I really haven't been following this global warming issue at all.
I've read about it a lot lately. The problem will hurt us 20 to 30 years down the road on a larger scale (where water levels rise). In the coming years, it'll be things like mistimed crops (see: Cali and FL this year), predatory animals living into other animals reigns and killing off species, etc.
The recent "disinformation campaign" by large corporations, similar to those done by Big Tobacco, were interesting. THey had scientists launch confusion and doubt pieces in an organized manner. You can debate whether this proves anything - but it does prove they're willing to spend money to derail any investigation.
Finally - the biggest thing for the Bush Admin is that IF global warming is real, and IF it comes out on his watch, Mr. Gore suddenly gains a whole lot of credibility. People who own farms wiped out, people with beachfront property who will know with certainty it'll be gone in 15 years (and therefore their retirement real estate is worth zilch) will suddenly become Gore voters. Finally, about 2 months back, Gore called out Bush angrily for knowing about 9/11 ahead of time and not acting. So the pieces are there for some serious emotional conflicts surrounding global warming. Water rising a bit doesn't emotionall affect people much... but losing your retirement, losing your farm, and realizing your dad died on 9/11 and Gore said Bush knew... well, these things are very bad for Bush politically, hence the reason to bury it.
