Will chimney police come to your home? Will Al Gore tell us when we can run our air- conditioners? Will a federal officer be stationed at every factory? Romm was honest enough to admit, "I am certainly not here saying that this is going to be a free lunch."

No, there isn't. If the global climate change hysterics take over, we will pay and pay.

And to what end? In Europe, where panicky politicians have forced cap and trade on their constituents in what John O'Sullivan calls "the universal sign of conspicuous virtue," energy now costs more, but most countries still have failed to meet their Kyoto carbon-emission targets.

I did have the satisfaction of ending the IWF panel by reminding the audience of global-warming guru James Hansen's prediction years ago, that New York City's West Side Highway would soon be "under water."

Romm blogged that the prediction is "needless to say ... nothing Hansen ever said."

But he did say it, and one of Romm's fans even corrected Romm on the blog: "Chad" wrote: "I tracked down that quote from Hansen.... [H]e said ... 'the West Side Highway will be underwater.' ... [T]here would also be a drought and the trees on the median strip would be dead."

I just looked. The highway's still there. The trees are healthy, too.