bret Hayworth, May 1, 2019
After temporary levees broke Tuesday, Mississippi River waters rushed into downtown Davenport, Iowa, so quickly that people were caught off guard and evacuations were recommended.
Lots of flooding has impacted the Midwest in the last decade, and some people cite it as a concerning derogatory impact of climate change, which scientists say is melting polar ice caps, making storms and hurricanes more powerful and causing rising waters to erode coastal areas.
Last week in his town hall meeting in Cherokee, Iowa, U.S. Rep. Steve King discussed climate change, saying he chooses to “look at the other, good side” that could result, such as the shrinking of deserts.
…He aired his view of climate change, when a question was posed by a Marcus, Iowa, woman about the topic of climate geo-engineering early in the meeting.
…”You mentioned the global warming part of this, the weather patterns that are there,” King said. “But I think that, I began, when I first looked at that, I thought, ‘I’m hearing all these things that are bad, well, what could be good?’ Surely there is something on the other side that could be good. So, let’s just say that if he earth should warm by four degrees, or whatever that number might be, then I’ve had to measure the evaporation off of, in the summertime.”
King, who represents Iowa’s fourth congressional district, then discussed how higher temperatures means water will evaporate more quickly. He gave the example of being able to watch a barrel of water readily evaporate in July.
“Seventy percent of the earth is covered by water. If the earth warms, then there is evaporation that goes into the atmosphere. According to Newton’s First Law of Physics, what goes up must come down,” King said.
“That means it will rain more and more places. It might rain harder in some places, it might snow in some of those places. But it’s surely gotta shrink the deserts and expand the green growth, there’s surely got to be some good in that. So I just look at the other, good side.”
Studies led by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in recent years have said warming increases the chances for extreme rainfall and drought.
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