Q&A: Ed Begley Jr., on Al Gore and the power of reality TV | Newsweek Project Green

ENVIRONMENT
The Black Sheep
Christopher Werth 7/2/2008 12:00:00 AM
Bjorn Lomborg is a Danish political scientist and author of The Skeptical Environmentalist, a controversial book about the costs and benefits of reducing carbon emissions and mitigating climate change. He spoke to NEWSWEEK about the Stern Review, Al Gore and his critics.
CAMPAIGN 2008
Obama's Brain Trust
6/3/2008 12:00:00 AM
"This is a team that's very reflective of Obama, who has made it pretty clear in his speeches and statements during the campaign that he believes that diplomacy has been undervalued over the past few years and that the United States shouldn't fear to negotiate," says Derek Chollet, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security who advised John Edwards' presidential campaign.
Going Green
Jerry Adler
LETTERS
Taking a Look at Our Economic Woes

'A New Kind of Recession': Readers offered their own analyses of the plummeting consumer confidence that has weakened the U.S. economy. Coping with costly fuel, one reader said, "I'm driving my car only to and from work and trying to combine my errands." Some emphasized the need to buy American. Said one, "American consumers are a part of the problem with their insatiable desire for foreign goods." Another blamed the Iraq War for the sagging economy: "The economy is being dragged down by George Bush's war and the billions we are pouring into it."
LETTERS
Mail Call: Green-Challenged

Our cover story on green initiatives by world leaders didn't assuage fears for the environment. One reader lamented the "fraction of American voters who cite the environment as an issue." Another chided politicians for looking for "a quick fix." A third called for policymakers to "lead by example."
ENVIRONMENT AND LEADERSHIP
The New Green Leaders
Barrett Sheridan
With less than a year left in office, President George W. Bush will probably never win the Greenpeace seal of approval. He is, after all, the leader who, in one of his first official acts back in 2001, rejected the Kyoto Protocol, keeping the United States from participating in the effort to curb carbon emissions. He also told a skeptical Congress that opening Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling was essential to national security. Lately, however, Bush is turning … well, if not green, then at least lime or chartreuse. In mid-April he announced that the United States would be willing to commit to binding emissions targets. He has also signed into law the first increase in auto-efficiency requirements in three decades and embraced alternative fuels. What is behind Bush's late-term epiphany about the environment?