Fight in Senate Environment & Public Works Committee

Senator John Warner (R-VA), left, decided to start a fight with former EP&W Chairman James Inhofe (R-OK), right, over who will be the top Republican on the committee. Senator Warner declared his seniority for EP&W because he lost his chairmanship of the Armed Services Committee. Warner is the senior member of the Environment & Public Works Committee, but Inhofe is the immediate past chairman. GOP senators will make the decision on the ranking minority member of the EP& W Committee for the 110th Congress by Jan 3.

Warner probably wants to give the GOP a more user-friendly face on global warming. Senator Inhofe is very aggressive in promoting his view that climate warming is not a problem but simply a normal cycle in atmospheric conditions. Senator Barbara Boxer, the new EP&W Chairwoman, will loudly promote a proactive climate change agenda all the way up to the 2008 presidential elections. The voting public is seriously concerned about global warming as long as they do not have to make any personal sacrifices to prevent it. Voting is much easier than giving up that SUV for a Prius.