The Big Story 

Former Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), who famously called climate change a "hoax" and  led the Senate's Environment and Public Works Committee, has died at 89.

© AP Photo/Andrew Harnik

Inhofe’s family announced his passing Tuesday, saying the former legislator died after a  sudden illness.

Inhofe is famous for denying climate science, describing it as a “hoax” in his 2012 book. Former President Trump has also notably used this language to refer to climate change, despite the scientific consensus that it is occurring and primarily being driven by the use of fossil fuels. 

Inhofe threw a snowball on the Senate floor in 2015 to argue against the fact that the planet is heating up.

He led the Senate's Environment and Public Works Committee between 2003 and 2007 and again from 2015 to 2017. In interim, when Democrats held a majority in the Senate, he served as the panel's top Republican. 

Inhofe was also a fierce opponent of environmental regulation and criticized the Environmental Protection Agency as an “activist organization."

Read more in a full report at TheHill.com.

Welcome to The Hill’s Energy & Environment newsletter, we’re Rachel Frazin and Zack Budryk — keeping you up to speed on the policies impacting everything from oil and gas to new supply chains.

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