Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI), one of the lead climate change deniers in the House of Representatives, is set to become the vice chair of the House Science Committee.
He agreed to take the second-in-command post to incoming Chair Ralph Hall (R-Texas), because Hall said he would back him for the top position when his term runs out in two years.
The committee will be the nexus for investigations into global warming science.
Sensenbrenner has served as the top Republican on the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming since 2007. He sees himself as a "tiger on oversight."
Fred Upton (R-MI), incoming chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, says he doesn’t see a reason for subsidizing renewable energy to the tune of $10 billion a year for the past decade.
In a recent Daily Caller editorial he said, "Since I am sure the the industry will never give up its free money voluntarily, now is the time for us to slash it on our terms."
In other news, the fight to remove EPA’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions is postponed until next year. Senator John Rockefeller (D-WVA), who tried to attach it to the spending bill which funds the federal government, said: "Republican proponents of my bill to suspend EPA regulations on greenhouse gas emissions have pulled their support for this year — so that they can gain some political advantage trying to take over this issue in 2011."
Meanwhile, Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), who tried in vein to remove EPA’s right to regulate this year, says that Republicans might support a "clean" energy standard next year even though it would create a new federal mandate.
It would require US utilities to supply increasing energy from low-carbon sources, but unlike a Renewable Energy Standard, it would include nuclear power and coal plants that capture emissions. That means renewable energy would be less of a priority.
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