Support Warner to Replace Inhofe on the Environment Committee

By: Kindler
Published On: 11/18/2006 11:00:52 PM

The moment when Jim Webb claimed victory GÇô and tipped the Senate to the Democrats GÇô was sweet in more ways than I can count, but one of the sweetest aspects of it was seeing Sen. James Inhofe (R-Oil) lose his chairmanship of the Environment and Public Works Committee.

Sen. Inhofe had turned this panel into a soapbox for the corporate myth that global warming is a hoax GÇô a severely misinformed viewpoint that Exxon-Mobil has literally spent millions to invent and promote (http://www.motherjon...), including, of course, their sizable contributions to James Inhofe himself.  Even beyond spreading Big Oil propaganda, Inhofe actually used his panel to harass scientists and journalists who dared to say the truth that climate change is happening, is caused by humans, and is projected to get much, much worse. 

Come January, heGÇÖll be replaced by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), who understands how serious climate change really is, and is determined to confront this challenge.  But now we have a chance to remove Sen. Inhofe even further from the issue GÇô and once again, itGÇÖs up to a Virginian to do it.
As the Post reported today (http://www.washingto...), our own Sen. John Warner, having served out his term as Chairman of the Armed Services Committee, is now looking to bump Inhofe as ranking Republican member on Environment and Public Works.

To be sure, Warner is no environmentalist GÇô the League of Conservation Voters has  ranked him a mere 14 (http://4.79.194.20/l...), and he has done some silly things like working to block new wind power installations because the military isnGÇÖt sure if they like them or not.  And yet, he would still be miles ahead of Inhofe. 

In general, Warner has shown himself to be reasonable and willing to work across party lines to solve problems.  HeGÇÖs quoted in the Post story as saying: "I am committed to market-based measures and investments in new commercial technologies to slow the rate of growth in greenhouse gas emissions as we continue to gather further sound scientific evidence to guide national and international decision-making."  He could be the partner that the Democrats need to develop climate change legislation that might actually pass.

So, letGÇÖs show our support for John Warner to make this move.  Contact Sen. Warner (http://warner.senate...) to encourage him to aim for this position and to take action on global warming ASAP! 

Comments



Yo-yo (libra - 11/19/2006 2:23:24 AM)
would best describe what my opinion of Sen Warner has been in the past year or so :) Certainly, he's lost all my respect when he caved in on the torture bill and a little bit more when he campaigned with Allen (there's always the 3rd option: say pox on both your houses and stay home. That's what Olympia Snowe does when voting in the Senate becomes more than she can stomach).

But, by the same token, his aiming at getting Moron Inhofe out of the prime seat on the Environment Com-e has to count towards restoring Warner's cred., even if his own ratings with the LCV are less than impressive; *anyone* is likely to be better than Inhofe :)

But I don't see how contacting Warner on the subject would be of any help. He's already expressed his preference for that position and he's already pulled rank (seniority) on the issue. What else can he do? Contacting the Repub muckety-mucks (leadership) in the Senate might be more sensible though, since I never pay any attention to Repub advice to Dems, I don't see any reason why they should listen to me... 



Here's why... (Kindler - 11/19/2006 4:24:51 PM)
First, because politician's backbones stiffen when they know that they have the public behind them on an issue.  It's just as important to tell them when they're moving in the right direction as it is to tell them when they're off-base.

Second, it won't be enough for him to become ranking Republican on the Committee -- he then will have to act on climate change, a much more challenging endeavor.  He needs to know that a lot of Virginians care about this issue and want to see movement on it, without delay.



NO! Keep Inhofe! (K - 11/19/2006 5:44:32 PM)
The environment -- to say nothing of reason and common sense -- will benefit greatly every time Inhofe opens his ignorant mouth during one of the many hearings Sen. Boxer will be holding.

Nothing will better get across how much the Republicans harm the environment than that!



Not a solution... (Kindler - 11/19/2006 5:59:33 PM)
The voting public figured it out how ignorant the Republicans are and told them to get lost in the last election.  But now it's time to do something about climate change. 

I don't care who gets or shares the credit, but it is simply, absolutely essential that we start dealing with this challenge immediately. Scientists are saying that we have a maximum of a decade to make major progress before the Earth is in serious trouble.  We need to get Inhofe's ass out of there.