Her plan, Mrs. Clinton hopes, will "reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent from 1990 levels by 2050," which she says is "the amount necessary to avoid the most dangerous and destructive consequences of climate change."

She gamely admits, however, that even if she succeeds in imposing all this additional government on America, it will have no impact on the global situation if foreign nations keep coughing up carbon. "If other countries like China and India are polluting the atmosphere," she said, "all of their pollution will get up on the wind currents and fall right down on us."

Thus, she proposes creating even more government on a global scale by, among other things, "leading the process to develop a new treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which is set to expire in 2012."

"I'll establish an E8 that's modeled on the G8, which is where the big industrial economies come together," she said. "I want to focus on international attention to solve the problem of global deforestation."

The "energy crisis," Mrs. Clinton grandly concluded, equates to World War II. "While young, brave troops served and bled and died overseas, here at home Americans did their part," she said. "Men and women went to work in factories to build ships and planes. Americans grew victory gardens, purchased war bonds, and conserved fuel and electricity. The task before us commands the same urgency and demands the same resolve."

"This is a transformational challenge for our nation and our government," she said.

No kidding. The statist transformation Mrs. Clinton envisions would not only abolish Mr. Edison's light bulb, but put out the light of freedom by which such inventions are made.