Chu Clarifies His Coal Views (Sort Of.) - Environment and Energy

The confirmation hearings for Steven Chu, Obama's pick for energy secretary, are going on this morning before the Senate Energy and Natural Resource Committee. Sure enough, Byron Dorgan asked Chu about his now-infamous "coal is my worst nightmare" quote from 2007, captured for posterity on Youtube. Chu explained to the committee that if the world continued to build and operate coal-burning plants at its current rate, then, yes, the effects on climate would be horrific—a nightmare, you might say.

U.S. must lead on economy, climate change: Clinton | Environment | Reuters

"The world is in need of an urgent, coordinated response to climate change and as President-elect Obama has said, America must be a leader in developing and implementing it," Clinton said.

"At the extreme it threatens our very existence, but well before that point, it could very well incite new wars of an old kind -- over basic resources like food, water and arable land," she said.

GOING GREEN: MAKING CLIMATE CHANGE HOT | More Intelligent Life

No one seems to care about global warming. The problem, argues Robert Butler, is the dull and nannyish way we are beseeched to "save the planet". Being green could be far sexier than that ...

Why Alleged Global Warming Allegedly Portends a Food Crisis - TIME

There's a limit, however, to our ability to adapt to climate change — we still need to reduce carbon emissions, sharply and soon. If we fail, a warmer future won't just be uncomfortable, it will be downright frightening. "We need to wake up and take care of this," says Naylor. "We won't have enough food to feed the world today, let alone tomorrow."