Washington (Platts)--29Nov2012/426 pm EST/2126 GMT

The chairwoman of a key US Senate committee Thursday called Superstorm Sandy a "turning point" in the debate over climate change while another committee member said the views of climate change deniers should no longer be tolerated.

During a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing, 18 Senate and House members from the states hardest hit by the October 30 storm were scheduled to testify about the impact of hurricane-force winds and flooding. More than a dozen states formally declared states of emergency and more than 8.5 million customers were without power across 21 states due to the storm.

Senator Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat and chairwoman of the committee, called the storm the "turning point in our fight to address climate change."

"You can close your eyes and cover your ears and put a pillow over your head, but anyone with a heartbeat and a pulse can tell things are changing," Boxer said.

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat, said in Sandy's aftermath members of the committee should no longer tolerate the views of members who deny the impact of human activity on climate change.

"We've tolerated the deniers for far too long in this body," Whitehouse said, claiming that the fight against climate change legislation was being led by "polluters" opposed to any new climate change regulation. "We have to face the fact that the deniers are wrong. They are just plain, dead wrong."

Senator Jim Inhofe, an Oklahoma Republican and the ranking member of the Senate environment committee, has been one of the leading climate change deniers in the Senate. Due to term limits, Inhofe, who did not appear at Thursday's hearing, will be replaced as the committee's ranking member in January by Senator David Vitter, a Louisiana Republican. Vitter's move into the ranking member's seat has fueled speculation that climate change legislation will face less resistance from Republicans during the next congressional session.

In an interview this week, Vitter said that while he shares Inhofe's skepticism of the effect of human activity on climate change, he likely would not focus on the issue as much as Inhofe has.

"Where we may differ a little bit is just the time and energy I spend on that in committee," he said.

Still, Vitter said that any climate change legislation is "really dead in this congress and the next congress."

While Boxer sees hope for climate change legislation, President Barack Obama has indicated climate change action will not be a priority of his second term.

--Brian Scheid, brian_scheid@platts.com
--Edited by Jason Lindquist, jason_lindquist@platts.com

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