UPDATE: Rick Perry’s Latest Cringe-Worthy Moment Proves He Is Still A Colossal Idiot (VIDEO)

Rick Perry has had some really cringe-worthy moments in his political career. And here’s another! In an interview on CNBC on Monday he denied that man-made carbon dioxide emissions are the primary cause of climate change, contrary to all the scientific evidence ever.

The interviewer asked Perry if he believed that carbon dioxide was:

“…The primary control knob for the temperature of the Earth and for climate.”

Perry’s brilliant response?

“No, most likely the primary control knob is the ocean waters and this environment that we live in.”

This goes directly against the EPA as well as NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Their 2013 report said:

“It is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century… recent climate changes, however, cannot be explained by natural causes alone. Research indicates that natural causes do not explain most observed warming, especially warming since the mid-20th century… it is extremely likely that human activities have been the dominant cause of that warming.”

That sounds pretty unambiguous to me.

The Center for Biological Diversity took issue with Perry’s comment about the oceans. Shaye Wolf, climate science director at the center, said:

“Perry has the science exactly backward… Far from being climate change’s key cause, the world’s oceans are actually another victim of greenhouse pollution. Our oceans absorb millions of tons of carbon dioxide a day, making them dangerously acidic. They’ve also soaked up most of man-made global warming’s excess heat, putting tremendous stress on marine life.”

This is far from the first stupid thing that Rick Perry has ever said, but this is even more disturbing considering that he is the head of an agency with a $27 billion dollar budget meant to oversee energy research and conservation and domestic energy policy, along with a number of other responsibilities.

Lest we forget, Rick Perry is also in charge in important things like our nuclear arsenal. He also complained during the interview that climate skeptics shouldn’t be derided as neanderthals. Kind of an insult to neanderthals, eh Rick?

Watch some of Perry’s comments here (after the jump):

Featured Image: Screenshot Via YouTube Video.