One thing you can say about nuclear power: the people who believe it is the silver bullet for America's energy problems never give up.

When it comes to climate and energy, Gates is a radical consumerist. In his view, energy consumption is good - it just needs to be clean energy.

Compared to coal, which generates almost half the electricity in the United States, natural gas is indeed a cleaner, less polluting fuel. But compared to, say, solar, it's filthy. And of course there is nothing renewable about natural gas.

Coal boosters like to tout coal as cheap and plentiful - well, not anymore. At least not in China.

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

In the U.S. alone, weather disasters caused $50 billion in economic damages in 2010.

Some studies suggest that the Arctic Ocean may be ice-free by the end of the century.