New GOP Majority Pulls the Plug on House Climate Change Committee

The House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming met for the last time Wednesday as ranking Republican Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner announced the special committee set up by Democrats in 2007 will not meet when the GOP takes over the House majority in 2011.

"This hearing will be the last of the select committee," Sensenbrenner announced at Wednesday's hearing. "And while I was initially skeptical of the select committee's mission, it ultimately provided a forum for bipartisan debate, and an opportunity for House Republicans to share a different view on the pressing energy and environment issues that we currently face."

Though Sensenbrenner complimented Rep. Ed Markey's leadership of the committee in the past, The Hill noted Wednesday that the committee has previously been used as personal platform for Markey, D-Mass., an "ardent proponent of regulations to curb climate change."

Markey has used his committee gavel to bash opponents of climate legislation and rally support for steep emissions cuts. The panel has held more than 50 hearings, which have included attacks on oil and coal companies, robust defenses of climate science and the risks of global warming and promotion of “clean” energy as a major economic engine.