Tulsa World is the second biggest paper in Oklahoma, the state represented by Senator Jim Inhofe, also known as Congress's biggest denier. It is unsurprising, therefore, to see that Inhofe published an op-ed in his state's paper. What is worth noting, however, is the fact that Tulsa World asked Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) for a piece as well.
Inhofe's op-ed is prefaced with a note referencing the "Senator Snowball" episode last winter. You may recall that during the episode, Inhofe brought a snowball to the Senate floor to disprove climate change, and Whitehouse responded by hammering home the point that, "You can believe every single major American scientific society, or you can believe the senator with the snowball."
In his piece, Inhofe makes the usual denier arguments, sometimes not even correctly. (For example, he accuses the IPCC of being "the leading culprit" in Climategate, confusing the IPCC with the University of East Anglia, where the hack actually took place.) Inhofe then cherry picks quotes from international politicans to scare Oklahomans with black helicopter, one-world-government-type conspiracy theories, hyperbolic rhetoric and paltering.
Whitehouse, on the other hand, presents Oklahomans with an argument made by their own scientists. Beyond the general scientific consensus of NASA and NOAA—which the US military and companies like Apple and Wal-Mart also accept—Whitehouse appeals to the authority of the University of Oklahoma's Dr. Berrien Moore III, Oklahoma's Climatological Survey, and professors from Oklahoma-based Oral Roberts, Southern Nazarene and Tulsa Universities, highlighting their support for the climate consensus. Whitehouse then explains the denial of Inhofe and others by referencing a study by Dr. Dunlap of Oklahoma State University that looks at deniers' fossil fuel funding. To conclude, Whitehouse quotes Oklahoma's state climatologist who said the science is in, and "you can either ignore it, or you can use it."
So, Whitehouse basically rewrote his "Senator Snowball" takedown, applying it specifically to Oklahoma, where Inhofe is at odds with his own state's scientific experts. Just like the scientific experts of every state.
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