Every year climate deniers manage to say some truly misguided things in an attempt to appease their oil and gas industry sponsors. From breathtaking avoidance of the issue to outright denial; from magic Icelandic volcanoes to refusal to believe the experts, politicians find a variety of ways to spout climate denial nonsense.
As 2014 ends and we move into a new era of Climate Deniers in charge of both houses of Congress, we thought we'd give you our Top 10 Misguided Climate Deniers' Quotes of 2014.
1) "The emissions that are being put in the air by that volcano are a thousand years' worth of emissions that would come from all of the vehicles, all of the manufacturing in Europe." Senator Lisa Murkowski, (R-AK) - Incoming Chairman, Energy & Natural Resources Committee, $733,144 from oil and gas industry in her career
2) "We have 186 percent of normal snow pack. That's global warming?" Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY), $489,933 from oil and gas industry in his career
3) "Calling CO2 a pollutant is doing a disservice the country, and I believe a disservice to the world." Ex-Governor Rick Perry (R-TX), $977,624 from oil and gas for his 2012 Presidential Campaign
4) "Listen, I'm not qualified to debate the science over climate change," Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), $1,463,788 from oil and gas industry in his career
4) (tie) "I'm not a scientist," Incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), $1,783,169 from oil and gas industry in his career
6) "I do not believe that human activity is causing these dramatic changes to our climate the way these scientists are portraying it." Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), $295,138 from oil and gas industry in his career
7) "Anybody who's ever studied any geology knows that over periods of time, long periods of time, that the climate changes, mmkay? I'm not sure anybody exactly knows why." Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), $129,305 from oil and gas industry in his career
8) "I don't know the answer to that question. I don't think science does, either." Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), on whether human activity causes climate change, $508,549 from oil and gas industry in his career
9) "And the problem with climate change is there's never been a day in the history of the world in which the climate is not changing." Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), $932,568 from oil and gas industry in his career
10) "How long will it take for the sea level to rise two feet? I mean, think about it, if your ice cube melts in your glass it doesn't overflow; it's displacement. I mean, this is some of the things they're talking about mathematically and scientifically don't make sense." Ex-Rep. Steve Stockman (R-TX), $118,100 from oil and gas industry in his career
