Tulsa World: Panel OKs climate bill with Republicans away

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Panel OKs climate bill with Republicans away
Sen. Jim Inhofe argues that the Democrats-only vote violated rules.

By JIM MYERS World Washington Bureau
Published: 11/6/2009 2:23 AM
Last Modified: 11/6/2009 4:35 AM

WASHINGTON — A key Senate committee ended a days-long Republican boycott led by U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe when it voted Thursday to send a sweeping climate change bill to the Senate floor.

Following the 11-1 vote with no Republicans present, Inhofe, R-Okla., claimed that the action not only violated committee rules but signaled the death knell for the bill.

He said the vote, which he termed the "nuclear option," would bolster his case against global warming next month at a climate meeting in Copenhagen that some hope will produce an international agreement on the issue.

"It's all about Copenhagen," Inhofe said of the vote by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

No one was predicting an easy path or a quick vote for the legislation.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican who appears to be becoming a key player on the bill, agreed that the version approved by the committee would not draw the 60 votes usually needed for Senate passage.

Graham said the committee's vote helped in advance of the Copenhagen meeting.

The message for that meeting must be that the U.S. is taking the issue seriously, he said.

Graham and Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., who introduced the bill, are part of a group that is trying to come up with another version that could attract the votes needed to overcome procedural hurdles on the floor.

The House approved its version of the bill earlier.

Inhofe perhaps is the most vocal skeptic in Congress of man-made global warming. He dismisses the urgency that others place on efforts to pass a bill addressing the issue.

He was the only Republican to attend the committee's session, but he left for another meeting shortly before the vote.

Inhofe once again expressed Republicans' request for a complete economic analysis of the huge bill before the committee acted.

Republicans believe that the Environmental Protection Agency had agreed to do that review, which would take weeks.

The committee's chairwoman, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., cited a EPA briefing earlier this week and said she had concluded that additional analysis at this point would be duplicative and a waste of money.

The bill has already gone under unprecedented review, she said.

The bill needs to move to reduce pollution, address the country's dependence on foreign oil and create jobs, she said.

"This is a jobs bill, make no mistake about it," she said.

Boxer rejected Inhofe's claim that Thursday's vote violated any Senate rule.

Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., who cast the lone "no" vote, said the target in the bill remained too high. Such a goal would require that other countries play by the same rule, he said.

Jim Myers (202) 484-1424
jim.myers@tulsaworld.com By JIM MYERS World Washington Bureau

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Some reader comments for this story were copied from "Senate committee passes climate bill," which was published on 11/5/2009.

