Texas Congressmen Suggests Changing Earth’s Orbit to Combat Climate Change

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) on Tuesday asked a representative from the U.S. Forest Service if it was possible to alter the orbit of the moon or the Earth as a way of combating climate change…and he wasn’t joking.

To be fair to the honorable representative from Texas, it would be really cool, albeit disastrous in our case, if we could just slide planets and moons around space at a whim.  But the Congressmen’s question really highlights a level of ignorance, that goes beyond fanciful physics.

ORBITS: Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) asks whether the Forest Service or the BLM can alter the orbit of the moon or the Earth in order to fight climate change during a House Natural Resources hearing pic.twitter.com/yYiOyi2cMZ

— Forbes (@Forbes) June 8, 2021

Gohmert was speaking with Jennifer Eberlien, associate deputy chief of the National Forest System, during a House Natural Resources Committee hearing.

“I understand from what’s been testified to the Forest Service and the BLM [Bureau of Land Management], you want very much to work on the issue of climate change,” Gohmert said to Eberlien, adding that a past director of NASA had once told him that orbits of the moon and the Earth were changing.

“I would have to follow up with you on that one, Mr. Gohmert,” Eberlien responded.

“Well, if you figure out a way that you in the Forest Service can make that change, I’d like to know,” Gohmert added.

The definition of lunacy. https://t.co/Lya2MttYU4

— Dan Rather (@DanRather) June 10, 2021

Gohmert must think that the forestry service, like the lord, works in mysterious ways.  Gohmert is a Trump guy, he wrote an opinion piece for his website ironically titled, “Why I Will Never Bow to the Anti-Truth Mob“, where he insists the courts won’t look at ‘all the evidence’ that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump.

The NRA gave him an ‘A’ Grade for his voting record, he argued for keeping Creationism in public schools and he thinks the liberal media is #fakenews.   He clearly doesn’t understand basic physics. or how the internet works for that matter.  For all his accolades, it’s a wonder he didn’t get a cabinet position in Trump’s Whitehouse.

Exceedingly devious how you hid the context with an ellipses in your tweet. The hearing was about the BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT & climate change.

BLM stands for the BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT. #FakeNews https://t.co/WyIio5BQJM

— Louie Gohmert (@replouiegohmert) June 9, 2021

In most cases I would encourage ANY conservative to ask scientific questions, it is obvious that many conservatives lack education in the area of climate change, or at least exist in a state of denial.

The now viral discussion was roughly based on a NASA blog post, which explained that Earth’s orbit changes from being close to perfectly circular to being slightly more elliptical in a cycle that takes about 100,000 years. The orbit is currently around as close to being circular as it can be.

The angle at which the Earth tilts also shifts slightly or “wobbles” on its axis over the course of tens of thousands of years.  These changes are called Milanković cycles after Milutin Milanković, the Serbian astronomer who first hypothesized them.