Marc Morano and James Hansen (center), originally uploaded by DC Photos.

The latest edition of National Journal profiles “Hill People” and one of them is my friend Marc Morano, whom I used to work with a Cybercast News Service. Marc is now working for Sen. Jim Inhofe (R.-Okla.) and doing a wonderful job getting the message out via the blogosphere.

In his first year on the Hill, Morano has gained attention for strongly criticizing several prominent environmental reporters and for crashing the Senate Web site. “As I like to half-kiddingly say, it’s one of the few jobs in Washington where you go to work every day and decide how we can critique and essentially attack the mainstream media,” he said. A former reporter for Rush Limbaugh, Morano is pushing committee Republicans to take a “new media” approach to communications, using talk radio, cable news programs, and the Internet to spread Inhofe’s skeptical take on global warming. Together with minority press secretary Matt Dempsey, Morano created the Senate’s first committee blog. Morano caused a stir in January when he posted an item — criticizing the host of the Weather Channel’s global-warming show — that drew so many hits it overwhelmed the Senate’s Internet server. “We like to put a little brass knuckles in our blog,” he said.

Morano, 38, grew up in McLean, Va., and has a bachelor’s degree from George Mason University. He has worked as an investigative reporter for Cybercast News Service in Washington and as a freelancer for The Washington Times, The New Republic, and American Spectator.