For too long, the Democratic Party "machine" has been eerily silent when it comes to the scientific consensus on climate change and the risks that catastrophic climate chaos creates for America and Americans.  While much has been said and heard on 'clean energy' and 'green jobs', the words "climate change" and "global warming" have almost seemed to disappear from the Democratic Party's lexicon as the Republican Party headed into ever-more extreme rejection of science with embrace and promotion of fossil-foolish global warming denialism.  Thus, when it came to political leadership, the voice in the Village Square has been overwhelming shrill rejection of scientific knowledge.

The Democratic Party's aversion to climate discussions derived from a mistaken 'Village' perception that climate change was somehow a losing political issue. This mistaken perception derived, it seemed, from concerns over how Faux-News watchers might react with serious discussion of climate science issues.  In fact, as a Yale University report (pdf) recently documented, engaging on climate change is a winning political issue for Democratic politicians. Discussing climate issues won't get Tea Party-ites any angrier but they will engage with open-minded independent voters concerned about climate issues and motivate Democratic Party activists disheartened by what they see as inadequate engagement on the most critical issue that humanity faces.