The Air Thickens

The debate on the Senate floor over an eco-friendly provision in the energy bill got ridiculous Tuesday. In the end, to no one's surprise, the body passed a measure that does basically nothing to reduced greenhouse-gas emissions.

Again, I think we need to name and commit to finding answers for these three questions:

Is the climate change we are experiencing extraordinary? Is the current rise in temperature unprecedented, or does it fit within age-old global heating and cooling patterns?

Is global warming affected by human activity? Do the chemicals we put into the air significantly and directly affect temperatures? If so, to what degree?

If the change in temperature is extraordinary and if human activity directly affects climate change, what can we do to stop global warming?

If we cannot have a serious, informed debate on the above questions (and preferably one free of overt political biases), we will never be able to adequately respond to the larger question of climate change.