GOP May Rebrand House Enviro Committees - NYTimes.com

Another GOP target could be the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming -- if it survives.

"Certainly if they kept the select committee, I don't think they would keep the title on energy independence and global warming," Ornstein said. Republicans may decide to change the name to the Select Committee on Energy Independence, he added.

But most people who follow energy and environmental issues think GOP leadership would decide to scrap the panel established in 2007 by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) altogether.

Under the leadership of Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) -- a staunch advocate of efforts to curb greenhouse gases -- the panel has led probes into the climate and energy policies of former President George W. Bush's administration and held a slew of hearings investigating the effects of global warming. GOP leadership, meanwhile, has packed the panel with some of the chamber's most vocal global warming skeptics, including Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), the ranking member.