--- title: Climate Change: Jim Inhofe at Odds With Science on Global Warming description: Expected Chair of Senate Environment Committee Doesn't Believe In Global Warming canonical: https://time.com/3558611/jim-inhofe-global-warming-climate-change-2014/ author: Haley Sweetland Edwards article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-11-05T17:23:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:07:09.652Z article:section: Science og:title: Climate Change: Jim Inhofe at Odds With Science on Global Warming og:description: Expected Chair of Senate Environment Committee Doesn't Believe In Global Warming og:url: https://time.com/3558611/jim-inhofe-global-warming-climate-change-2014/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltede8829290e4cb56/6987643b35ba6fde15c04d15/inhofe-oklahoma.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Jim Inhofe og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Climate Change: Jim Inhofe at Odds With Science on Global Warming twitter:description: Expected Chair of Senate Environment Committee Doesn't Believe In Global Warming twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltede8829290e4cb56/6987643b35ba6fde15c04d15/inhofe-oklahoma.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 4 Ways the New Top Environment Senator Disagrees With Science > Sponsored content. 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Future Proof is TIME's weekly climate and energy newsletter, written by senior correspondent Justin Worland. It connects the energy transition to the decisions reshaping business, technology, policy and markets. #### Where can I follow the energy transition as a business story? Future Proof covers climate and energy as an economic and business story rather than only an environmental one. It publishes every Friday and is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who writes Future Proof? Justin Worland, a senior correspondent at TIME and an award-winning climate journalist, writes Future Proof. #### Is Future Proof free? Yes. Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Haley Sweetland Edwards](https://time.com/author/haley-sweetland-edwards/)  ## Haley Sweetland Edwards Nov 5, 2014 5:23 PM UTC  Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla. gives a victory speech at the Republican watch party in Oklahoma City on Nov. 4, 2014. Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla. gives a victory speech at the Republican watch party in Oklahoma City on Nov. 4, 2014. Sue Ogrocki—AP  by [Haley Sweetland Edwards](https://time.com/author/haley-sweetland-edwards/)  ## Haley Sweetland Edwards Nov 5, 2014 5:23 PM UTC Sen. Jim Inhofe is widely expected to take over the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee now that [Republicans have won control of the Senate](http://time.com/3556003/election-day-midterm-2014-republicans-senate-democrats-obama-mcconnell/), putting one of Washington’s most strident climate change deniers in charge of environmental policy. In his 2012 book, _The Greatest Hoax: How the Global Warming Conspiracy Threatens Your Future_, the Oklahoma Republican argued that climate change science has been manufactured by liberals to scare the American public, push through anti-business regulations and sell newspapers, and that humans should do nothing to regulate greenhouse gases. Problem is, Inhofe’s opinions are deeply at odds with the overwhelming consensus of the scientific community, both in the U.S. and abroad. Here’s just a few ways how. **Human activity** Inhofe: The Senator says hundreds of scientists dispute the idea that global warming is [the result of human activity](http://dailycaller.com/2014/01/13/inhofe-fewer-and-fewer-senators-believe-in-global-warming/). Science: 97% of international scientists working in fields related to the environmental sciences [agree](http://theconsensusproject.com/#sharePage) that current global warming trends are the result of human activity. No U.S. or international scientific institutions of any caliber dispute the theory of anthropogenic climate change. **Consequences** Inhofe: He says global warming, if it’s happening at all, could be beneficial for humanity. “Thus far, no one has seriously demonstrated any scientific proof that increased global temperatures would lead to the catastrophes predicted by alarmists,” he said [in a 2003 speech](http://www.epw.senate.gov/speechitem.cfm?party=rep&id=230594). “In fact, it appears that just the opposite is true: that increases in global temperatures may have a beneficial effect on how we live our lives.” Science: The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has found unequivocally that climate change will have a catastrophically negative effect on humans. In [its fifth report](http://www.ipcc.ch/), released Sunday, the panel compiled and analyzed hundreds of peer-reviewed scientific studies on climate change from all over the world and found that the consequences of inaction will lead, and already are leading, to flooding, diminished crop yields, destructive weather, and mass extinction. ### Photos: Meet America's 10 Newest Senators  Joni Ernst A Lieutenant Colonel of the Iowa Army National Guard, Ernst has served on the Iowa State Senate since 2004. Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images  David Perdue A businessman from Macon, Ga., Perdue makes his political debut in the seat of retiring Sen. Saxby Chambliss. David Goldman—AP  Tom CottonA U.S. Army Veteran and lawyer, Cotton has served as Representative for Arkansas's 4th district since 2012 and now moves on to the Senate. Justin Sullivan—Getty Images  Cory Gardner Gardner formerly served in the Colorado House of Representatives and U.S. House of Representatives. He beat incumbent Sen. Mark Udall. David Zalubowski—AP  Thom Tillis Tillis is the Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives and has served there 2006. Davis Turner—Getty Images  Mike Rounds From Huron, S.D., Rounds served as South Dakota governor from 2003 to 2011. Michael Conroy—AP  Shelley Moore Capito The daughter of former West Virginia Gov. Arch Alfred Moore, Jr., Capito has served as a U.S. Representative for West Virginia's 2nd District since 2001. Tyler Evert—AP  Steve DainesA businessman with Procter & Gamble for 13 years, Daines became a member of the House of Representatives in 2013. Michael Albans—AP  James LankfordLankford has served as Representative for Oklahoma's 5th District since 2011. Sue Ogrocki—AP  Ben Sasse The President of Midland University in Fremont, Neb., since 2010, Sasse won the Senate seat vacated by Sen. Mike Johanns. Nati Harnik—AP **Cycles** Inhofe: If global temperatures appear to be warming, that’s just because “\[w\]e go through these 30-year cycles,” he said on Mike Huckabee’s radio show in 2013. Science: Dozens of peer-reviewed international studies, including the 2012 _State of the Climate_ peer-reviewed report by the American Meteorological Society (AMS)—which was compiled by 384 scientists from 52 countries—underscored that current warming trends are happening much more rapidly than any natural warming process, and that it is unquestionably the[ result ](http://www.skepticalscience.com/global-warming-natural-cycle.htm)of anthropogenic greenhouse gases, released by humans burning fossil fuels. **History** Inhofe: Scientists can’t explain why, eight years ago, “we went into a leveling-out period” in which the earth did not continue to warm. Science: No such “leveling out” occurred. While individual temperatures spike and plummet every year, climate change science asks a longer-term question: Is the earth warmer than it was fifty years ago? The answer is, again, [unequivocally yes](http://www.skepticalscience.com/graphics.php?g=47). Sea ice has reached a record low, the Arctic has continued to warm, sea temperatures have continued to increase, ocean heat has reached near record-levels and sea levels have reached an all-time high. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3558611/jim-inhofe-global-warming-climate-change-2014/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3558611/jim-inhofe-global-warming-climate-change-2014/"},"headline":"4 Ways the New Top Environment Senator Disagrees With Science","datePublished":"2014-11-05T17:23:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:07:09.652Z","description":"Meet Jim Inhofe","url":"https://time.com/3558611/jim-inhofe-global-warming-climate-change-2014/","keywords":["Environment","Congress","climate change","energy"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltede8829290e4cb56/6987643b35ba6fde15c04d15/inhofe-oklahoma.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Haley Sweetland Edwards","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/haley-sweetland-edwards/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltede8829290e4cb56/6987643b35ba6fde15c04d15/inhofe-oklahoma.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Jim Inhofe","caption":"Jim Inhofe","creditText":"Sue Ogrocki—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/environment/","name":"Environment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3558611/jim-inhofe-global-warming-climate-change-2014/","name":"4 Ways the New Top Environment Senator Disagrees With Science"}}]}] ```