God’s Got Climate Change, Michigan Rep Says

Don’t worry about sea ice melting in the Arctic due to climate change, causing scientists to fret that polar bears are a step closer to extinction, or where you’ll vacation if Florida slips into the ocean. God’s got this, at least according to a Michigan congressman who doubts the phenomenon actually exists but is giving it over to the Lord just in case.

U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg, a Republican from Tipton, told constituents at a town hall meeting in Coldwater on May 26 that he believes in climate change to the extent that weather is cyclical, but he also believes it’s part of God’s divine plan.

“I believe there’s climate change,” Walberg said, according to a video posted on YouTube. “I believe there’s been climate change since the beginning of time. I believe there are cycles. Do I think man has some impact? Yeah, of course. Can man change the entire universe? No.” (For more local news, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Detroit Patch, click here to find your local Michigan Patch. Also, follow us on Facebook, and if you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

The 66-year-old congressman said his beliefs about climate change come from a position of faith.

“Well, as a Christian, I believe that there is a creator in God who is much bigger than us,” he said. “And I’m confident that, if there’s a real problem, He can take care of it.”

Walberg’s comments fly in the face of multiple peer-reviewed studies in which 97 percent of actively publishing scientists agree that climate-warming trends over the past century are extremely likely due to human activities, according to NASA.

Walberg’s May 26 remarks came a few days before the Trump administration hinted the United States would remain in the Paris Climate Accord, a landmark deal to reduce carbon emissions that President Obama joined in 2015 and that most U.S. allies have ratified. On Thursday, President Trump said the United States is withdrawing from the agreement but will renegotiate and “see if we can make a deal that’s fair.” You can watch a replay of Trump's announcement on White House Patch.

AP Photo/Carlos Osorio