Republican control of the U.S. Senate, gained in the midterm elections, could turn the country in a new direction when it comes to energy and the environment, analysts say.
A key change could see Oklahoma Republican Sen. James M. Inhofe, who is no friend of the Environmental Protection Agency, replace avowed environmentalist Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) as chair of the powerful Environment and Public Works Committee.
Inhofe headed the committee from 2003 through 2008, when Republicans also had control of the the Senate.
Inhofe is an unapologetic climate-change denier who describes himself as a lone campaigner against what he terms an environmental-liberal conspiracy.
In 2012 he published a book, "The Greatest Hoax: How the Global Warming Conspiracy Threatens Your Future" in which he claimed scientific evidence for climate change was "manufactured" by liberals to frighten the American public.
"Actually," he said shortly after taking the committee chair in 2003, "global warming can be beneficial to mankind," because, he said, it could lead to improvements for the environment and for the U.S. economy.
Inhofe has been particularly critical of the EPA, and earlier this year took part in a GOP effort to block an agency proposal to limit greenhouse gas emission levels from new power plants.
If he is confirmed as chairman of the committee, he likely will attempt to dismantle the EPA's comprehensive Clean Power Plan, proposed in June, that would seek to reduce carbon pollution emitted by existing power plants by 30 percent, with a target date of 2030.
In his book, he pulled no punches when it came to his criticism of the EPA and of President Obama.
"The Obama EPA is set to implement the most aggressive regulatory regime in history," he wrote. "Global warming alarmists are set to destroy hundreds of thousands of jobs and significantly raise energy prices for families, businesses and farmers, basically anyone who drives a car, uses heavy machinery, or flips a switch."
Republicans, along with supporters in the energy sector, have argued that restrictive rules on emissions would leave U.S. manufacturers less able to compete with companies in countries that have less stringent pollution standards.
Inhofe's reelection and likely appointment as committee chair, along with the arrival in the Senate of several new Republican senators, will add to the number of critics of the administration's environmental regulation efforts.
One result could be the approval of the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline that would send heavy crude from the tar sands of Canada's Alberta region down through Montana and South Dakota and connecting to the southern leg of the pipeline in Nebraska.
Two years of possible head banging between Republicans and the Obama administration could leave the public unhappy with both, says Professor David Victor of the University of California, San Diego, who specializes in environmental and energy policy.
"The gridlock will remain the same," he says. "Gridlock in the center of government means it doesn't matter who's responsible for not getting things done."
