Mark Kirk could have said that Snowpocalypse 2011 caused him to change his mind on global warming. And when he was a Republican Lite congressman from the North Shore, he might have.
But since joining the Senate, Kirk has been trying to prove he’s as partisan as any Tea Partier. He taunted Democrats after defeating an earmark-heavy bill. He used Reagan’s 100th birthday to compare President Obama to Jimmy Carter.
So why did Kirk change his position on cap-and-trade carbon emissions, which he favored as a congressman but opposes as a senator? Because Al Gore broke up with his wife.
According to a Greenwire story on politicians criticizing the Environmental Protection Agency’s emission standards:
Another Republican blasted from both sides of the spectrum for his record on emissions, Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois, said he is “not terribly concerned” about taking heat from green groups for his criticism of EPA action on carbon emissions.
“The consensus behind the climate change bill collapsed and then further deteriorated with the personal and political collapse of Vice President [Al] Gore,” Kirk said in a brief interview last week.
Gore was accused of fondling and groping a masseuse who visited him at a Portland hotel. Soon afterward, he separated from his wife of 40 years, Tipper.
In spite of Gore’s alleged caddishness, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported that Summer 2010 was the second-warmest on record, and Arctic sea ice continued its 14-year retreat.
Politics
In other news, Kirk no longer believes the Earth revolves around the sun because he learned that Galileo fathered three illegitimate children.
Al Gore’s marital problems have nothing to do with the science of climate change. Kirk’s own personal life has been the subject of unsavory rumors. He ought to leave Gore’s out of politics.
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