Sen. James Inhofe (R., Okla.), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, tells National Review Online that President Obama’s speech on the BP oil disaster was “unethical.” Inhofe’s explanation for the strong charge is simple: He says Obama’s politicization of the moment, “catering to the liberal agenda instead of trying to mitigate the damage,” was “very bad, in poor taste, dishonest, and didn’t offer any real leadership in terms of the Gulf.” Inhofe says he is disappointed that Obama instead is “focused on trying to get some kind of energy legislation into conference by the Fourth of July.”

Can Obama pass a cap-and-trade bill? “He was silent on it last night,” Inhofe says. “Cap-and-trade is not just dead, it’s buried and gone.” That said, Inhofe believes that Obama and Senate Democrats are very interested in passing an energy package that caters to the “far Left.” Once a bill gets into conference, Inhofe predicts the Democrats will make a major push, hoping to perhaps “not bring it out until after the November elections.” That strategy, Inhofe predicts, “won’t work, because the GOP will win the House and the Senate,” making it unseemly for Democrats to pursue such a package after the public has spoken.