Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) and ranking member Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) (R) preside over a hearing on "Developments in Synthetic Genomics and Implications for Health and Energy" by the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, May 27, 2010. (Photo : Reuters)

Climate change can't be man made, insisted Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas during his remarks on the Keystone XL Pipeline: just look at Noah.

"I would point out that if you're a believer in the Bible, one would have to say the Great Flood is an example of climate change, and that certainly wasn't because mankind had overdeveloped hydrocarbon energy," he said at the Subcommittee on Energy and Power hearing of the Northern Route Approval Act.

In addition, Barton said he opposes the idea that anyone has to cling to just one side of the aisle in the debate.

"I think you can have an honest difference of opinion of what's causing that change without automatically being either all in - that it's all because of mankind or it's all just natural," he said. "I think there's divergence of evidence."

This isn't the first time Barton has offered his personal feelings on the subject of global warming - the man has been outspoken for years.

In 2009, for example, he delivered remarks at the House Energy and Commerce Committee in which he called climate change the "practical, affordable, utterly natural response to nature when the planet is healing or cooling," adding that people should find shelter when it rains and shade when it's hot.

Furthermore, he argued, "CO2 is not a pollutant in any normal definition of the term. It's in your Coca-Cola, your Dr. Pepper and your Perrier water. It's necessary for human life. It's odorless, colorless, tasteless, doesn't cause cancer, doesn't cause asthma."

Should the Northern Route Approval Act pass, TransCanada would be granted a permit to build a 1,179-mile pipeline between Hardisty, Alberta, and Steele City, Okla. It would then be used to ship crude oil across the border.

Currently, the company is moving ahead with the project's 485-mile southern leg known as the Gulf Coast Project, which, upon completion, will link Steele City and Port Arthur, Texas. The construction is two-thirds built and already has all the necessary federal permits.

To watch Barton's remarks, click here.