	Report Comment Bville, (11/5/2009 9:00:09 AM) The pot water for we American frogs just got a little warmer.
	Report Comment Tulsa Kayaker, Tulsa (11/5/2009 9:06:55 AM) What say all you Inhofe supporters now? Yesterday you totally agreed with his boycott, saying Jimmy knows whats up. We don't need this. Now, he changed his old mind. What say you now? Is he an old idiot like I said, or a turncoat? Either way.....
	Report Comment douglassm, tulsa (11/5/2009 9:22:41 AM) What a buffoon.
	Report Comment Sanity, Broken Arrow (11/5/2009 9:25:43 AM) Tulsa Kayaker, I say, you will be sorry, yes very sorry.
	Report Comment Dr. Strangelove, Tulsa (11/5/2009 9:27:54 AM) Boxer and Inhofe were holding hands yesterday, maybe they heated things up a little last night? Who knows.
	Report Comment my view, Sand Springs (11/5/2009 9:29:58 AM) Tulsa Kayaker, Inhofe didn't vote for the bill he left before they voted. It won't pass in the Senate, this bill is dead on arrival. I doubt they'll have enough votes to bring it to a vote.
	Report Comment Tulsa Kayaker, Tulsa (11/5/2009 9:32:01 AM) Sanity, I would inquire as to why you think I will be sorry? Will I eat some bad chinese food today?
	Report Comment flyingtheo, Broken Arrow (11/5/2009 9:33:33 AM) Dr. Strangelove, too funny! She acts and sounds like she would definitely be a bum lay all right. But seriously, we don't need legislation that is going to make our economy worse at this time, when will we reach the tipping point where we plunge into a full blown Depression with all of this liberalism?
	Report Comment JDAM77, Cleveland, OH; formerly Tulsa (11/5/2009 9:38:10 AM) From Fox News: "The 98-page report, co-authored by EPA analyst Alan Carlin, pushed back on the prospect of regulating gases like carbon dioxide as a way to reduce global warming. Carlin's report argued that the information the EPA was using was out of date, and that even as atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have increased, global temperatures have declined." Inhofe was attempting to get this report included. I know, I know, Fox News isn't a credible source, supports slavery, and is sympathetic to Christians.
	Report Comment pdillo, Tulsa (11/5/2009 9:39:25 AM) haha, you'll be sorry because a bunch of brainwashed republicans are going to comment on the tulsa world site.... world watch out!
	Report Comment Unbelieving, (11/5/2009 9:41:01 AM) The liberal mind must suffer from something like Mad Cow disease. Nancy Pelosi says that Dems won on Tuesday night and Boxer passes this crap onto the floor? Is it liberalism or the air in CA? Goodness!
	Report Comment Unbelieving, (11/5/2009 9:42:01 AM) pdillo, brainwashed Repubs? It wasn't US that believed BHO would save the world! Be my guess YOU did!
	Report Comment pdillo, Tulsa (11/5/2009 9:42:49 AM) JDAM77, sympathetic to conservatives, not Christians. There are plenty of liberal Christians that think somehow preserving our planet is a good thing. Last time I checked, exhaust was toxic. Its too bad we are addicted to oil. Crack makes crack dealers money too.
	Report Comment edelweiss, Tulsa (11/5/2009 9:44:46 AM) Inhofe is and always has been a bufoon, and a major embarrassment to our state. I can't wait until the old coot quits. The Okie neo-cons will continue to elect him. Pure silliness!!!
	Report Comment pdillo, Tulsa (11/5/2009 9:45:18 AM) (And for the record, Unbelieving, I wanted to vote for Ron Paul.)
	Report Comment Ayo, T-Town (11/5/2009 9:47:02 AM) No one whose opinion counts counts Inhofe's opinion as having merit.
	Report Comment Unbelieving, (11/5/2009 9:48:17 AM) Pdillo, so intelligent! Thanks for proving my point!
	Report Comment 18thandBoston, (11/5/2009 9:49:23 AM) Glenn Beck said global warming isn't real and he's on TV so he has to be telling the truth. Thanks for defending America from something or other, Inhofe!
	Report Comment Unbelieving, (11/5/2009 9:49:32 AM) Edelweiss, I'm sure the folks from Picher would disagree with you. I know the folks in the military would.
	Report Comment Angry Citizen!, Bluejacket (11/5/2009 9:55:28 AM) Partisan posturing from the California leftists, this bill is DOA because of Boxer's refusal to study its economic impact.
	Report Comment pdillo, Tulsa (11/5/2009 10:07:04 AM) DOA if the red-necks on the tulsa world site have anything to do with it!
	Report Comment Dr. Strangelove, Tulsa (11/5/2009 10:08:20 AM) flyingtheo- you know Inhofe probably had a shot at Pelosi back in the old intelligence committee days, haha
	Report Comment Welcome to America !, Claremore (11/5/2009 10:15:34 AM) Thanks once again for standing up for what is right Inhofe.
	Report Comment Ayo, T-Town (11/5/2009 10:21:59 AM) Unbelieving, Mad Cow Disease is Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy; Bovine meaning Cow, hence Mad Cow Disease. While this is related to Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease which is what humans can contract, it isn't the same thing. These two diseases along with several others (Chronic wasting disease which affects several species of undulates, and Scrapie which affects sheep) are caused by prions. Prions are proteins and are not a virus or a bacterium. Prions lack a nucleic acid. You may want to rethink throwing names around if you haven't even the least bit of knowledge of what you're talking about. This is precisely why I discount the opinion of laymen who think they have all the answers to climate change. Most of them don't know squat. And, you've just proven that.
	Report Comment psychedelikrelik, Tulsa (11/5/2009 10:31:48 AM) LOL, Ayo! Unbelieving is back for another day of gettin' schooled! Unbelievable!

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