Kentucky state Sen. Brandon Smith (R) had this to say about global warming during a recent hearing: “I don’t want to get into the debate about climate change. But I will just simply point out that I think that in academia we all agree that the temperature on Mars is exactly as it is here. Nobody will dispute that. Yet there are no coal mines on Mars, there’s no factories on Mars that I’m aware of. So I think what we’re looking at is something much greater than what we’re going to do.”  

National Journal : “Smith’s statement contains the standard argument advanced by climate deniers: The idea that human activity, like the burning of fossil fuels, has not caused global warming. That runs counter to the scientific consensus: Peer-reviewed literature surveys indicate that 97 percent of climate scientists agree that the planet is heating up and that human activity is the primary driver of that change.”  

“But the Republican lawmaker explores a fresh take with his interstellar comparison. There are indeed no coal mines on Mars, but most everything else in Smith’s statement is factually bankrupt.”