A Republican member of the House Science Committee jovially dismissed global warming as a plot to institute a “global government” in a speech to supporters, The Nation reported on Saturday.

“Just so you know, global warming is a total fraud,” Rep. Dana Rohrabacker (R-CA) said in video from a town hall meeting with constituents. “You’ve got liberals who get elected at the local level want state government to do the work and let them make the decisions. Then at the state level, they want the federal government to do it. And at the federal government, they want to create global government to control all of our lives.”

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Rohrabacker, who also chided former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) for “giving in” on warnings regarding the issue, did not specify how local and state governments were responsible for increases in emissions and worldwide temperature that are on pace to exceed initial safety markers. He did argue that ice caps on Mars and Jupiter are receding at the same pace as those on Earth.

He also cited former Republican President Dwight Eisenhower’s 1961 farewell address, in which he warned of “the prospect of domination of the nation’s scholars by federal employment,” accusing the government of funding scientific endeavors in order to scare climate change skeptics.

“So much money has gone to science research projects, and they have used it to intimidate people who disagree with their attempt to frighten all of us into changing our lives and giving our freedom to make our choices on transportation and everything else,” Rohrabacker said. “No, that’s gotta be done by a government official — who, by the way, probably comes from Nigeria because he’s a UN government official, not a U.S. government official.”

Watch video of Rohrabacker’s remarks, posted on Friday by YouTube user “lhfang86,” below.

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[Image via Rep. Dana Rohrabacker Facebook page]