Rush Limbaugh: You Can't Believe In God AND Climate Change

Oh Rush.

The outspoken radio host is making waves after criticizing a recent speech by Secretary of State John Kerry. Kerry, an ardent supporter of climate change action, was speaking to the State Department’s Office of Faith-Based Community Initiatives when he said protecting the planet was an inherent responsibility for the "safe guarders of God's creation."

Here's a partial transcript of Limbaugh's response:

John Kerry, our esteemed secretary of state, said that climate change is our challenge, a challenge to our responsibilities as the safeguarders of God’s creation. The safeguarders — it would obviously be the safeguardians. The safeguarders.

So John Kerry says that climate change is a challenge to our responsibility as the safeguarders of God’s creation. What about God’s creation called a fetus, Secretary Kerry, what is your responsibility as a safeguarder there?

See, in my humble opinion, folks, if you believe in God then intellectually you cannot believe in man-made global warming.

Limbaugh goes on to speak of the acceptable religious affiliations that can cohabitate with climate science (i.e. none) and the hypocrisy espoused by "militant environmentalist wackos."

You must be either agnostic or atheistic to believe that man controls something he can’t create.

It’s always in fact been one of the reasons for my anti-man-made global warming stance. The vanity of these people — on the one hand, we’re no different than a mouse or a rat, if you listen to the animal rights activists.

We are pollutants of this planet. If it weren’t for humanity, the militant environmentalist wackos, if it weren’t for humanity the earth would be pristine and wonderful and beautiful and nobody would see it. According to them, we’re different, we are not as entitled to life on this planet as other creatures because we destroy it. But how can we destroy it when we’re no different than the lowest lifeforms?

More than 97 percent of peer-reviewed scientific papers support the notion that man-made climate change exists. Organizing for Action recently launched a campaign to call out climate change deniers in Congress. 135 unicorn statues engraved with an award for "exceptional extremism and ignoring the overwhelming judgment of science," were delivered to the likes of Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) and Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.).

Unfortunately, many loyal listeners of Limbaugh's (and other conservative media consumers) can become more skeptical of climate science over time, according to a study released earlier this month. Nearly 60 percent of Americans said they were worried about climate change in a poll from earlier this year, and President Obama has become more vocal over the past few months, most notably with his statement that "we don't have time for a meeting of the Flat Earth Society."

But, alas, many voices on conservative outlets have remained staunch climate change deniers.

(h/t Grist)