Rep. John Shimkus: Idiot

While talking with a fellow global warming denier, Illinois representative John Shimkus recently argued that increased man-made carbon emissions can only be a good thing, since they provide food for plants. This is sort of true, in that plants do indeed consume carbon dioxide. But it's more than a little misleading, since fried chicken, while a delicious food for humans, is also something none of us would probably like to be buried in on a daily basis. Still, this isn't a new argument. Oil companies have jumped on board with TV ads about how carbon feeds the planet and is therefore "Earth-friendly". But as others have pointed out, it's not like plants were starving to death before the industrial revolution. More details here.