Inhofe and the Old/New Republicans

Everyone knows people who just can't handle reality. I gave up trying to convince my father people who weren't white Anglo-Saxons or didn't have a penis were just as intelligent and qualified as he.

After the Democrats won control of Congress last November, the conventional wisdom was that George W. Bush and other Republicans would look for ways to moderate far-right positions on key issues like the Iraq War and global warming, tacking closer to positions held by most American voters.

But that isn’t what happened. Instead, the Republican leadership has dug in its heels on Iraq, lambasted scientists who warn about climate change and – despite a few rhetorical concessions here and there – continued to support the same ol’ stuff.

In that sense, Sen. James Mountain Inhofe of Oklahoma may be the poster boy of modern Republicanism, the guy who puts the certainty of his instincts and ideology ahead of contrary facts.

As chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Inhofe has steadfastly maintained that global warming is a “hoax” – and won’t back down whatever the overwhelming scientific consensus might be.

Inhofe used his Senate position to block any environmental legislation that would put burdens on business, especially the petroleum industry which filled his campaign coffers with at least $900,000 in the last funding cycle. Like Bush, Inhofe wanted nothing to do with the Kyoto Treaty and its requirements for cutting carbon-dioxide emissions.

Nearly 500 American cities – from Missouri hamlets to major cities like New York, Chicago and San Francisco – have challenged the Bush administration’s resistance to Kyoto by passing local legislation endorsing the accords.

But the nearer the issue of global warming has gotten to center stage the more vitriol Inhofe has poured on environmentalists, scientists and the media. Environmentalists became “Nazis,” the regulators at the Environmental Protection Agency were the “Gestapo,” the media’s references to global warming were a “hoax.”

Though this strategy of demeaning opponents didn’t work in Election 2006, Inhofe remained unbowed. The senator fired off a letter to various CEOs complaining that environmentalists were about to take over his committee and warning that Wall Street would not look kindly on executives who succumbed to the environmental agenda.

No sooner had Inhofe’s letter been delivered and his committee chairmanship been surrendered to Sen. Barbara Boxer of California than the Union of Concerned Scientists issued a report that ExxonMobil had engaged in a disinformation campaign aimed at discrediting findings about global warming.

ExxonMobil had pumped $16 million into at least 43 front groups, the scientific organization said. Within days, ExxonMobil announced it had ceased funding the groups and entered into talks with environmental organizations about what could be done to reduce greenhouse gases.

Well, it appears embarrassment may work or at least did with ExxonMobil.

BTW, this is the first time I'd heard about ExxonMobile's $16 million payout to 43 front groups. Its another indicator they're profits are just too damn large.

Updated: Changed "to damn large" to "too damn large". Jeez I hate it when i mix up to and too and they're and their and...

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