Rush Limbaugh, the Science Guy

RUSH: You know, I was nominated for the Noble Peace Prize. When was this, Snerdley, how many years ago was it? Two years ago. It seems like it was longer ago than that. Well, whatever the year, Algore won it. I ought to get the Nobel Prize for science. Look at this. ‘New Microbe Discovered Eating Oil Spill in Gulf — A newly discovered type of oil-eating microbe suddenly flourishing in the Gulf.’ Suddenly? Suddenly? What, God just created the microbe? ‘Scientists discovered the new microbe while studying the underwater dispersion of millions of gallons of oil spilled into the Gulf following the explosion of BP’s Deepwater Horizon drilling rig. And the microbe works without significantly depleting oxygen in the water,’ and it works in cold water.

Now, who was it that told you the ocean’s gonna eat this stuff alive? It was I, El Rushbo, one of the few willing to go out on a limb because I have an awe and respect for God and creation. And even without a scientific education, without even scientific examination, just my own instincts called this long before these experts finally got into it. They’re so desperate to find thought at that oil; they’re so desperate to prove it’s still there; they are so-so desperate for a disaster. And the more they look into it the more they can’t find the oil. Now they found a microbe that’s eating it alive, a microbe ‘suddenly’ flourishing in the Gulf. My guess would be there’s nothing sudden about this microbe at all, that it’s been there long before we’ve even been around.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Tom in Houston, you’re next on the Rush Limbaugh program. Hello.

CALLER: Hello.

RUSH: Hi.

CALLER: Hi, Rush. I wanted to call and tell you you were exactly right about the oil in the Gulf and I worked for a major oil company for many years —

RUSH: You’re talking about the microbes that eat the stuff alive that’s just been discovered?

CALLER: (laughing) Yeah, recently? Yes.

RUSH: Yeah, yeah, yeah. (laughing)

CALLER: The refinery I worked at which is a very, very large refinery down here in Houston has about a 350-acre pond. The wastewater that came out of the refinery was skimmed of oil, anything that was floating. But there’s still saturated oil in the water. There’s lots of oil in the water. We put that, again, about 22 million gallons of water a day saturated with oil out into the lagoon and put it through an aeration basin, just to mix a lot of air in with it, and then the bacteria take over, both the aerobic bacteria and anaerobic bacteria and they basically take this stuff, convert it to methane and convert it to CO2. We had great, very pure water going out the back end, it actually goes into the Houston Ship Channel, and this was a system that was put in in the early forties for this refinery.

RUSH: Let me ask you a question. I’m not being funny. It’s gonna sound funny. I remember growing up a very young kid in Missouri watching, I guess it was Texaco, maybe Shell Oil commercials in Houston, and there were pictures of a wildlife refuge with deer and antelope running all around healthy as they could be and the oil company said, ‘This is happening because of the great care we are taking in bringing oil to market and refining it,’ and so forth. Is this kind of what you’re talking about, the process that is involved in making that water clean and pure as the wind-driven snow after it’s gone through all of this refining process?

CALLER: Yes. As a matter of fact, at the outfall of this refinery, it was not unusual to go down there and see lots of fish feeding on the algae we were putting out into the ship channel. Because the water was so clean algae was growing in our lagoons. And then other fish feeding on the fish feeding on the algae, so it was a very active wildlife —

RUSH: Wait a minute. You said methane, right?

CALLER: Yes.

RUSH: It means you’re converting this to CO2.

CALLER: Yes.

RUSH: You don’t want the global warmers to hear about that. You’re calling here — a great environmental service you’re doing, they’re going to consider you polluters. (laughing)

CALLER: It’s the same thing that happens at every solid waste disposal site and every garbage dump in every city.

RUSH: Well, except — yeah, most of them, that’s true.

CALLER: Yeah. Basically it’s all carbon based and it all gets converted to methane.

RUSH: Right.

CALLER: Some of the bacteria will actually eat the methane and release CO2.

RUSH: Is this the stuff — I’m serious. I remember somebody saying we need to feed cows something that would — is there any relation that would eliminate methane?

CALLER: I don’t know. Don’t know.

RUSH: They’re so paranoid about this. I remember there was an additive they were thinking of giving the cattle to get rid of it. I kid you not. I mean they’re paranoid about it. Well, good.

CALLER: The other thing is you’ve got all the wave action out there to oxygenate all this stuff, so, you know, it’s a perfect environment to digest all —

RUSH: Exactly. It’s no different than running a boat, the propeller oxygenates the water, that’s why it foams up out there. It’s all good, it’s all good.

CALLER: It’s a pleasure talking with you.

RUSH: Well, thank you very much. This is another vote for me. I ought to be nominated the Nobel Prize for science, cutting edge here, folks. Everything I told you after this oil spill has come to pass. And the last science course I took I think was in the ninth grade, if I even remember.