In the first speech of his "whistle-stop" tour to Washington, Barack Obama talked global warming to a crowd of shivering Philadelphians who braved 18 degree (sub 10 degree wind-chill) temperatures on their journey to the 30th Street Train Station.It's hard to believe that, given the arctic-like temperatures the northeast has suffered through this winter, the president-elect didn't instruct his writers to reword this passage from his "historic" speech: [my emphasis]"Only a handful of times in our history has a generation been confronted with challenges so vast. An economy that is faltering. Two wars, one that needs to be ended responsibly, one that needs to be waged wisely. A planet that is warming from our unsustainable dependence on oil."I know -- severe weather patterns in either direction are not necessarily symptomatic of overall climate trends, and I generally resist the temptation to report so-called "Gore Effect" events.  But...(Read Full Post)