A Fresh Dose of the Same Old Denial

If I kept pushing a phony scandal that had been thoroughly debunked by the Associated Press months ago, wouldn’t it ruin my credibility?

So why do climate deniers like Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) think they can keep trotting out hacked climate emails as proof of anything other than a massive industry-funded campaign to block America’s path to a cleaner, more secure energy future?

As I live-blogged at DailyKos, yesterday’s Senate Environment & Public Works Committee hearing had less to do with the Environmental Protection Agency’s budget than it did rehashing the same old science denial. There was very little debate about the EPA’s actual budget, never mind solutions to our inter-connected economic, energy & climate crises.

Climate Activists at Senate Hearing

Inside the hearing room, youth climate activists wore Dirty Air Act masks to protest Inhofe’s obstructionist efforts. Once again, he earned his place as Big Oil’s MVP.

But has Inhofe gone so far off the denial deep end that he’s now merely a sideshow? A moment near the end of the hearing was revealing. Committee Chair Barbara Boxer (D-CA) gave him time for one final question. But instead, Inhofe went off on a rambling, five minute rant about how all those NASA scientists are wrong and his friends at Big Oil front groups are right. As he concluded, he looked up at EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson & realized he still had to at least pretend he cared about what the witness had to say, blurting out, “So … that’s my question.”

The hearing room erupted in laughter.