Thursday we looked at how hostile to Science— the engine of all economic progress– the Republicans in Congress are. And, of course, like most reactionary trains of thought, Global Warming deniers are dominant in the old slave-holding states of the Confederacy. But in Southern California? Gary Delong, the Republican nominee who beat mainstream Republican Steve Kuykendall in the primary, roiled the race for the 47th CD congressional seat (Long Beach, Cypress, Westminster and Garden Grove) by making a stunning claim that he sees no scientific evidence of Climate Change. Does he think he’s running for a seat in Mississippi or Alabma instead of California?

Delong removed the video from his own website, but luckily some of his fans had saved it and you can watch the whole thing here. (Delong gets going into Republican Fantasyland at 10:25.) David Allgood, Executive Director of the California League of Conservation Voters, was stunned. “Climate change and global warming are real. The denial of this scientifically proven phenomenon is not only a threat to our planet’s health, but our economy and our children’s future. Climate change deniers are nothing more than apologists for polluters, oil companies, and right-wing ideologues like the Koch brothers. Gary DeLong is not just wrong, his position is dangerous. We can’t afford someone like him who puts politics and ideology ahead of science and the health of our community.”

Thursday the editorial board of the very right-wing Long Beach Press-Telegram, the biggest newspaper in the district– which has endorsed Delong– was also mortified.

With the weather being so unseasonably warm over the last few days, one would think Long Beach City Councilman Gary DeLong would believe in a proven little fact like climate change. Alas, no. The Republican congressional candidate recently told the Rossmoor Homeowners Association that global warming is “questionable.” When asked a follow-up question as to whether climate change is manmade, DeLong offered this doozy: “No, you know there are scientists on both sides of it, but no, I don’t immediately get there,” DeLong said in a video posted on YouTube. “I don’t see any scientific evidence.” These pages endorsed DeLong for the 47th Congressional District and hailed him as a moderate based on his own statements that he would buck the GOP’s lockstep train of thought on social issues and the environment. … Was DeLong pandering to the conservative views of a handful of Orange County voters in this new congressional district? With only 20 days left until Election Day, it’s up to the voters to decide where DeLong’s vision for the environment truly lies.

State Senator Alan Lowenthal is the progressive running for the seat. He also happens to be widely considered one of the most environmentally-conscious members of the state legislature and has been lauded for drafting the legislation that has made Long Beach and Los Angeles the cleanest ports in America and models for ports all over the world. Alan will be the Blue America guest at Crooks and Liars on Tuesday morning at 11am (PT). (You can contribute to his campaign on the main Blue America page.) His campaign was surprised to hear Delong take such an extreme, ideological position that is so diametrically opposed to that of most people in the district. Claiming that “now is not the time” to address the climate crisis, isn’t something most voters in the 47th want to hear from someone running for office.