# James Inhofe

James Mountain "Jim" Inhofe (born November 17, 1934) is an American businessman and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Oklahoma, a seat he was first elected to in 1994. A member of the Republican Party, he chaired the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) from 2003 to 2007 and again from 2015 to 2017. Inhofe served as the U.S. representative for Oklahoma's 1st congressional district from 1987 to 1994 and as mayor of Tulsa from 1978 to 1984.

## Quotes

* I can only say that what this country does not need is another Gestapo bureaucracy like the EPA and OSHA. And we do not want that to happen to the FDA.
** "Government Overregulation Hurting American Citizens", 138 Congressional Record H907 (1992-03-03)
** regarding the Food and Drug Administration, disparaging the United States Environmental Protection Agency and Occupational Safety and Health Administration
* I believe very strongly that we ought to support Israel; that it has a right to the land. This is the most important reason: Because God said so.
** "Peace in the Middle East", Senate Floor speech regarding the Israeli–Palestinian conflict (2002-03-04)
* I'm probably not the only one up at this table that is more outraged by the outrage than we are by the treatment.
** regarding Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse, quoted in "GOP senator labels abused prisoners 'terrorists'". CNN. 2004-05-12.
* Today, we will hear from federal law enforcement agencies, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, who will discuss the problem of ELF and ALF and law enforcement's reaction to their dangerous and destructive tactics. It is these tactics, particularly the widespread use of arson, which makes ELF and ALF the #1 domestic terror concern over the likes of white supremacists, militias, and anti-abortion groups.
** Senate Hearing 109-947 before Committee on Environment and Public Works, 2005-05-18
** on the Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front
* It kind of reminds... I could use the Third Reich, the Big Lie. You say something over and over and over and over again, and people will believe it, and that's their strategy... A hot summer has nothing to do with global warming. Let's keep in mind it was just three weeks ago that people were saying, "Wait a minute; it is unusually cool."
** Jim Myers (2006-07-22). "Heat wave has senator sticking to beliefs". Tulsa World.
* With all of the hysteria, all of the fear, all of the phony science, could it be that manmade global warming is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people? It sure sounds like it.
** "The Science of Climate Change", Senate floor speech (2003-07-28), quoted in Chris Mooney (2006-08-29). The Republican War on Science. Basic Books. p. 84. ISBN 9780465046751.
* Since 1895, the media has alternated between global cooling and warming scares during four separate and sometimes overlapping time periods. From 1895 until the 1930’s the media peddled a coming ice age. From the late 1920's until the 1960's they warned of global warming. From the 1950's until the 1970's they warned us again of a coming ice age. This makes modern global warming the fourth estate's fourth attempt to promote opposing climate change fears during the last 100 years.
** "Hot & Cold Media Spin: A Challenge To Journalists Who Cover Global Warming", Senate Floor speech (2006-09-25)
* Those individuals from the far left, and I'm talking about the Hollywood elitists and the United Nations and those individuals want us to believe it's because we are contributing CO$_2$ to the atmosphere, that's causing global warming. It's all about money. I mean, what would happen to the Weather Channel's ratings if all the sudden people weren't scared anymore?
** Fox & Friends, quoted in Rachel Sklar (2007-01-30). Fox Takes Fair And Balanced Look At Weather "War"...With One Side.
* You might remember, it was 2003 when I made the statement that the idea that manmade gases, CO$_2$, are causing catastrophic global warming is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people. I was hated at that time, but now people realize I was right. That, by the way, is the title of my book that's going to come out in January.
* We're both doing the Lord's work, Noel.
** Noel Sheppard (2011-11-30). Sen. Inhofe Talks to NewsBusters About Global Warming, Gingrich and Politico's Energy Policy Maker of the Year.
* When I was ambushed by global warming advocates recently—no, they haven't given up—they asked me the same questions they always ask: "What if you're wrong?" and "If you're wrong will you apologize to future generations?" I always answer, "What if you're wrong? Will you apologize to my twenty kids and grandkids for the largest tax increase in American history?" They usually don't have anything to say after that.
** The Greatest Hoax: How the Global Warming Conspiracy Threatens Your Future. WorldNetDaily Books. 2012-02-28. ISBN 9781936488490.
* Well actually the Genesis 8:22 that I use in there is that "as long as the earth remains there will be seed time and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, day and night," my point is, God's still up there. The arrogance of people to think that we, human beings, would be able to change what He is doing in the climate is to me outrageous.
** Tashman, Brian (8 March 2012), "James Inhofe Says the Bible Refutes Climate Change", Right Wing Watch, retrieved on 2012-03-13
* Do you realize I was actually on your side of this issue when I was chairing that committee and I first heard about this? I thought it must be true until I found out what it would cost.
** The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, 15 March 2012
** on hearing about climate change as chair of the Senate Environment Committee
* We don't stop and realize that we are dealing with people—the far-left doesn't think we need a military to start with, they really don't. You've heard me say this before, they really believe if all countries would just stand in a circle and unilaterally disarm and hold hands then all threats would go away, they believe that. They would never say that but they do believe that.
** The Frank Gaffney Show, 4 December 2012 , quoted in Tashman, Brian (5 December 2012), "Inhofe Claims Obama and Liberals Hope to Disband the Military", Right Wing Watch

## Quotes about Inhofe

* In the United States at the start of the new millenium, climate skepticism was on the rise, fueled by the ascension of the George W. Bush administration, which had deep roots in the oil industry. Bush repudiated any effort at carbon control soon after taking office, and underlings in his administration routinely pressured federal scientists to alter their reports or stop talking to reporters. On Capitol Hill, no one captured the spirit of the moment more fully than Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe, who famously called global warming a "hoax" and used his position as the chair of the relevant Senate committee to block any legislation. The recipient of massive amounts of campaign funding from the oil and gas industries that dominated the Oklahoma economy, Inhofe used his position to put forward an ongoing critique of mainstream science. The reader should know that virtually all the scientific attacks the Senator makes have been answered over and over at least as far back as [Ross] Gelbspan's book
** Bill McKibben in The Global Warming Reader (2012)
* Among today’s conservative “Luntzspeak” practitioners, few have the lingo down better than the honorable James Inhofe, senator from Oklahoma. Recall Luntz’s advice for dealing with the issue of global warming, which includes the following precepts: (1) emphasize your commitment to “sound science”; (2) seize the remaining “window of opportunity” to challenge and dispute the scientific consensus; and (3) find experts “sympathetic to your view” and make them “part of your message.” It’s a cunning strategy, provided that you are not ashamed of following in the footsteps of the tobacco industry, and Inhofe doesn’t appear to have much shame.
** Chris Mooney, The Republican War on Science (2005), ISBN 0-465-04675-4, p. 78
* As a science abuser, Inhofe may be out of control, but he is not at all out of the Republican mainstream.
** Chris Mooney, The Republican War on Science (2005), ISBN 0-465-04675-4, p. 80