U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) is now fighting with a fellow Republican in his quest to convince people that global warming is a "hoax" and that the country should do nothing in response to proven climate change.
Increasingly, isolated and absurd, Inhofe has become a pathetic figure in the United States Senate, spouting ridiculous claims and using scare tactics to oppose a bill sponsored by retiring U.S. Sen. John Warner (R-Virginia) that would attempt to slow down global warming. U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut, co-sponsors the bill
According to the Associated Press, Inhofe promises to take a lead role in defeating the bill. Oklahoma’s senior senator has been waging a personal war against scientific claims about global warming for years. Why would he stop now?
Inhofe said, "Because this bill will strike a devastating blow to American families, American jobs, and the American way of life, I vow to lead the fight in the Senate to defeat this disastrous bill," according to an AP story published on the Web site of The Daily Oklahoman.
But leading scientists throughout the world have proven the validity of global warming and there is not one shred of evidence that lessening the impact of global warming will hurt the economy. In fact, it is only logical that fighting global warming responsibly will secure the economy, not weaken it. Even President George Bush believes humans have contributed to climate change through carbon emissions. Scientists predict the world’s weather patterns because of global warming will become dangerously erratic and sea levels could rise, wreaking havoc on coastal communities.
Warner, 80, a leading Republican in the Senate who once served as Navy Secretary, recently became convinced of the validity of global warming and says he wants to do something about it before he leaves office. Inhofe, 73, is stuck in the politics and rhetoric of the past. He is the one who needs to retire so Americans can get on with the business of securing the future.
Warner’s bill is modeled after a recently passed California law that caps greenhouse gases. The bill would cap such gases at 2005 levels by 2012 and at 1990 levels by 2020. Eventually, the bill would require a 65 percent reduction from 1990 levels by 2050. These caps would come from cuts in carbon dioxide emissions from companies who pollute.
As usual, the extremist Inhofe is putting the vested interests of corporations above those of regular Oklahomans. He repeatedly embarrasses the state with his outlandish claims about climate change. He is reviled throughout the country and world, and he makes Oklahomans seem ignorant in the process. The world wonders how such a person can get elected to public office, and it reflects on all Oklahomans, not just Republicans.
Inhofe is running for reelection in 2008. His opponent, 34-year-old state Sen. Andrew Rice (D-Oklahoma City), who accepts the scientific evidence of global warming, has said he will consider all sides of the ongoing debate over what to do about it.