Two leading environmental groups launched satirical video attacks on conservative Republican Senate candidates yesterday.

But in an election cycle when business groups and foes of environmental regulation are pouring millions of dollars into political advertising, the question is how much support the environmentalists can mobilize to help their preferred candidates -- and whether they will be able to match the firepower of their political opponents with less than six weeks until Election Day.

The Sierra Club and League of Conservation Voters released separate humorous videos aimed at a host of GOP Senate candidates who do not believe in the science of global warming and are not particularly friendly to the environmental movement.

Targeting several of the candidates, the LCV debuted a video of an animated and rather garish former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) hosting a "Tea Time" talk show featuring candidate-skeptics like Colorado's Ken Buck and Florida's Marco Rubio.

Calling global warming "mumbo jumbo," the Palin caricature highlighted various comments made by this group of climate change deniers, whom LCV has dubbed "Flat Earthers."

In an interview with an eye-spinning, coffee-sipping Palin, Wisconsin Senate candidate Ron Johnson said, "I absolutely do not believe that the science of man-caused climate change is proven."

Meanwhile the Sierra Club launched a video tied to a donation page highlighting the Republican Senate nominee in Kentucky, Rand Paul. Set to music and featuring cameos of Palin and conservative commentator Glenn Beck, the Sierra Club clipped together Paul's various interview comments on everything from mountaintop mining to illegal immigrants.

Discussing the controversial practice of removing mountaintops to extract coal, Paul said in the video that if a coal company bought the mountaintop from a private owner, then "I don't think anybody will be missing a hill or two here and there."

The Paul video is just the first of several videos the Sierra Club will release highlighting candidates' records and is part of a playbook being employed by other environmental groups in a year when some Republican candidates have sought to highlight environmental issues and are being backed by special interest groups that believe many environmental regulations are anti-business and inhibit job creation.

"Tea Party Candidates like Rand Paul, Sharon Angle, Christine O'Donnell, Ken Buck, and Pat Toomey are trying to make Americans scared of even what little progress our country has made on clean energy, and global warming," said Cathy Duvall, Sierra Club's political director, in a statement. "We are working to get the word out that we can't let these extremists run our government."

The Sierra Club is deploying 30 people to assist campaigns in some of the most competitive races in the country, Duvall said in an interview. The group will coordinate with candidates to send staff, mobilize volunteers and members to help on the ground.

Additionally the club runs an independent expenditure program that will be "focused on motivating people we know who care about these issues and who aren't necessarily planning on voting this year. We'll be talking to some of those critically important swing voters about the difference between the candidates on clean energy job creation," Duvall said.

In addition to the video highlighting the "flat earth" candidates, LCV launched online advertising and is already on the ground going door to door in five states helping with Senate races.

The environmental groups are up against well-organized and well-funded forces that include the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which will spend $75 million on campaigns this year, up from $50 million in 2008. The Chamber is already running ads criticizing candidates who voted for the American Energy and Security Act of 2009, the House version of the cap-and-trade bill currently stalled in the Senate.

Another group facing off against the environmentalists is the conservative group Americans for Prosperity, which has earmarked $45 million for advocacy on a host of issues.

While the Sierra Club will not discuss how much it is spending on the campaign this year, LCV intends to spend at least $4 million, less than what it spent in 2008 but more than the last off-year election in 2006.

Duvall likens the environmentalists' fight with coal companies, the Chamber and other industry groups to the movie, "The Empire Strikes Back," where the bad guys used a level of force far superior to the good guys.

"We actually are making progress, and this is how they are trying to shut that down," she said.

LCV sees the battle as pivotal.

"The November elections are just six weeks away. If candidates like these are allowed to replace climate champions in November, we will feel more than just the loss of a few elected officials," said LCV President Gene Karpinski in a release. "We will lose out on a clean energy future that creates jobs, increases our national security and protects the planet for future generations."

Duvall believes the environmentalists can help defeat the most extreme Republican candidates. "We know that the American public supports us on these issues," she said. "And we know that these issues are important to voters. We are working in a handful of races both in the Senate and in the House where we know these issues can make a difference in the outcome of the election."