Search for Jim Inhofe on Google, and you’ll immediately see a picture of the Republican senator from Oklahoma proudly holding a snowball on the floor of the US Senate.
Inhofe’s career in elected office spanned nearly six decades, but it snowballed into perhaps his most famous stunt — one of pure, unabashed climate idiocy that would follow him long after he vacated his senate seat.
Inhofe, 87, will retire in early January after nearly three decades in the Senate. They leave a legacy of climate denial that could be laughed at if it weren’t so shameful and dangerous. Few members of Congress have done more to sow public doubt about the impact of fossil fuel-driven global warming, or to block policies and regulations meant to confront the threat.
It is the end of February 2015 and the snow has blanketed Washington, DC Speaking on the floor of the Senate, Inhofe produced a snowball from a plastic bag – proof, he argued, that global warming is not real.
“We keep hearing 2014 was the warmest year on record,” he said, holding up a softball-sized lump of frozen water. “You know what this is? It’s a snowball, just from outside here. It’s very, very cold out there. It’s not very seasonal.”
“Here Mr. President, hold this,” Inhofe said, throwing it to the seated Senate president. The senator spent the next 20 minutes doing what he’s done his entire career: spreading the kind of climate disinformation that would put fossil fuel industry donors to shame.
Inhofe’s view goes beyond skepticism about the magnitude of the global threat. He dismissed global warming as “the biggest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people” and urged climate scientists to do so criminal prosecution. He accused the Environmental Protection Agency of “brainwashing kids” with “propaganda” about climate change. And he characterized carbon dioxide – the main driver of planetary warming – as nothing more than “a form of fertilizer to grow things.”
In a 2012 book on climate change, titled The biggest hoaxhe wrote, “[T]it is what many people have forgotten: God is still on high, and He promises to keep the seasons, and the cold and the heat will not pass away as long as the earth remains.” As the longtime former chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, he made a habit of calling the most prominent climate contrarians as expert witnesses.
Inhofe continues to unashamedly carry the torch even as many fossil fuel interests begin to distance themselves from climate denial.
“There is no evidence that President Biden’s climate fantasy is real,” he said in a video posted to Twitter in July.
For his efforts, the oil and gas industry rewarded Inhofe greatly. During his long career in Congress, first in the House and then in the Senate, oil and gas interests contributed $2.32 million – more than any other industry, according to data compiled by OpenSecrets.com. Only eight members of Congress receive more fossil fuel money.
Like other seasoned deniers, Inhofe is a master cherry picker. Where appropriate, they combine weather and climate to make their arguments – snowball action is a prime example. He parrots the point of saying his favorite climate denier is “tthe climate is changing,” ignores the undeniable mountain of research on the causes and speed of the current crisis. And he dismisses the work of world-renowned climate scientists while highlighting a growing group of contrarian scientists.
Inhofe has described it as “original climate-denier in chief“and”one of the world’s most vocal climate skeptics.”
In his farewell speech last month, Inhofe expressed his commitment to climate action and environmental protection.
“It was no surprise to anyone that The Washington Post called me common enemy no. 1 for radical environmentalists for decades now,” he said. “During my time in the Senate, I was chairman and member of the Environment and Public Works Committee. Throughout that time, I have opposed the Obama administration’s left-wing policies that threaten the lives of Oklahomans, such as the Paris Climate Agreement, US Waters, the Clean Power Plan, and more.
“This policy is really about giving Washington bureaucrats control over the lives of millions of Americans,” he said. “We debated many of the same issues today, and I hope this disagreement will continue for a long time.”
Climate change is a long-standing scientific fact. But thanks to Inhofe, America will be forced to continue sifting through mountains of climate misinformation and disinformation.
Inhofe’s legacy includes creating a small army of skeptics and industry allies alike. E&E News recognized at least 30 of Inhofe’s former staffers now work in powerful positions in energy and the environment — alumni the publication said “stand to continue to dominate the right-wing environmental space for years to come.” These include Andrew Wheeler, Trump-era EPA chief and current top environmental adviser to Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R); Marc Morano, founder and executive director of the climate denial website Climate Depot; and Mandy Gunasekara, a former Trump EPA official and current candidate for the Mississippi Public Service Commission.
“I want to say thank you to all the current and former staff. They are hanging out here now,” Inhofe said during his farewell speech. “I love my former staff ‘has-beens.’ This is a sign of respect. Thank you to all of you, I hope you all will be the same.”