EXCLUSIVE: Inhofe weary of administration apologies

Sen. James M. Inhofe, Oklahoma Republican, said Tuesday that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s apologizing for the United States being a major contributor to climate change was poorly timed and will further doom Capitol Hill legislation to limit carbon-dioxide emissions.

Mr. Inhofe, a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, repeated the argument that cap-and-trade legislation on manufacturing pollution will only send jobs overseas to India and China.

“In an environment like that, to have the secretary of state go over to India and apologize for what old America has done — I’m so tired of people apologizing for us,” Mr. Inhofe told The Washington Times’ “America’s Morning News” radio show.

Referring to President Obama’s recent statement in Italy that the United States had “sometimes fallen short” of its responsibilities in controlling carbon emissions, Mrs. Clinton said during her trip to India that “we acknowledge now with President Obama that we have made mistakes in the United States, and we along with other developed countries have contributed most significantly to the problem that we face with climate change.”

The secretary’s three-day trip ended Monday with Indian leaders saying they would not cave to U.S. pressure to commit to a deal requiring them to meet targets to reduce emissions, despite assurances the plan would not slow the country’s economic growth.

“We are hoping a great country like India will not make the same mistakes,” Mrs. Clinton said.

Mr. Inhofe also said Tuesday that EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson has told him publicly that the legislation in the Democrat-controlled Congress will not reduce carbon-dioxide emissions, so global warming will not be slowed even if man-made gases contribute to global warming.

“She said, no, it would not,” Mr. Inhofe said. “There are some people out there that still believe in this hoax that man-made gases cause global warming.”

He also said the legislation will not pass.

“I’ve said this for 10 years; we’re not going to do that,” Mr. Inhofe said. “This is not going to pass, even if you believe … gases cause global warning.”