Senator who denies climate change in line to lead environmental panel

With Republicans reclaiming the Senate in the midterm elections, Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) is squarely in line to once again preside over the Environment and Public Works Committee next year.

Inhofe has long been a vocal denier of climate change, claiming it is a vast liberal conspiracy and that the Bible proves it must be false. And in 2003, Inhofe claimed that there was "substantial evidence" that rising carbon dioxide emissions produced "many beneficial effects upon the natural plant and animal environments of the Earth."

On Sunday, the United Nations released a dire report, produced by hundreds of scientists, that warned emissions must be sharply cut or the planet will face "irreversible" and catastrophic effects from climate change.

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