Arguing in the Senate over global warming: Good times!

Best coverage of a Senate hearing on the subject of global warming yesterday goes to a post at Science magazine's Insider blog, which also links to Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders epic (forty-minute) take down of Oklahoma senator Inhofe, for his absurd "global warming is a hoax" claim. 

The real news is that Senate Democrats have all but given up on the issue:

[California senator Barbara] Boxer and the Senate's other senior Democrats—who control the [subcommittee] body—have largely deemphasized the issue since 2010, when they abandoned a major effort to pass legislation aimed at curbing U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. And the environment committee, which plays a central role in writing climate and energy legislation, hasn't held a hearing on climate science since early 2009. But with much of the nation suffering from a fierce drought as well as record high temperatures, Boxer apparently decided the time was right to shine a spotlight on the issue.

The headlines did emphasize a connection between weather extremes and global warming. Chris Fields of Stanford, after a lot of complex discussion of attribution, stated:

“There is no doubt that climate has changed,” Fields said. “There is also no doubt that a changing climate changes the risks of extremes, including extremes that can lead to disaster.”

With more than 50% of the counties in the country declared disaster areas, that should resonate, though no action beyond generating a few headlines is expected.

To Inhofe, this arguing was like "the good old days."