Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe formally endorsed Texas Gov. Rick Perry for president today, saying his fellow Republican has the right combination of executive experience and know-how about government regulations to beat President Obama.

Inhofe, a former chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, is a leading congressional skeptic on global warming and climate change. Perry made headlines recently for saying he has doubts about man-made global warming, saying it is an unproven scientific theory based on "manipulated data."

Inhofe is opposed to the "cap and trade" plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and says Perry wouldn't enact such a proposal to charge businesses so they could exceed their emission limits.

"I know he is the strongest leader to run against and defeat President Obama," Inhofe said about Perry. "He is one of the few who ... won't cave in to the extreme environmental activists or the Hollywood crowd and their liberal agenda."

Last week, Inhofe told the Tulsa World that he called Perry a year ago and promised to endorse the Texas governor if he would enter the race. Perry formally joined the race for the GOP presidential nomination on Aug. 13.

In the same Tulsa story, Inhofe knocked former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney as being "a little mushy on environmental issues" and also suggested former House speaker Newt Gingrich got too close to Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi while he was in Congress.