Crazy Man Ahead: John Boehner Says He's Pro-Cow Farts

I’ve made no secret of my dislike of House majority leader John Boehner or his obstructionist approach to being a major voice of a minority party. But I always figured, what the hell, maybe there’s a method to his madness.

Well, there’s madness afoot alright but of a different sort.

“Man Tan” Boehner, one of the talking heads yesterday on This Week With George Stephanopoulos, was busy disputing more than 5,000 scientists on a global UN panel about climate change by insisting – despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary – there’s no evidence man is contributing to the destruction of the plant.

Here’s where the mad part comes in: Boehner uses cow farts to sniff out the truth for us:


Courtesy ABC News via Daily Kos

I’ll give you a moment to stop laughing and wipe the tears running down your cheeks.

This ranks right up there with another nincompoop, Ronald Reagan, insisting in 1981 trees are the Earth’s greatest cause of air pollution. Danger: Killer trees ahead!

In fact, John “Mad Man” or “Cow Fart” or “Man Tan” Boehner – I don’t know which nickname to stick with anymore – not only is goofy, he’s simply wrong. Wait: Why does this surprise me?

Among scientists who study both agriculture and the environment, methane and ammonia gas released into the atmosphere by cows is a major source of pollution. Not as great as cars or smokestacks but serious enough that both the Dept. of Agriculture and the EPA are studying the issue as is a subcommittee of the UN panel on climate change. Just as bad, methane also leaks into surface and ground water from cow pies, contaminating drinking water and causing people to die.

For example, as if Zimbabwe doesn’t have enough problems, methane and ammonia pollution runoff from its cattle herd is destroying countless sources of clean water in rural areas, according to a UN aid agency study.

Boehner might as well claim that cows aren’t causing thinning ice caps, either. After all, the Arctic cap is four or five feet less thick right now than they were a decade ago and who’s ever seen a cow at the North Pole?

John, please do us all a favour: Sit down and shut up.