Copenhagen is over; Back to work!

OK. Time to stop feeling sorry for ourselves and get back to work. The action will now retreat to the national arenas. In the United States, this means two things: 1) Cap-and-trade legislation in Congress, and 2) Public opinion.

Having public opinion favorable to action on climate change is key, yet this might be the hardest battle. When President George W. Bush finally reversed his stance and acknowledged the existence of global warming, I thought the debate was closed. But I was wrong. W. was not the last frontier and climate change deniers -"flat-earthers" as UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown called them- have gotten their second wind.

Shockingly, at the same time as the scientific consensus is becoming overwhelmingly accepted by the political elites, there has been a regression in the public opinion. A survey by the Pew Research Center found that the percentage of Americans who believe the Earth is warming has fallen from 71% in April 2008, to 57% this fall. We need a plan, my friends. Any suggestions?