Rep. Robson (R-Ahwatukee) one of the flat-earthers on global warming?

There's still significant controversy about whether global warming is man-made or natural, with most peer-reviewed scientists coming down on the side of saying man's impact is a significant part of the problem, while most scientists paid by petroleum industry interests and their political enablers argue it's not.

At any rate, regardless of your position on who's causing it, it's pretty much been established that there IS global warming going on. Every now and then, though, you find a flat-earther who is willfully ignorant that this consensus has been reached, in complete contradiction of known facts.

Fellow blogger Zelph observes that Arizona District 20's own State Representative, Bob Robson may be one:

Rep. Bob Robson, R-Chandler on global warming:

"I think the polar ice cap is colder than it's ever been. That's what I hear. I'm sure there's some melting going on, but how much of it is natural?"

Well Bob, you might consider this.

Good catch, Zelph. From the NRDC wesite:

"Average temperatures in the Arctic region are rising twice as fast as they are elsewhere in the world. Arctic ice is getting thinner, melting and rupturing. For example, the largest single block of ice in the Arctic, the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf, had been around for 3,000 years before it started cracking in 2000. Within two years it had split all the way through and is now breaking into pieces.

The polar ice cap as a whole is shrinking. Images from NASA satellites show that the area of permanent ice cover is contracting at a rate of 9 percent each decade. If this trend continues, summers in the Arctic could become ice-free by the end of the century."

Now, no matter what you believe about whether man has a hand in global warming, you can't really get around the fact that the polar ice cap is most certainly NOT colder than it's ever been and that it is, in fact, melting at an alarming rate.

So the question: is Representative Robson - the Speaker Pro Tempore in the Arizona House as well as Vice Chairman of the Environment Committee - an ideological flat-earther? Or is he just very uninformed for someone in his position of responsibility?