At a meeting [1] of the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, Alaska's Senator Ted Stevens [2] claimed that the unprecedented decline in Arctic sea ice melting is probably due to sunspots. [3]
Of course, if a major plank in your political platform [4] is the opening up of Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration, you probably would be inclined to grasp at anything to discredit the human-induced theory of global warming as well.
Senator John Kerry [5] jumped all over Stevens junk science stating that:
There were people who argued against Christopher Columbus, who said that the world is flat despite the weight of scientific evidence. The fact is that the sunspot theory has been thoroughly disproved..."
And the response Stevens provides after getting ripped for his discredited sunspot claims?
Global cooling in the 1970's [6].
Sigh.
The hearing is still underway, but here's where you can find the archived webcast [1] later today.