SEATTLE- Protesters, supporters, and media members clogged the sidewalk outside Seattle's Town Hall June 4, anticipating the arrival of Al Gore to promote his latest book, The Assault on Reason (The Penguin Press, 2007). Inside the building's 850-seat theater, which sold out in three minutes, an electric buzz echoed off the domed ceiling. Many in attendance sported "Gore 2008" buttons in hopes of prodding their man into another bid for the White House. The auditorium erupted in applause when the former vice president took the stage.

European company Arcelor Mittal, the world's largest steelmaker, is a model of environmental care. Since 1990, the manufacturing juggernaut has reduced its carbon dioxide emissions 20 percent, exceeding European targets by two and half times.

As the 38th annual Earth Day approaches on April 22, many who care about both the poor and the environment are listening to calls for radical measures. The fear is that flooding in coastal regions could displace millions, mostly the poor; heat waves could kill many who are elderly or diseased; and decreased crop yields could lead to starvation in developing nations.

The ultimate planetary impact of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions remains very much a scientific uncertainty. Some climatologists insist that unchecked carbon dioxide emissions will warm the earth enough to melt completely the polar ice caps and bury entire coastal regions under water. Others project more moderate warming, the benefits of which might outweigh potential environmental inconveniences.

SEATTLE- Seattle business owner Joe Whinney turned off a quiet side street and backed his 2006 Volkswagen Jetta up a short driveway to an insulated plywood shed on a recent Wednesday afternoon. Inside that dilapidated structure stood an old-fashioned gas pump-an industrial relic more typical of lonely highway outposts than this urban neighborhood's mix of residential and light industrial space.

The global warming debate heated up again on Feb. 2 when the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concluded that warming is "unequivocal" and that human activity is "very likely" the cause of increasing temperature, melting ice caps, and rising sea levels. The fourth IPCC report capped a solid month of publicity and momentum for the global warming movement:

First the internet buzz about drowning Arctic polar bears and premature cherry blossoms in Washington, D.C.-never mind the bitter cold snap that descended on the capital last week.

Prominent evangelicals are taking positions on opposite sides of the global warming debate, leveraging theological and pastoral authority in a fierce tug-of-war for the minds of the undecided. At one end are religious figures Rick Warren and Ted Haggard, who contend that imminent human suffering from dramatic climate change demands urgent preventative measures. At the other end are James Dobson and Chuck Colson, who argue that such projections are far from certain.