Will Sen. Inhofe's New Energy Adviser Moderate the Raging Climate Skeptic? - NYTimes.com

Myron Ebell, director of Center for Energy and Environment at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, which recommended Banks to Inhofe, said his CEQ experience made him a good choice. He said he could not testify to Banks' personal politics and declined to share details of the recommendation he offered Inhofe.

Banks "is a very professional staffer, and I'm sure he will be a very loyal staffer to Senator Inhofe, who does not have a hard time making up his mind on these issues," Ebell said.

Will the GOP base really demand a crazy GOP 2012 nominee? - The Plum Line - The Washington Post

The conventional wisdom right now on the left is that due to an irrational hatred of Obama and all things liberal, the only way a Republican can win the nomination is by embracing the most extreme positions possible. Yet Mitt Romney, widely perceived as a weak frontrunner, is still polling well in primary states like South Carolina and New Hampshire (though he seems to have given up on Iowa). That’s despite his record on health reform and his refusal to embrace the absurd conservative idea that global warming is a hoax.