Next year's Senate climate debate is shaping up to be much different than the one that played out over the last 18 months as powerful committee chairmen express interest in vetting critical pieces of the controversial legislation.

Democratic claims that climate change and alternative energy development are pre-eminent topics for voters will be put to the test this fall in one of the "reddest" states in the nation, as a relatively little-known challenger hopes to use those issues to topple Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Capitol Hill's most ardent critic of climate change legislation.