The question of whether or to what extent human activities are causing global warming is not a matter of ideology let alone of belief. The issue is simply one of risk management.

The question is what will Mitt Romney do as president if his policy is simply to be hands off and let the government be made so small it can be drowned in a bathtub. In the 21st century global economy no state alone has the ability to compete against China.

The older generation had greater respect for land than science. But we live in an age when science more than soil has become the provider of growth and abundance. Living just on the land creates loneliness in an age of globality.