U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe's recent grandiose comments claiming victory for global warming skeptics should be condemned by local corporate media outlets here as a political stunt that lowers the dignity of his office.
Inhofe's comments come as global warming scientists and others meet at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Durban, South Africa. His rhetoric is designed to infuriate those concerned about climate change and the planet's environmental future, but ultimately he only looks petty and foolish. The media here should call him on it.
In a recent videotape (see above), Inhofe announces the "complete collapse of the global warming movement" and suggest that the "only person left talking about global warming is me."
Inhofe then warns against what he sees as the dangers of cap and trade on carbon emissions, claims the United States is no longer part of an united international effort to do something about global warming and reminds us that President Barack Obama is now "working under the radar" on climate change initiatives.
Before the video ends, Inhofe sanctimoniously refers to how he hopes Obama is not reelected for the sake of his children and grandchildren, argues the "Hollywood elites are not going to give up" and, in a snarky finale, asks the Durban conference participants to "tell Al Gore hello for me."
The videotape is grandiose, ludicrous and silly. Inhofe doesn't present a shred of scientific evidence that man-made global warming doesn't exist nor does he show evidence that the issue has faded from the spotlight. A quick Google search shows the Durban conference has been covered by the Associated Press, The New York Times and The Washington Post. Inhofe's videotape, of course, actually brings more attention to the conference. This year's brutal summer in the southern United States has also called attention to global warming in this country.
As a senator from energy state, Inhofe has been a fierce supporter of the fossil fuel industry and receives sizeable campaign money from that sector, but his ramblings about global warming will ultimately become a detriment for oil and gas companies. Does the energy industry really need Inhofe's snarky theatrics? It makes the overall industry seem as self-serving and shallow as Inhofe's rhetoric.
California's U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer essentially responded to Inhofe with this videotaped message:
Note how Boxer refers to evidence and facts about severe weather events and their ties to global warming.
Ultimately, Inhofe gets away with his antics because corporate media outlets here support his overall agenda and refuse to criticize his heavy-handed tactics, but at what eventual cost for Oklahomans and people elsewhere?
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