Landham: ‘Global warming is the greatest fraud ever perpetrated’

Libertarian U.S. Senate candidate Sonny Landham: Campaign photoCount Libertarian U.S. Senate candidate Sonny Landham, of Ashland, among those not convinced by arguments of a global warming threat. In a position paper circulated by Landham's campaign today, he argues global warming proponents are aiming to harm Americans and touts several mathematical calculations in an effort to prove the ice-laden continent of Antarctica can never be fully melted.

"Global warming, or its re-invention, climate change, is the greatest fraud ever perpetrated upon the people of the United States and the world," said Landham in a statement released today. "The intent of the global warming movement is to lower the standard of living of Americans, by increasing the cost of living and the cost of doing business in the United States. This will drive even more good-paying jobs to other countries."

The one-page position paper on global warming, available here on Landham's campaign website, contains a so-called "simple calculation" as the centerpiece of the paper. The point of the mathematical example is to "dispel the fear behind global warming hysteria" by isolating the argument that Antarctic ice masses will entirely melt and confronting it with numbers.

The formula attempts to calculate the amount of energy required to melt Antarctica's ice by multiplying the heat - in joules - required to melt ice by the volume of the ice mass. The paper then attempts to calculate the amount of energy the ice would absorb per day, and argues it would require 14 years of constant sunlight to melt the entire ice mass.

"Antarctica only sees daylight 6 months at a time, absorbing energy during the daylight months and losing energy during the dark months. This 6-month cycling regulates melting and ensures that the ice mass will never absorb enough energy to totally melt it," reads the paper. "IT IS PHYSICALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO MELT ALL OF THE ICE IN ANTARCTICA WITH ITS CURRENT ORIENTATION RELATIVE TO THE SUN [author's emphasis]."

Landham's position paper does not address other aspects of arguments supporting global warming, including those that increasing air and water temperatures could contribute to the deterioriation of ice shelves and increases in global sea levels.

Many arguments made indicating global warming does impact the earth often include measurements of changing weather patterns, the melting of both polar ice caps and glaciers, and alterations in ecosystems, among other considerations.

While his argument only addresses ice cap melting, Landham says he will soon follow up the brief paper with a further one.

"Stay tuned for more. We will present a paper later in the campaign showing that claims of global warming have no basis in science and, therefore, do not apply to the world in which we live," read the Landham paper.

Should he obtain a required 5,000 signatures from Kentucky voters, Landham will gain access to Kentucky ballots and face businessman Bruce Lunsford (D-Louisville) and U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Louisville) in the November general election.