High Noon

Greenwire reports that newly installed Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) plans to hold global warming hearings starting January 30th. Boxer said she wanted to "take the pulse of my colleagues as to where they are on this issue." Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX), the Energy and Commerce Committee's ranking member, responded as if his party had been challenged to a shootout at the OK Corral. "Certainly the Democrats in the Senate have signalled they're going to make climate change a big issue. We need to have our guys locked and cocked over here." Easy there, Joe.

Greenwire, by the by, is part of Energy and Environment Publishing which is doing a good job covering the shift of power in Washington and what it means for climate change.