HISTORICALLY, THERE HAS been tension between church and science,
particularly where a religion is endorsed by the state. In the
17th century, Galileo's embrace of Copernicanism defied Catholic
Church doctrine that the Earth was at the center of the
universe. Galileo's bravery in putting scientific discovery
before political consensus won him house arrest under charge of
heresy until his death. Nearly 370 years after Galileo's death,
e-mails released from East Anglia University's Climatic Research
Unit expose similar tensions between science and, this time,
green doctrine. Since global warming first emerged as a public
issue in the late 1980s, its advocates have spoken of its moral
and scientific significance. "The scientists are virtually
screaming from the rooftops now. The debate is over," sayeth Al
Gore, the public face of global warming. "There's no longer any
debate in the scientific community about this. It's a moral
imperative." Gore's close friend, climatologist James Hansen of
NASA, became the face o