Ain't No Party, Ain't No Disco

Addressing a conference on global warming, Ban Ki Moon, the new Secretary General of the United Nations, told attendees: "The majority of the UN's work still focuses on preventing and ending conflict. But the danger posed by war to all of humanity — and to our planet — is at least matched by the climate crisis and global warming."

That Ban Ki Moon does not have a reputation for outspokenness makes his statement all the more notable. But it is not a new idea, even in diplomatic circles. Sir David King, Britain's top science adviser, was widely criticized a few years ago when he posited that global warming was man's greatest challenge and a far bigger threat to humanity than terrorism. And Al Gore has repeatedly suggested that confronting global warming is, in the words of William James, "the moral equivalent of war." For James, of course, the great cause was the "war against war," which he warned would be "no holiday excursion or camping party." Ditto this one.