I can't think of a single time in history when "staying home" showed bravery. To my mind, Gandi and MLK were pretty clear about that.

As to "more knives, fewer green banners" - when a regime is eating their own, body counts are part of the spectacle of power, not the solution.

said it. Look or don't look, but connect. If a self-obsessed piece of fluff is the way you do so, done. But honestly Ms. Harding - you couldn't find another way to mark this tragic death? It's just NOT about you.

Bender

I admit that I'd like to hear something more rousing from Obama, but he's done exactly what he should - not given the Ayatollahs an ounce more ammunition. And what's more he's spoken to the point, and the facts. The talking necks who've used the crisis as a political football don't do "freedom of speech" any favors. When people are dying for our privileges, it's a little unseemly to do backflips to leave them out of the story.

I'm really pleased with Obama's environmental team, their qualifications and frankness. I'm thrilled he's basically enabled the EPA to circumvent Congress if need be. I expected as much from Obama, and he's delivering, in his own cool, non-triangulation way.

I don't expect much from Congress, and they're not disappointing me. Thank god we have a president who takes climate change seriously, and acts, steadily, rather than mouths.

2001 + 1 = 1999; 2009 + 1 = 2012

2009 - 2001 = 8 Fox years living on a bitchin barge on de Nile.

but respectfully, I don't get it. You obviously want the best for the country, but I think you've got your eyes closed. I don't think you can see who's in the White House, just that it isn't Hillary. Obama's policies are completely in line with us liberals, Hillary's doing a GREAT job as SOS, and the Democrats are as disorganized and marginally effective as ever. I worry that you'll miss the good that might happen. It's been pretty dark for a long time, we've definitely turned on some lights.

Now don't be a one-issue voter! I'm sure you can hold two dissimilar thoughts in your head - keep your views on abortion and come over to the bright side. We really do have better light bulbs, you know, cleaner and with a nice warm glow. Good for skin tones. Standard issue. Go figure.

that "hiking the Appalachian Trail" was just a euphemism for "driving to Dallas"?

I'm so thankful that Joseph Romm is at Salon these days. He is THE most well-informed and pointed writer taking on the vast world of climate disinformation, as evidenced in these letters. I remember when the only consistent GW commentary on Salon was Camille Paglia's monthly orgy of non-sequiturs and la-la denial. Her reign corresponds to 8 long years of 100% lies and obfuscation from the Bush darkness. That's a big, positive, enlightened change, Salon. Thanks.

Now if we could harness the hot air from deniers herein, we'd have one more viable energy source for years to come. No matter who explains or how often, youse guys prefer to sit alone in the dark. Must just be the gift that keeps on giving for you. Go figure.

And a special message to those who say, "don't do it cause it's not enough." Really??

Nope. Don't need your credits. We'll fix it without you.

Got kids? Tell em to thank everyone but you.

Here's a BBC article about an international conference of scientists and economists this past March in Copenhagen, which corroborated the IPCC predictions of 2 years ago - climate change scenarios are "being realized", and are in fact already out of date.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7940532.stm

The BBC is a great source of info about the subject, possibly because England and much of Europe have so much to lose potentially if climate change accelerates as predicted. This particular article will link to many, many others about all aspects of climate change and its effects across the globe - environmental, economic, health-related.

Here's the IPCC home page for direct data:

http://www.ipcc.ch/

and a link to the Pew Center for Global Climate Change, which also includes business models for fighting Climate Change effectively:

http://www.pewclimate.org/

and a link to Joseph Romm's main blog for further info and analysis:

http://climateprogress.org/

The most important points I can make to you are these:

- scientific consensus is overwhelmingly united about the overall facts and has been for several years now.

- this is NOT a political issue. It is purely factual.

- this is NOT an American issue (us vs. them). We're all in this together.

I daresay none of you has looked at any of this material firsthand. You can read and decide for yourself. But please do READ. It's not just your comfort zone at stake.

Links: forward away. I'll wager mine are better, clearer and not funded by oil companies. It is indeed about what you read, and where. I've looked at the "debate" info; have you tried the original statements and reports?

Joe - it's not about egos, tit for tat or, especially, Al Gore. It's about identifying a real threat when it's still possible to do something about it. We've fought - mobilized, come together as a people, and acted - for good wars and bad ones, real threats and not. This one is worth it.

It's not a verdict about us in any way - we're overpopulating the earth, as any species would if successful enough, and it's having implications, period. However, we have one particular advantage which can keep us from doing lasting damage - we can learn from mistakes.

And most importantly, it's not about who's wrong or right. You owe it to yourself and your family to know everything you can about this. Please read.