3. James Inhofe
No one takes greater pleasure in thwarting the progressive environmental agenda than Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.). The self-appointed global warming denier-in-chief never misses an opportunity to bash cap-and-trade legislation or spin climate controversies (see #4 Phil Jones — it took Inhofe just four days to launch an investigation into “Climategate”). Although the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, on which he serves as the ranking Republican, passed its climate bill over his objections, Inhofe succeeded in getting all nine Republicans on the committee to boycott the hearings and the vote. The GOP tactic removed any real meaning from what would otherwise have been a major accomplishment for Senate Democrats. Inhofe also traveled to Copenhagen in an attempt to sink the international climate talks by persuading delegates that the Senate would never pass legislation matching Obama’s carbon-capping pledges. Inhofe has predicted that the Senate climate bill is “not going to get more than 35 votes.” We’ll see how influential he really is when the tally comes in.
