Inhofe blocks climate change resolution

Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) blocked Senate Democrats on Monday from passing a resolution that would have acknowledged the reality of climate change.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) asked unanimous consent to pass S.Res. 524, which is a measure that expresses the sense of the Senate that climate change is occurring and poses a risk to the United States. But Inhofe objected.

{mosads}“All we wanted to say in this resolution is climate change is happening,” Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said on the Senate floor. “We can’t afford to sit around here debating whether climate change is real.”

Inhofe has been an ardent climate change denier, saying it is the “biggest hoax” perpetrated against mankind.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), who is a sponsor of the resolution, said Inhofe was living in an “alternate reality.”

“To say that we have no warming is just not factual,” Whitehouse said. “Ignorant, out-of-touch or crazy — that’s what young Republicans think of that position.”

Klobuchar said she would try again to pass the resolution because the Senate looks “silly” for ignoring scientific agreement.