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On 26 February 2009, Rep. Joe Barton of Texas made comments during the course of a Congressional subcommittee hearing on renewable energy in which he maintained a strong stance favoring fossil fuels over alternative energy sources. One quote attributed to him during that hearing has since become the focus of popular internet memes: Wind is a finite resource and harnessing it would slow the winds down, which would cause the temperature to go up. Perhaps due to the contextual relevance of the comment (in the course of an otherwise unremarkable Congressional hearing), the quote has been routinely attributed to Barton in varying forms ever since. The remarks were not made on a television program or during the course of an interview, and in the ensuing years they have circulated with little question over whether Barton actually spoke those words, or in what context he might have said them. As it turns out, the quote is not an accurate reflection of Barton's statement during the hearing in question. The Texas congressman prefaced his remarks by citing a paper written by Professor Jay Apt, executive director of the Carnegie Mellon Electricity Industry Center: The purported quote has since circulated on the Internet intermittently; however, the meme is not quite an accurate representation of Barton's remarks, as it excludes the context that Barton was quoting someone else when he mentioned that wind energy is a finite resource and stated that slowing down the wind by using its energy to turn turbines has environmental consequences. He did summarize those points in his own words at the end of his statement and averred that they made sense, but he also posited them as speculative hypotheticals, saying it would be ironic if they occurred, and proclaiming that I am not saying that is going to happen.
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