The coal industry is an even larger part of the Australian economy than it is of the American, and it has an enormous amount of political power.

Americans don't pay much attention to environmental issues, because they aren't sexy. I mean, cleaning up coal plants and reining in outlaw frackers is hugely important work, but it doesn't get anybody's pulse racing.

Although most Americans don't know it, the U.S. gets more oil from Canada than it does from the entire Middle East.

In the Arctic, things are already getting freaky. Temperatures have warmed three times faster than the global average.

The coal industry is an even larger part of the Australian economy than it is of the American, and it has an enormous amount of political power.

One of the big questions in the climate change debate: Are humans any smarter than frogs in a pot? If you put a frog in a pot and slowly turn up the heat, it won't jump out. Instead, it will enjoy the nice warm bath until it is cooked to death. We humans seem to be doing pretty much the same thing.

When it comes to global warming, coal is the gorilla in the room.