"Did 'No. 1' Climate Change Denier Fake His Résumé?"

"Sometimes it seems hard to believe how much skepticism still exists about climate change, with the scientific community in near-unanimous agreement that yes, it's happening and yes, it's our fault. But as Minnesota State Senator Michael Jungbauer reminded us yesterday, most of that dissent comes from people who are more or less clueless about the science.

Jungbauer, who sits on the state's Senate Energy, Utilities and Telecommunications Committee, proudly calls himself the 'No. 1 global warming denier in Minnesota.' He also claims to have a bachelor's degree from the Moody Bible Institute with a 'background in biochemistry.' The first claim is easy enough to believe, but as for the second, MinnPost reported today that Jungbauer never graduated, and that the closest thing he has to a bachelor's of science is a ministerial ordainment from Christian Motorsports International, which provides 'chapel services' at 'races, car shows, cruise-ins, and tractor pulls.'


That's not all: Jungbauer says he's working on a master's degree in environmental policy at Metropolitan State University. Thing is, no such program exists at that school. When presented with this unsettling fact by MinnPost, Jungbauer's defense was: 'Well, that's what they told me.' Perhaps he has not yet taken the class where they teach you how to objectively evaluate facts—or to admit it when you're caught in a lie."

Tim McDonnell reports for Mother Jones June 16, 2011.