Report from the bloggers' conference call with Sen. James Inhofe--he predicts a GOP Senate in '12

Before it was fashionable, at least in conservative circles, to challenge the veracity of man-made global warming, Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) was blowing, excuse me, cold air on environmentalists' assertions on this subject. Read about it here and here.

Global warming, Inhofe says, is the "greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people."

Early this afternoon Inhofe hosted a bloggers' conference call. The topic was the Environmental Protection Agency and the McConnell Amendment, which if enacted, will prevent the EPA from regulating greenhouse gases. It's similar to legislation the Oklahoman originally drafted.

After President Obama's election, his administration and the then-Democratic majority in Congress tried to ram cap and trade into law. They failed--now the White House is using the EPA and the regulatory route to implement their Plan B. Inhofe says their goal is "to do away with fossil fuels."

Inhofe commented on Obama's Georgetown speech in which he pledged to cut our oil imports by one-third. As I remarked earlier today, Obama's plan does not include more domestic drilling. However, Inhofe cited a Congressional Research Service report that the United States "has more the world's largest recoverable reserves of oil, [natural] gas, and coal of any place in the world. "

But how much is that? Fifty years of oil for our nation, ninety years of natural gas. Inhofe said. The United States has 28 percent of the world's coal reserves, including I'd like to add quite a bit in Illinois. Inhofe didn't cite how many years' supply of coal we have in our reserves, but more than 200 years-worth is a generally-agreed upon figure.

Inhofe isn't confident that Obama will change his energy policy. While keeping an eye on Illinois politics, I've learned that it is important to follow the money. Which is what Inhofe is doing. Of the president, Inhofe remarked, "He's got to cater to the new people who are the financial backbone of the Democratic Party--that is the party of the environmentalists." Those "new people" include George Soros, Hollywood celebrities, Michael Moore, and the Al Gore wing. And of those new people, Inhofe declared, "[Obama] can't lose that base." Which is why the senator believes the president won't give up the fight on having the EPA regulate greenhouse gases.

Inhofe also discussed the Republican Party's prospects in 2012, he predicts a GOP takeover of the Senate.

Slightly related post:

My Kansas Kronikles: Oklahoma's strange panhandle

Technorati tags: Democrats politics economy Drill here, drill now government energy oil Obama Barack Obama green inhofe senate Republican government Oklahoma oklahoma politics coal