Sens. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), chair of the Senate Environment Committee, had a heated exchange Thursday over President Barack Obama’s energy policy during a hearing on the EPA’s FY2012 budget request.
Inhofe began his opening statement pointing out that Obama planned to “take credit” on Thursday for part of the Keystone pipeline that will be constructed from Kushing, Okla., to Port Arthur, Texas.
“Everyone knows that it was the president unilaterally that stopped the XL Pipeline, particularly that area going through Nebraska. It happens that his authority does not allow him to do the same thing to the South, and therefore, he’s there making his statements about how friendly he is to oil and gas,” he said.
“But even as President Obama stands in the oil field, pretending to support this pipeline, he continues full force with his efforts to regulate fossil fuels out of existence, spearheaded in large [part] by your agency,” Inhofe said, addressing Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson.
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