U.S. Congressman Asks Forest Service to Change the Course of Earth’s Orbit Around the Sun

U.S. Congressman Asks Forest Service to Change the Course of Earth’s Orbit Around the Sun

U.S. Congressperson Louie Gohmert (R-TX) would seriously like the U.S. federal government and “BLM” to turn its attention from evidence-based measures to mitigate climate change and look into altering the rotation of the Earth and/or moon. It’s unclear whether he’s trolling or sincerely trying to derail attention in order to steer some fossil fuel money his way. On one hand, random proposals are an effective method to piss off everyone who brought ideas to the meeting. On the other, he said it with a totally straight face and has generally chosen to believe whatever he feels like about climate change. He’s also a member of the space lasers party. Who’s to say.

Gohmert doesn’t have a “proposal” or “research” to back the feasibility or impact of such a scheme. It’s more like a plan for Earth that he thought up. In a hearing yesterday by the House Natural Resources Committee, on which he occupies a seat, he used his allotted time to make the case to National Forest System Associate Deputy Chief Jennifer Eberlien.

“I was informed by the director of NASA that they have found that the moon’s orbit is changing slightly, and so is the Earth’s orbit around the sun,” he said. “And we know there’s been significant solar flare activity. And so is there anything that the National Forest Service or BLM can do to change the course of the moon’s orbit or the Earth’s orbit around the sun? Obviously, they would have profound effects on our climate.”

“I would have to follow up with you on that one, Mr. Gohmert,” Eberlien replied, grinning, after a dead silence.

Check it out:

Meanwhile, Gohmert’s colleagues spent their time testifying on four bills they’ve proposed which would designate resources to improve access to public lands and assess recreation from an environmental justice lens. Gohmert’s recently sponsored legislation includes eliminating federal income taxes for D.C. residents and identifying potential health risks of masks, which have not proven harmful despite a global pool of research subjects. (Gohmert has refused to wear a mask and contracted covid-19.)

NASA has identified a drift in the Earth’s spin axis, also known as a “polar shift.” This is not a new revelation, and it has been attributed, in part, to glacial melting, although nowhere has the agency proposed that we propel the Earth and/or moon in different directions as a solution to climate change. It’s also unclear how one would do such a thing, but we do know everyone on the planet running at the same time probably would not work.

“Yeah well if you figure out a way that you and the, uh, Forest Service can make that change, I’d like to know,” Gohmert went on to tell Eberlien. They could incorporate it into their research on mitigating drought, carbon storage, adaptation planning, and regional vulnerability. Gohmert wants results.


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