Inhofe, EPA Administrator Tackle Greenhouse Gas Regulation

U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe on Wednesday not only stood by his famous hoax declaration on global warming, but the Oklahoma Republican somewhat reluctantly tipped his hand on plans to publish a book.

“I won’t tell you what it’s about, but the name of the book is ‘The Hoax,’?” he said during testimony before a House subcommittee.

“I did finish it last week.’’

Inhofe was the lead-off witness at a somewhat contentious and lengthy hearing on a proposal that he and Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, are pushing essentially to kill the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate greenhouse gases.

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, the other major attraction at the hearing, testified after Inhofe.

Different sides were drawn years ago on the long-running debate over climate change, its causes and what governments should do or not do to address the issue.

Wednesday’s hearing at the Subcommittee on Energy and Power followed that script.

That included lengthy statements from members of the panel with limited time for witnesses to respond.

Inhofe and House Republicans on the subcommittee focused on what they consider the enormous costs of EPA’s efforts to regulate greenhouse emissions, the jobs that could be lost and the questions that, in their view, continue to surround climate change science.

Science is mixed, Inhofe said, but the economic impact is not.

“In other words, all pain for no climate gain,’’ he said.

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