Some like it hot

Baby, it’s cold outside. But don’t think global warming is some sort of hoax, like Republican Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma apparently does. Auntie has to hand it to Inhofe: He’s got a lot of chutzpah for an Okie. Perhaps the most vocal climate-change denier in Congress, Inhofe recently announced he’ll be attending the U.N. climate conference in Copenhagen December 6-18, where he’ll serve as a “one-man truth squad.” Appearing recently on PBS’s Washington Week, Inhofe agreed with a caller who believes the meltdown of the polar ice caps is just the world changing as usual. “I think he’s right,” Inhofe replied. “I think what he’s saying is God’s still up there. We’re going through these cycles.”

One man’s truth is another man’s religion. Auntie has always believed that, only not quite so literally. Anyhoo, Inhofe is in familiar territory. He pretty much laid out the same lame spiel at the U.N. Climate Conference held in Milan, Italy back in 2003, where some of the attendees were so impressed, they circulated wanted-dead-or-alive posters featuring Inhofe’s reptilian visage. However, the senator’s reception in Copenhagen may not be so chilly, considering it’s the home of “skeptical environmentalist” Bjorn Lomborg. Once a climate-change denier himself, the Danish statistician now agrees that anthropomorphic global warming is a valid scientific theory, but still thinks there are a lot more important things to worry about. That pretty much puts him in the same boat with Inhofe, and believe Auntie, when those ice caps melt, they’ll be needing that boat.

Then again, we all may be needing boats. As the international global-warming scientists and activists at 350.org note, we’re all pretty much doomed if atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide aren’t reduced below 350 parts per million. We’ve got to do something now, and fast. To that end, the organization has declared Saturday, October 24, Climate Action Day. Fun, informative global-warming teach-ins will be held around the world, including three separate events in Auburn, Rancho Cordova and Davis. You can find the event closest to you, along with oodles of the latest climate-change data, at 350.org’s excellent Web site, which, aptly enough, is located at www.350.org.