20+ Lawmakers Hit Copenhagen on US Dime

More than 20 members of Congress hit the Copenhagen climate conference last month, a CBS investigation finds—and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office, which was in charge of the guest list, is being shifty about what it all cost. Of the fact that lawmakers (and some wives) commandeered three military transport jets while a contingent of staffers flew commercial, Sharyl Attkisson observes that, “even if Congress didn’t get a global agreement, they left an indelible footprint all the same.”

With the total (and bipartisan) delegation numbering well over 100, CBS looks at what makes up the tab:

• Three military jets at $9,000 per hour: $168,000 in flight time alone.
• Dozens of commercial flights at $2,000 a pop.
• 321 hotels nights booked, many at a five-star joint.
• Plus meals.

Indeed, notes Republican Sen. James Inhofe, a climate skeptic who went on his own, “The worst thing that happened there is they ran out of caviar.” (More Copenhagen climate change conference stories.)