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Reid’s inconvenient theory will get House airing

By Lisa Mascaro (contact)

Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2007 | 7:34 a.m.

WASHINGTON - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada has been derided for saying that global warming contributed to last week's wildfires in Southern California.

Conservative political blogs mocked him. Skeptics complained he was using a natural disaster to push his party's energy agenda. The Nevada Republican Party said Reid had "lost touch with reality."

On Tuesday the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming announced a hearing:

"A Spark Neglected: Wildfires and Global Warming," it labeled the proceedings scheduled for Thursday. "Select committee to examine link between changing climate, frequency and intensity of wildfires ," the description continued.

A committee spokesman said the hearing "was prompted by the wildfires out West and the view of some scientists that the increasing size, frequency and intensity of these fires is affected adversely by global warming." A panel of scientists will testify.

Reid has become notorious for making occasional off-the-cuff remarks that land him in trouble, even if some seem prescient down the road. Whether his latest utterance will bring him further grief or future glory remains to be seen.

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