GOP Leaders Disband House Global Warming Committee

WASHINGTON (Dec. 1) -- House Republicans cooled off efforts to study global warming today by killing the select subcommittee that has been investigating climate change.

"We have pledged to save taxpayers' money by reducing waste and duplication in Congress," said Michael Steel, a spokesman for Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, who becomes speaker in January.

"The Select Committee on Global Warming was created by Democrats simply to provide political cover to pass their job-killing national energy tax. It is unnecessary, and taxpayers will not have to fund it in the 112th Congress," Steel said.

The committee was created in 2007 by outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to take the lead on climate change issues. Although the committee has no authority to pass legislation -- climate change and energy bills are handled by the House Energy and Commerce and the Natural Resources committees -- the select committee held dozens of hearings.

Those sessions failed to convince many House Republicans that global warming exists. Among the skeptics are Reps. John Shimkus of Illinois, Joe Barton of Texas and Cliff Stearns of Florida -- all vying to take over the helm of Energy and Commerce.

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Pelosi expressed "disappointment" that the select committee is headed for the scrap heap. She added that "disbanding the committee does not diminish the urgent need to act on these very critical issues."

The move came as no surprise. Chairman Ed Markey, D-Mass., convened a final hearing as a swan song, featuring a roster of big-name witnesses, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The panel's top Republican, Wisconsin's James Sensenbrenner, who had asked his party leaders not to kill it, announced the session would be its last.

"While I was initially skeptical of the select committee's mission, it ultimately provided a forum for bipartisan debate," he said.

In a jab to his opponents, Markey titled the final session, which dealt with energy security, jobs and climate challenges, "Not Going Away."