I don’t even know were to start on sharing some of the wisdom that was expressed by our state legislators during this hearing. No, actually I do. I give you the honorable Sen. Brandon Smith, R-Hazard: “As you (Energy & Environment Cabinet official) sit there in your chair with your data, we sit up here in ours with our data and our constituents and stuff behind us. I don’t want to get into the debate about climate change, but I will simply point out that I think 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 are no factories on Mars that I’m aware of.” First of all, I did not make up that quote, it’s quite real.

State legislators in Kentucky held a meeting to discuss—i.e. react with frothy fury to—the new EPA rules meant to slow climate change. As you might expect, our entire species is doomed The average temperature on Mars, for any of you bastards that might want to dispute that, is somewhere in the neighborhood of minus 67 degrees Fahrenheit . As for all the other things that might be wrong with that, you're on your own. See if you can name them all!

These people get to be in charge of things, you know.