Supidest bill ever? N.C. (not N.H.) tries to outlaw sea-level rise
Posted by David Brooks | Friday, June 1, 2012
There have been a lot of idiotic bills proposed in Concord over the years (creationism, anybody?) but I don't think we've ever seen anything as idiotic as House Bill 819 in North Carolina, which tries to outlaw sea-level rise, presumably because it would harm beach tourism.
The bill mandates that all scientists use linear extrapolation from historical records when estimated how quickly rising sea levels and "shall not include scenarios of accelerated rates of sea-level rise."
Positive feedback loops? They don't exist, said the elected representatives of North Carolina - unless they produce results that sound good, I suppose. These guys sound ripe for a bill about the value of pi.
As a newspaperman I constantly encounter the "shoot the messenger" mentality - the problem isn't the problem, the problem is that attention was drawn to the problem! But I've never seen anything quite this ... well, idiotic.
