The American Association of Petroleum Geologists is presenting its annual journalism award this year to Michael Crichton, the science fiction writer whose latest book, "State of Fear," dismisses global warming as a largely imaginary threat embraced by malignant scientists for their own ends.

In a direct swipe at the head-in-the-sand Bush Administration, a major Republican Senator called on the U.S. to rejoin the Kyoto process in a major address to the U.N. Security Council:  

Among other things, Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana said:

"I have urged the Bush Administration and my colleagues in Congress to return to a leadership role on the issue of climate change.