--- title: Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker Only No Vote on 'Climate Change is Real' description: And another denier of manmade global warming wiggles free of the Democrats' show vote canonical: https://time.com/3677496/climate-change-wicker-inhofe/ author: Alex Rogers article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-01-21T23:38:21.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:06:06.201Z article:section: Politics og:title: Only One Republican Senator Refused to Say 'Climate Change Is Real' og:description: And another denier of manmade global warming wiggles free of the Democrats' show vote og:url: https://time.com/3677496/climate-change-wicker-inhofe/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt67bcc1dc73e96c98/69877b338e0601810e459d8c/ap275752156903-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4793 og:image:height: 2696 og:image:alt: Senate Luncheons og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Only One Republican Senator Refused to Say 'Climate Change Is Real' twitter:description: And another denier of manmade global warming wiggles free of the Democrats' show vote twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt67bcc1dc73e96c98/69877b338e0601810e459d8c/ap275752156903-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Only One Republican Senator Refused to Say 'Climate Change Is Real' > Sponsored content. 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There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=184fbefe-8bfa-4b7e-94a3-7b35d2d2582e&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) by [Alex Rogers](https://time.com/author/alex-rogers/) ## Alex Rogers Jan 21, 2015 11:38 PM UTC  Republican Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi speaks at a news conference after the Senate luncheons in the Capitol on Jan. 7, 2015 Republican Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi speaks at a news conference after the Senate luncheons in the Capitol on Jan. 7, 2015 Tom Williams—AP/CQ Roll Call by [Alex Rogers](https://time.com/author/alex-rogers/) ## Alex Rogers Jan 21, 2015 11:38 PM UTC A Mississippi Republican was the only U.S. Senator to vote against an amendment declaring that climate change is real on Wednesday. Roger Wicker, the incoming chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, was the only no vote. The final vote was 98 to 1, with Senator Harry Reid, the Democratic leader from Nevada, not voting. The amendment, introduced by Rhode Island Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, included only 16 words: “To express the sense of the Senate that climate change is real and not a hoax.” It was designed to highlight Republicans’ rhetoric that has run counter to the scientific consensus that the earth has been warming in recent decades. But the stunt left some of the biggest deniers of manmade global warming some wiggle room. Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe, the chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, voted for the amendment and asked to be a co-sponsor. “Climate is changing and climate has always changed and always will,” said Inhofe, author of _The Greatest Hoax: How the Global Warming Conspiracy Threatens Your Future._ “There is archaeological evidence of that, there is biblical evidence of that, there is historical evidence of that. It will always change. The hopes is that there are some people who are so arrogant to think they are so powerful they can change climate. Man can’t change climate.” Whitehouse said he hoped the vote would send “a signal” that the Senate “is ready to deal with reality.” “I almost hate to use my minute because I am so eager to hear what is said during the minute that our energy chairman will follow me with,” said Whitehouse before the vote. “But I’m hoping that after many years of darkness and blockade that this can be a first little vote beam of light through the wall that will allow us to at least start having an honest conversation about what carbon pollution is doing to our climate and to our oceans. This is a matter of vital consequence to my home state … and to many of yours as well.” Wicker’s office did not reply for comment. In the past, Wicker, the new chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, has said that scientific data on rising global temperatures is not conclusive. “President Obama continues to defend his aggressive policies with assertions that global temperatures are on the rise — a notion challenged by scientists and scholars,” he said in a [2013 press release](http://www.wicker.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/weekly-report?ID=2890ccfb-4526-43a5-9317-953841a9a3c3). “The recorded temperatures were much lower than the predictions from climate models often cited by the President and global warming activists.” ### See the Worst Place to Breathe in America  A passenger train travels through town past a refinery in Bakersfield, Calif. Lexey Swall—GRAIN  Oil pumps and scarred earth can be seen for miles in an area of North Bakersfield called the Bluffs. A Cogeneration Plant sits in the middle of the fields and is one of California's top polluters. Lexey Swall—GRAIN  A dust storm blows through Bakersfield, Calif. Dust is a pervasive problem in the area. Lexey Swall—GRAIN  Yareli Gonzalez, 7, suffers from asthma and receives two nebulizer treatments per day, indefinitely. Gonzalez lives in Shafter, a rural farming town in Kern County, Calif. Kern County sits at the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, an area known for having the worst air in the nation due to dust, smog and high levels of ozone. Lexey Swall—GRAIN  Asthma educator Sharon Borradori, left, shows Margarita Hernandez, center, and her husband, Severo Velasco, right, how their 2-year-old son, Mauricio Velasco will use an inhaler when he's older. Mauricio was recently released from the hospital after suffering from an extreme asthma attack. Lexey Swall—GRAIN  Children practice sports on a field at Bakersfield High School which backs up against the train yard that runs through the middle of town in Bakersfield. Lexey Swall—GRAIN  Young football players exercise on the stadium of Bakersfield High School. Bakersfield High is the oldest high school in town and the mascot, the Driller, is directly tied to area industry. Lexey Swall—GRAIN  Benjamin Swall, 14, waits for his brother's football practice to end at Bakersfield High School. Lexey Swall—GRAIN  Red Simspon, a country music legend and Bakersfield native, smokes a cigarette outside of the Rasmussen Senior Center in Oildale, north of Bakersfield. Lexey Swall—GRAIN  Merced Mendoza moves irrigation pipe in a field that will be used to grow alfalfa. The field is adjacent to and owned by Kern Oil and Refining Co. Mendoza is a leader for a men's group at Victory Outreach Church in Bakersfield that rents the land from the refinery to grow alfalfa that is then sold to a local dairy for feed. The money earned from the feed helps fund the men's program for the church. This symbiotic relationship between resource companies and the community are played out throughout the region. Lexey Swall—GRAIN  Percolation ponds fill up with runoff water from nearby Belridge Oil Fields in Eastern Kern County. As the water evaporates, leaving oil residue, hydrogen sulfide, methane and volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, are released in to the air. Lexey Swall—GRAIN  Dust devils can be seen reaching toward the sky during dry months in Bakersfield. Dust is a pervasive problem that contributes to diminished air quality. The problem is exacerbated by the current drought in California. Lexey Swall—GRAIN  Lucy Clark, 72, lives in the foothills north of Bakersfield. Her home sits at 2200 feet, which is about the elevation where the visible layer of smog begins to hang in the air. Because of this, Clark, who suffers from asthma, wears a mask every day she walks out to get the mail. Lexey Swall—GRAIN  Elk Hills Power plant provides electricity to power Occidental Elk Hills oil field. Oxy's Elk Hills field is one of the largest oil fields in the United States and the natural gas power plant can produce 550 megawatts of electricity. Lexey Swall—GRAIN  Samantha Olivarez, 9, left, and her cousin, Daisy Olivarez, 7, play in front of their home in Arvin, Calif. The homes across the street were evacuated after a gas pipe leaked underground. According to reports, the 40-year-old pipe was leaking for as long as two years before it was detected. Olivarez's family is worried about possible health risks in the area due to the pollution. 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