Governor Tim Pawlenty - Science Denier

From The Hill:

Climate change exists, but is due mostly to natural — not man-made — causes, GOP presidential contender Tim Pawlenty said Tuesday.

Pawlenty, the former Minnesota governor who's rejected his past support for cap and trade, said he believes the extent to which humans contribute to climate change is disputable.

"So there is climate change, but the reality is the science of it indicates that most of it, if not all of it, is caused by natural causes," he said on Fox News. "And as to the potential human contribution to that, there's a great scientific dispute about that very issue."

Actually, there isn't.

According to a survey done in 2008 by the University of Illinois at Chicago:

A group of 3,146 earth scientists surveyed around the world overwhelmingly agree that in the past 200-plus years, mean global temperatures have been rising, and that human activity is a significant contributing factor in changing mean global temperatures.

And the results?

Two questions were key: have mean global temperatures risen compared to pre-1800s levels, and has human activity been a significant factor in changing mean global temperatures.

About 90 percent of the scientists agreed with the first question and 82 percent the second.

But here's the real fun part. When they took a look at what sort of scientist answers which question, they found that:

In analyzing responses by sub-groups, Doran found that climatologists who are active in research showed the strongest consensus on the causes of global warming, with 97 percent agreeing humans play a role. Petroleum geologists and meteorologists were among the biggest doubters, with only 47 and 64 percent respectively believing in human involvement. Doran compared their responses to a recent poll showing only 58 percent of the public thinks human activity contributes to global warming.

Petroleum scientists are among the biggest doubters. Hmmm...petroleum. I wonder why they'd be doubters. But experts in the field are 33 to 1 in favor of the science.

And yet Pawlenty calls that a "great scientific dispute."

He's joined teh climate crazie deniers like Rick "There's no such thing as global warming" Santorum.

Good for him.