As the other team rushes to hail the sage inights of former senator Lincoln Chafee, they might remember this.

What a gas
Longtime followers of how this country’s environmental laws are created know the full story behind the punch line asked by Sen. John Chafee, the late Senate Environmental Committee chairman, while standing on dry “wetlands” owned by agriculturist and GOP colleague Sen. Lauch Faircloth: “Where’s the water?”
Well, those fans are in for a treat.
Last week, the full committee held a hearing on the dangers of the beneficial, odorless, naturally occurring gas carbon dioxide (graduates of elementary school know it as the facilitator of photosynthesis, or plant food). CO2, so we are now warned, is dangerously heating the planet due to man’s contribution from oxidizing carbon-based energy (burning fossil fuels).
“Sage readers, aware that Earth produces 97 percent of the world’s CO2 — with human breath making up a good deal of the remainder — may now anticipate banning dihydrogen monoxide, responsible for flooding, corrosion, even drowning. Some call it H2O, or water,” quips Christopher C. Horner, counsel to the Cooler Heads Coalition in Washington, who attended last week’s hearing.
The highlight, in Mr. Horner’s opinion?
“Senator Chafee’s son, **Sen.** Lincoln **Chafee, Rhode Island Republican**, a member in good standing of the committee, informed those in attendance that the very fact that people gas themselves in garages with poisonous carbon monoxide illustrates how serious the problem is,” says Mr. Horner.
“When it became clear that the good senator was not in fact making a joke, esteemed MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) atmospheric scientist Dr. Richard Lindzen patiently agreed that this illustrates how serious the problem is — but due to levels of awareness, not CO2.”
At which point, says an amused Mr. Horner, Sen. Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, chastised Mr. Lindzen for purportedly “belittling Mr. Chafee’s emission.”