Leadership when we need it....

The New Yorker's News Desk details New York City Mayor Bloomberg's donation of $50 million to the Sierra Club's "Beyond Coal" campaign.

The campaign’s aim is to stop the construction of new coal-burning power plants and to shut down—or to use the more polite term “phase out”—up to a third of the coal plants now in operation. Coal produces more carbon dioxide per unit of energy than any other fuel, so any reduction in coal use means a reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions.

I have been impressed by Bloomberg's approach to problems in that he is relatively free of ideological fervor, equally likely to approach a problem from either side of the aisle. He is a data driven leader, understanding that science knows no ideology. I heard him speak, and I was really impressed that he defended the work of civil servants, saying they were as sharp as anyone he had worked with in the private sector. That reluctance to fall back on stereotypes is a strong trait in a leader.

Here's to a more sustained sensible discussion on the topic of climate change.