“The debate about whether there is a global warming signal now is over, at least for rational people,” said Tim Barnett, of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California. “The models got it right. If a politician stands up and says the uncertainty is too great to believe these models, that is no longer tenable.” --timesonline.co.uk

It's good to have that settled. Again. I doubt that we can expect any amount of evidence to change U.S. policy; the current administration is too weak to do anything about it even if they wanted to. I don't mean just politically weak -- although they are that as well -- but morally and personally weak. Doing anything at all about the emission of greenhouse gases in the U.S. will require sacrifice on the part of the average citizen as well as corporate emitters. For that to happen, we would require leadership.

Contrary to some delusional popular opinions, George Bush is not a leader. He is merely a bully and has nothing but threats of varying emptiness to use as persuasion. These are not the tools of leadership. In his heart of hearts, who wants to give up his third car? To start taking the bus instead? Biking? Walking? Eating differently? If Bush were to try to get people to do any of these things, all he could do is threaten them. What a real leader does is make people able to gladly sacrifice their opulence to fulfill their obligation to the other 6+ billion people on this planet.