Streisand: Inhofe ‘frightening’

Singer Barbra Streisand took to Twitter Tuesday night to attack the Senate’s best-known climate change skeptic.

Streisand slammed Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) for his views on global warming after reading an article published Tuesday in Mother Jones that included comments made by the senator in 2009 at the United Nations climate change convention in Copenhagen.

{mosads}In an interview with Mother Jones back in 2009, Inhofe said “Hollywood liberals and extreme environmentalists” engineered the hoax that he calls climate change.

When pressed on who in Hollywood specifically did it, Inhofe said: “Barbra Streisand.”

Streisand tweeted the Mother Jones article late Tuesday, and then proceeded to blast Inhofe.

“This wld be hilarious if it weren’t so frightening. I thank Sen Inhofe for singling me out as a voice against the perils of climate change,” Streisand tweeted.

“God help us! This man is going to head the Committee on the Environment in the U.S. Senate. Like giving a fox the keys to the chicken coop,” she added.

Inhofe shot back at Streisand on Wednesday morning.

“The media and those on the Internet should be more concerned about the cost of the massive EPA overregulation from the Obama Administration instead of a conversation in 2009 provoked by a liberal publication,” he said.

“In the next year, EPA will be finalizing costly mandates on existing power plants that will make our electric grid more costly and less reliable; new ozone standards already billed as potentially the most expensive regulation in our nation’s history; and an unnecessary Waters of the United States rule designed to touch every corner of the country, including small creeks in Americans’ backyards,” he added.

Inhofe was referring to the National Association of Manufacturers’ estimate that the ozone standards will be the most expensive regulation ever. 

The business-friendly group based its assessment on the administration adopting a 60 parts per billion (ppb) threshold for ground-level ozone pollution. The Environmental Protection Agency’s proposal seeks to slash the threshold to somewhere between 65 and 70 ppb, but they are also taking comment on 60 ppb. 

The manufacturers’ group said its analysis is also gearing toward the 65-70 ppb range, which is argues will still amount to one of the most costly regulations.

Inhofe is poised to take the reins of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee next year as Republicans assume the majority.

Inhofe has vowed to fight the administration tooth and nail on President Obama’s climate agenda, specifically the president’s carbon pollution rule on power plants, and efforts by the U.S. to join an international climate accord.

He promised that the carbon pollution rule, ozone standards, and waters proposal, are “what a new Congress will be focused on.”