--- description: Inhofe is a vocal climate change denier title: Watch a Senator Throw a Snowball on the Senate Floor image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [climate change](/tag/climate-change/) ## climate change Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Senator Throws Snowball on Senate Floor to Disprove Climate Change by [Rachel Janik](/author/rachel-janik/) ## Rachel Janik Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 26, 2015 10:04 PM CUT by [Rachel Janik](/author/rachel-janik/) ## Rachel Janik Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 26, 2015 10:04 PM CUT Sen. James Inhofe tossed a snowball in the Senate chamber Thursday, using the stunt to emphasize his long-held belief that climate change is [“the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people.”](http://views.washingtonpost.com/climate-change/post-carbon/2010/02/inhofe.html "undefined") The Oklahoma Republican is the chair of the Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee. After a blizzard blew through the southern states in recent days, reaching Washington D.C., Inhofe took advantage of the snow to make his symbolic point that extreme winter weather disproves global warming. This isn’t the first time he’s done so. After a winter storm in 2010, Inhofe and his family [built an igloo](http://views.washingtonpost.com/climate-change/post-carbon/2010/02/inhofe.html "undefined") and named it after noted environmentalist and former Vice President Al Gore. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3724969/james-inhofe-snowball-senate/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3724969/james-inhofe-snowball-senate/"},"headline":"Senator Throws Snowball on Senate Floor to Disprove Climate Change","datePublished":"2015-02-26T22:04:52.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T04:45:56.163Z","description":"Sen. James Inhofe has a way with visual metaphors","url":"https://time.com/3724969/james-inhofe-snowball-senate/","keywords":["climate change"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rachel Janik","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/rachel-janik/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[],"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/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/climate-change/","name":"climate change"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3724969/james-inhofe-snowball-senate/","name":"Senator Throws Snowball on Senate Floor to Disprove Climate Change"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Science Cop Takes on Climate Change Denying Senator Jim Inhofe","description":"When the GOP takes control of the U.S. Senate, Oklahoma's James Inhofe— a global warming denier—becomes chair of the Environment Committee","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/UbAmQMaL/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-12-04T19:23:29.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/UbAmQMaL.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3724969/james-inhofe-snowball-senate/","duration":"PT3M52S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3724969/james-inhofe-snowball-senate/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```