Inhofe -- Major Jerk

From today's EEI newsletter:


Sen. Inhofe Uses Hearing to Slam Media Reporting on Climate Change

Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., the outgoing chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, used his rights as chairman to conduct a final hearing condemning media coverage of climate change issues. Inhofe brought a group of witnesses forward who generally supported his position, but Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., challenged them to address whether Inhofe was correct in an assessment he has issued calling climate change "a hoax." None would agree with that assessment, only that it was being hyped and unfairly cast in the media.

The Washington Times today quoted Inhofe as saying: "The media often fails to distinguish between predictions and what is actually being observed on the Earth today. Rather than focus on the hard science of global warming, the media has instead become advocates for hyping scientifically unfounded climate alarmism." And the Los Angeles Times today quoted Inhofe as saying: "Hysteria sells. Scare tactics should not drive public policy." [Gee, Jim. That's not what you said about attacking Iraq.] The Times wrote that Inhofe believed that "rising Earth temperatures are mainly a natural, cyclical phenomenon. His staff distributed a 64-page booklet that included a speech by Inhofe in September that he characterized as 'a skeptic's guide to debunking global warming alarmism'."

The incoming committee chairwoman, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., was quoted by the San Francisco Chronicle today as saying: "In a free society in what is the greatest democracy in the world, I don't believe it's proper to put pressure on the media to please a particular Senate committee's view. My other sadness about this hearing is again we're arguing about who believes what rather than moving toward solving the problem." The Tulsa World today quoted Inhofe as saying: "As the Democrats rush to pass costly carbon cap legislation in the next Congress, today's hearing showed that the so-called 'scientific consensus' does not exist."

Wrote the Chronicle: "Boxer was one of five senators who joined British Prime Minister Tony Blair for a fireside chat Wednesday night at the British Embassy to discuss Blair's efforts to push the United States and other nations to address climate change. The other senators invited were Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Sen. Joe Lieberman, I- Conn., co-authors of a bill to limit carbon emissions, as well as Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., and Sen. John Warner, R-Va., who is seeking to replace Inhofe as the ranking Republican on the environment committee."
Los Angeles Times , San Francisco Chronicle , Tulsa World , Washington Times , San Jose Mercury News , Dec. 7.

Come on, January. I can't wait until Inhofe's insane ramblings are those of a MINORITY member.