Watch: Rush Limbaugh On Why Climate Change Is Like Affirmative Action


Friday morning in Stockholm, the the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a key section of its Fifth Assessment Report on global warming, which found that climate change is “unequivocal,” that humans are “extremely likely” to be the cause, and that the recent slowdown in the rate that surface temperatures are rising doesn’t contradict any of this. (Read a summary of the report or our live blog from Sweden.)

Awesome graphic: The Rush Limbaugh show

Rush Limbaugh would beg to differ. On his show on Friday, Limbaugh launched into a sprawling, 15-minute tirade against the IPCC, Al Gore, and affirmative action—all at the same time. Limbaugh argued that climate scientists and activists are perpetuating the global warming “hoax” because “the longer this goes, the richer they get.” At one point, Limbaugh likened this to Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, who, he said, “would be out of business” if racism ended in the United States. (Full transcript here.)

Later, Limbaugh said that the global warming “narrative” is “never gonna end,” adding, “Just like affirmative action will never end” (emphasis added):

If I’m in a global warming movement, and it hasn’t warmed up in the last 15 years, I’d claim credit for it. I say it’s all the hybrids. It’s the reduction in coal! I claim that everything I’ve been advocating is the reason, and then I’d say,”We need to do more of this.” I mean, if their objective is to downsize this country and downsize our lifestyle and downsize our progress, we had a golden opportunity.

Fifteen years of no warming! They could have claimed credit and probably had a pretty good chance of being supported by the media in advocating further lifestyle change. But they didn’t, did they? Because they don’t want the issue changing in any way.  They don’t want the premise changed. The premise is it’s getting warmer and we’re causing it, and nothing is gonna change that narrative. Nothing.  Even if they can claim success in it. 

The narrative, the template is, “It’s getting warmer, we’re causing it, we have to pay a price,” and it’s never gonna end. Just like affirmative action will never end. There will never be a day where somebody says, “You know what?  Okay, we’ve had enough reverse racism now that we’ve evened the score, and we’re gonna get rid of it and we’re now in a level playing field.” They (sic) will never happen.  The price will never be paid. 

Limbaugh wasn’t the only one railing against the IPCC’s climate change report, of course. Rassmusen Reports ran a commentary by conservative pundit Michael Barone that compared global warming believers to a religious sect run amok:

Religion has ritual. Global warming alarmism has recycling and Earth Day celebrations.   

Some religions persecute heretics. Some global warming alarmists identify “denialists” and liken them to Holocaust deniers.   

Religions build grand places of worship. Global warming alarmists promote the construction of windmills and solar farms that produce uneconomic and intermittent electricity.   

Global warming alarmism even has indulgences like the ones Martin Luther protested. You can buy carbon offsets to gain forgiveness for travel on carbon-emitting private jet aircraft.

Limbaugh and Barone’s comments are extreme, but they do highlight a persisting ideological divide between parties on climate change. According to Gallup, as of March 2013, 85 percent of Democrats think there is strong evidence that global warming exists, but only 48 percent of Republicans and 65 percent of independent voters agree.

More Mother Jones reporting on Climate Desk

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate