Climate change is a huge problem, an almost insoluble problem, for two reasons. One is the habits of the West in terms of consumption. The other is the incredible iniquity between poor countries and rich countries on this planet.

Global warming is no longer a philosophical threat, no longer a future threat, no longer a threat at all. It's our reality.

A voluntary simplification of life-styles is not beyond our abilities, but it is probably outside our desires.

Renewable energy is far more labor-intensive than fossil fuel production.

For those of us who worry more about working people than about windfall profits for oil companies, it may net out. A better question is: what does it do to our economy if we manage to overheat the earth? This summer's drought provides a small taste.

Most of the men and women who vote in Congress each year to continue subsidies have taken campaign donations from big energy companies.

In the scientific community, the debate is over, for all intents and purposes, about whether or not the planet is heating and who is causing it. In fact, it's more or less been over since 1995.