GOP congressman asks U.S. Forest Service to alter the moon's orbit to combat climate change

The GOP and science, and never the twain shall meet.

What is it with Republicans and science? Not believing in vaccines but requesting science-tested medical help when they get infected. And not believing in facts either: refusing to accept the election results favorable to democrats, even by those Republicans elected in the same election round. 

Twenty-four percent of Republican voters even believe in QAnon. This theory is not known for its peer-reviewed science. It is well known for alleging that a cabal of Satanic cannibalistic pedophiles run a global child sex trafficking ring and have conspired against former President Donald Trump during his term in office. 

I am more interested in climate change and biodiversity, two themes that hardly get the attention in the media that they deserve. Burning fossil fuels and slashing pristine rain forests is far more dangerous than any pizzeria in Washington DC will ever be.

Science is about facts, evidence, and unbiased observations. This week, for instance, scientists at NASA could predict when and where you could see a partial solar eclipse. Yesterday, they published this picture of the sun rising behind the U.S. Capitol Building.

A partial solar eclipse is seen as the sun rises behind the United States Capitol Building, Thursday, June 10, 2021.Photo: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Facts matter, and we may never find out the relevant facts about the events in and around the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6. The Republicans prefer not to know by claiming that we already know all the facts. 

Human progress would have been slow if scientists would always have stopped researching when others told them that we already know. In 1500, the church knew that the earth was the center of the universe and did not ask for new facts. But Copernicus studied the lunar eclipse in Rome, an unbiased observation that helped him further develop his theory that the earth was orbiting the sun. 

Copernicus (Toruń Regional Museum, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

I am happy to learn that Republican Representative from Texas, Louie Gohmert, has accepted Copernicus' scientific insights of the year 1500. That is an essential first step on the ladder of scientific understanding for a man who seems to have missed the memo on modern-day science about climate change. This urgent and vital issue is already impacting the people that he is representing. 

At a congressional hearing, Gohmert recently suggested that one way to tackle climate change could be by altering the moon's orbit. He went as far as requesting the U.S. Forest Service representative:" If you figure out there's a way in the Forest Service you could make that change, I'd like to know,"

Let me share the full quote: 

"I was informed by the immediate past director of NASA that they've found that the moon's orbit is changing slightly, and so is the earth's orbit around the sun. 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, that would have profound effects on our climate."

NBC News @NBCNews

Rep. Gohmert suggested at a Congressional hearing that climate change could be combatted by altering the orbit of the moon, and asked an official from the U.S. Forest Service if there was anything her agency could do to do so.

nbcnews.toLunar New Deal: GOP Rep. Gohmert suggests altering moon’s orbit to combat climate changeDuring a Congressional hearing Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas suggested fighting climate change by altering the orbit of the moon. Gohmert said that the immediate past director of NASA “found that the moon’s orbit is changing slightly and so is the Earth’s orbit around the sun.”

There are moments that my native language, Dutch, is more suitable to express myself than English. Any Dutchman reading this would recognize what I mean in this context by using the saying: 'de klok horen luiden maar niet weten waar de klepel hangt.' Scores of Dutchmen made a similar search on the internet that I just made, but there doesn't seem to be an English proverb for expressing that someone thinks he understands something but fails to grasp the essence. The literal translation of the Dutch expression is 'to hear the clock strike, but do not know where the clapper is." I guess you will get what I try to convey.

Milankovitch cycles

Gohmert likely heard the clock strike when he heard about the work of the Serbian scientist Milutin Milankovitch, who hypothesized a century ago how the changes in the earth's position relative to the sun are a strong driver of long-term climate. The clapper is that Milankovitch's work is the words' long-term', not an insignificant detail since Milankovitch theory is relevant for a time scale of at least tens of thousands of years. The rapid climate change that we are dealing with in our lifetime started only at the beginning of the industrial revolution and has increased significantly since the mid-20th century. 

NASA has an interesting article about the Milankovitch cycles, including short GIFs that show different cyclical orbital movements much better than I can describe them. You can find that article here. 

The moon spinning away

Let me end with a warning for mister Gohmert. Scientists have found that the moon is drifting away from earth. Perhaps he can ask the U.S. Forest Service to avoid this from happening; it would be such a waste to see the moon go. And here is the clapper: the moon spins away from earth at the rate of 3.78cm (1.48in) per year. That is about the same speed at which our fingernails grow. It is only slightly faster than the speed at which America drifts away from Europe (speaking only in geographical terms). 

We have more urgent matters to be concerned about, like climate change. 

Members of the G7 that arrive now in Cornwall will see 300 drones in the sky to demand world leaders to 'act now' on climate change. Don't miss this video of Greenpeace where you can hear sharing their hopes for the future. A brilliant, impressive, and most of all a necessary campaign that I hope will help convince the world leaders that our planet is worth saving. The climate doesn't wait for us; time's up, we have to act now.

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