This is too easy!

Another scientifically illiterate Republican congressman today weighed in on the effort to regulate carbon-dioxide emissions. From HuffPost:

Barton, who has resisted proposals to reduce the country's oil dependence, explained that there shouldn't be any concern about carbon-dioxide emissions because CO2 is relatively harmless:

"I'm creating it as I talk to you. It's in your Coca-Cola. your Dr. Pepper and your Perrier water. It's necessary for human life. It's odorless, colorless, tasteless, doesn't cause cancer, doesn't cause asthma. There's nobody that's ever been admitted to a hospital because of CO2 poisoning."

I'm intrigued by that last comment: "There's nobody that's ever been admitted to a hospital because of CO2 poisoning."
Really???

Here's my letter to Congressman Barton (a very slightly revised version of my letter to Congresswoman Bachmann on the same subject):

Congressman Barton:

I am writing to congratulate you on your brave and informed stand against the regulation of carbon dioxide, which in fact is, as you note, a naturally-occurring chemical. If you should decide to take up this topic again, may I suggest that you also note that carbon-dioxide is an integral part of the Calvin-Benson cycle which describes how carbon-dioxide, through plant photosynthesis, is the source of the very oxygen which is needed to sustain human life.

Furthermore, I would like to alert you to a hazardous chemical which is NOT regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency or by any other United States government agency, Dihydrogen Monoxide (DHMO; chemical formula H-(OH); also known as Dihydrogen Oxide, Hydrogen Hydroxide, Hydronium Hydroxide, or simply Hydric acid), the known perils of which include:
• Death due to accidental inhalation of DHMO, even in small quantities.
• Prolonged exposure to solid DHMO causes severe tissue damage.
• DHMO is a major component of acid rain.
• Gaseous DHMO can cause severe burns.
• Leads to corrosion and oxidation of many metals.
• Found in biopsies of pre-cancerous tumors and lesions.
This abbreviated list is from the wonderfully informative website, Dihydrogen Monoxide - DHMO Facts (http://www.dhmo.org/facts.html). The website includes links to four Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) for DHMO, all reflecting the precautions that must be taken when handling, storing, and disposing of this UNREGULATED hazardous chemical. I note that DHMO is a by-product of the combustion of rocket fuel and was released into the atmosphere when the space shuttle Challenger exploded in 1986.

Pandering to Big Business, the Democrat-controlled 111th Congress refuses to even consider regulating the production, distribution, or use of this damaging chemical due to its supposed importance to industry. Why do Democrats want to regulate naturally occurring CO2 but refuse to even consider regulating DHMO???

Again, thanks for your public service!


1 enclosure:
“Ban Dihydrogen Monoxide”, from the website of The Coalition to Ban Dihydrogen Monoxide
(http://www.netreach.net/~rjones/no_dhmo.html)