“Forget the Petraeus report — what historians will note about September 2007 is that the Northwest Passage was free of ice for the first time since humans started keeping track.” — Bill McKibben, Washington Post, Sept 29, 2007

If there is one good thing that came out of the administration’s “Climate Summit” this week it was that it solidified, for those who needed further proof anyway, that President Bush will do anything he can to avoid providing any leadership on climate change. This week’s solution to the mounting public pressure accumulating in Washington was to create a parallel reality, one where mock conferences are more important than international negotiations, and false solutions take precedent over real action.

Even the Washington Post seems to be picking up on this:

President Bust assured the rest of the world yesterday that he takes the threat of climate change seriously and vowed that the United States “will do its part” to reduce the greenhouse gases that are warming the planet, but he proposed no concrete new initiatives to reach that goal.

As if that’s a surprise.

In a seeming rebuttal to this embarrassing turn of events, the Post also published a powerful op-ed by Bill McKibben — who chooses in dramatic fashion to not only confront the reality that Washington ignores, but highlight the competing realities between science and politics that has placed us in our current predicament.

Consider the news from the real world, the one where change is measured with satellites and thermometers, not focus groups: Arctic ice is melting on an unbelievable scale — an area the size of Britain disappeared each week in late summer as the record for minimum ice cover, set in 2005, was shattered by more than 400,000 square miles, meaning about a 27 percent loss.

Historically this tactic is not always a popular one. People don’t like to hear scary stories about what tomorrow may bring, and this reality is part of the reason why our politicians and even some of our fellow citizens have been so slow to acknowledge what civilization is facing.

But McKibben isn’t looking for a message that resonates, he — like many of us — is begging for an inkling of leadership, a shred of bravery from someone who isn’t discouraged by seemingly insurmountable obstacles, but willing to believe that we can confront and defeat our adversary. We’ve had such leaders before.

What we need to know, and soon, is: What does reality look like to you? Can you close the gap between science and politics? Who will lead on the great issue of our day?

After 20 years of inaction the race is finally underway. Global warming has a huge head start; the sprint to catch up is the story of our time.

Story of our time indeed Mr. McKibben. Sounds to me like our search for a “leader” is over. Now we simply must convince those in Washington to follow.