Thinking of all those sheltering from fires in California. Best wishes to brave journalist Larry Himmel. The Christian Science Monitor has an interesting article on California’s fire, and why they’ve been burning hotter. California’s Age of Megafires

Having listened to most of the hearing now, I think Al’s actual testimony wasn’t his best speech ever. Something about being around politicians seems to tie him up, and he gets stiff again. Plus, all the metaphorical references to “300” left me cold. But he got some zingers in during the hearing, where the skeptics were obviously out for blood, and where Inhofe, as usual, acted like a jackass. UPDATE: Oh good. MyLeftNutmegger at YouTube has the Inhofe footage. Boxer cracks me up every time I watch this, and Al looks like he’s having fun, too.

With thanks to PoliticsTV for putting up the clip. And what was up with this NYTimes article on Gore’s return to the Congressional scene? Sure reads like a hatchet job. UPDATE: Gristmill live-blogged the whole thing. UPDATE: From the AP report: “The planet has a fever,” Gore said. “If your baby has a fever, you go to the doctor. If the doctor says you need to intervene here, you don’t say, `Well, I read a science fiction novel that told me it’s not a problem.’ If the crib’s on fire, you don’t speculate that the baby is flame retardant. You … Continue reading →

I’ve posted a bunch of links about hurricanes and Katrina over at World Turning. If my heart feels up to it, which I doubt, maybe I’ll rant here sometime about a government that ignores environmental science, and keeps our National Guard tied up in an illegal, pointless war.