A belated April Fool’s Day prank?
May 5th, 2009 | Published in blog
The Guardian reports that Sen. James “climate change is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people” Inhofe is supporting a bill to review the dangers of black soot, an important threat to Arctic ice.
Inhofe, in a surprise move, joined Democratic senators in putting forward a bill for an official review of the dangers of soot or “black carbon” to public health and the environment late last month.
“Black carbon … is thought to be the second largest contributor to global warming after carbon dioxide,” the bill said. It gave experts from the Environmental Protection Agency a year to make suggestions to Congress on reducing the pollutant, caused by old diesel engines and burning wood.
Black carbon is accelerating the melting of the Arctic because it absorbs heat, just as wearing black clothes on a sunny summer day makes you feel hot.
Inhofe told the Guardian he’s not ready to regulate black-carbon emissions.
Inhofe for now says he does not support the idea of limiting black carbon emissions, saying he is concerned about the cost to poor families in Africa. In Washington, there is little expectation that Inhofe will be an enthusiastic joiner of Obama’s green revolution, but some are hoping this might be a tiny first step.
