The virtual political earthquake this week–or what President Bush likes to call “a thumping”–put some truly progressive Senators in line for important Committee chairs. There’s Patrick Leahy at Judiciary and Tom Harkin at Agriculture, Edward Kennedy at Health, Education, Labor and Pensions and Carl Levin at Armed Services. But one of the biggest policy divides when it comes to shifts of Committee Chairs is at Environment & Public Works. Barbara Boxer will take control from James Inhofe of Oklahoma–a longtime denialist when it comes to the very existence of global warming. “He thinks global warming is a hoax and I think it is the challenge of our generation,” Boxer said yesterday. “We have to move on it.” Thanks to a good thumping we’re going to see some sanity prevail in Congress.
