We have a lot of problems. So why would our president say global warming is our biggest threat?  Probably because it suits his ideology and his management style.  The truth is, if you accept at face value everything he says about climate change, there is nothing he can do in the 20 months he has left in office that will appreciably affect the climate.  This is especially true given what the president defines as “success.”  He champions his agreement with China on cutting carbon pollution, but all it really means is the United States begins to raise energy costs immediately and China agrees to have a meeting in 2030 to discuss what actions they may or may not take.

President Obama is living in a world of denial.  He uses global warming as a distraction to dodge the real problems we face and avoid critiques of his performance.  If he did face reality, there is a lot he could do to try and juice economic growth.  There is also a lot he could do to take the reins and provide American leadership around the world.  He could deploy artful diplomacy to help us through some of the critical problems that the likes of Graham Allison, Larry Summers and Doug Holtz-Eakin have articulated. It may take a crisis to get the president’s attention, but let’s hope somewhere there are advisers telling him that urgent matters need his focus and global warming is simply not the priority that he wants it to be. America urgently needs the president to be the leader that the world needs today.