It's no secret that Illinois conservatives hate the Democrats' cap-and-trade legislation with a passion. Indeed, their intense opposition is likely what led U.S. Senate candidate Mark Kirk to backtrack from his earlier support for the House climate bill. So it's not surprising that the Republicans running for governor in Illinois would express reservations about the proposal in front of a packed "tea party forum" in Homer Glen last night.

But the GOP candidates didn't simply criticize cap-and-trade as the wrong way to address climate change -- four of them denied that humans have even contributed to global warming.

When asked whether they believe "climate change is caused by human activities," State Sens. Kirk Dillard (R-Hinsdale) and Bill Brady (R-Bloomington), DuPage County Board Chair Bob Schillerstrom, and commentator Dan Proft responded by rejecting that premise. Watch thevideo (pardon the shaky camera work):

Apparently Proft thinks that the 2,500 scientists and other climate experts who make up the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) qualify as "enviro-terrorists." In 2007, they wrote their first report on the physical science of global warming. They found that the evidence of climate change is "unequivocal" and it is 90 percent certain that the "net effect of human activities since 1750 has been one of warming." The IPCC further warned that, without taking serious steps to curb emissions, devastation awaits.

With displays like this, it's no wonder the Republican Party can't gain ground in Illinois.