I remember seeing the The Day After Tomorrow and thinking it was an environmental scare tactic. Horrible storms, dramatic climate change, and hail the size of cinder blocks. Nonsense. Sure, i knew that Global Warming was a serious problem, but that movie seemed to me to be an exaggeration. Or so I thought.

But now, i can't help but notice the extremes in weather. 70 degree days in the middle of December in New York City. 8 ft of snow in upstate New York. Extreme cold, powerful tornadoes, melting glaciers. The kinds of extremes that would have in the past made me think of the power of nature, now our too much of a forecast to be anything but depressing.

When did this change? For me, it was in Monterey California in 20067- when Al gore presented his now famous PowerPoint to a room of reasonably enlightened enlightened individuals at the TED conference.

Gore was at first compelling, then persistent, and finally relentless. It was tough medicine. I squirmed in my seat. But it reached me. So much so that went to see the movie when it came out. And Inconvenient Truth has set a new bar for documentary impact. As it should.

Sure- the film began to feel a bit like a Presidential platform. So what. It was leadership. It was bold. It was an issue that wasn't 'sexy' - and Gore brought it home.

Gore drove a stake through he heart of the pseudo-scientists who wanted to continue to 'study' Global Warming. he created an atmosphere that allowed NASA climatologists to come out and expose that the Bush Administration's censorship of scientific studies. He turned the media from coverage of the 'debate' to coverage of the issue.

So when he announced in an interview reported by the Here's the AP report that he couldn't imagine any situation in which he'd run, I was sad. Not because I thought he'd win, but because having his voice in the process gave climate change a seat at the table. Its not Hillary's issue, or Obama's, or Edwards' and certainly not McCain or Giuliani.

So Gore going to be missed.

Unless whoever wins in '08 makes climate change a priority, and creates a "Manhattan Project" to focus on it with drive, resources, and conviction.

Hmm... I wonder who could lead that effort?