[Destroyer]

This "quote" has been widely attributed to Congressman Joe Barton of Texas: "Wind is a finite resource and harnessing it would slow down the winds which would cause the temperature to go up."

This appears, however, be an amalgamation cobbled together from a Time Magazine report designed to make him (Barton) look stupid. (Time Magazine is noted for their left wing leanings).

Now I totally agree that it sounds like a dumb a$$ statement, but what he "really" said in 2010, (According to the Washington Monthly) was:

"Wind is God's way of balancing heat. Wind is the way you shift heat from areas where it's hotter to areas where it's cooler. That's what wind is. Wouldn't it be ironic if, in the interest of global warming, we mandated massive switches to wind energy, which is a finite resource, which slows the winds down, which causes the temperature to go up? Now, I'm not saying that's going to happen, Mr. Chairman, but that is definitely something on the massive scale. I mean, it does make some sense. You stop something, you can't transfer that heat, and the heat goes up. It's just something to think about."

Depending on how you parse the language, you may (or may not) read into Barton's statement that he was implying that building an army of wind turbines might slow down wind enough to actually affect an area's temperature. Remember that he was talking about building and placing hundreds and hundreds of wind turbines in one area to harness the wind. And, just as the sky scrapers of major cities (like LA or NYC) do have an effect on the wind in those areas, so to was the effect that he was alluding might happen.

Remember, he was speaking of satellite imagery of Texas, (his state, where he allowed [voted for] 4 of the largest wind farms to be put in) that showed temperatures increasing at these wind farm sites. He also said in this same quote that its probably not enough to make a difference, but worries about it on a massive scale. Isn't this a good thing? What if someone a long time ago brought up that though the burning of some fossil fuels is insignificant it could make a difference in the future? He has a Masters Degree in Industrial Engineering. I think he understands.

All I can say is that although I don't claim to be able to read his mind, if you look at the statement logically, it looks more like he is demonstrating absurdity (of the global warming nonsense) by being absurd.