This post, written by Dr. Joseph Romm, originally appeared on The Huffington Post

Global warming takes down its first major political victim:
"Conservative Prime Minister John Howard suffered a humiliating defeat Saturday at the hands of the left-leaning opposition, whose leader has promised to immediately sign the Kyoto Protocol on global warming."
Why the stunning loss? A key reason was Howard's "head in the sand dust" response to the country's brutal once-in-a-thousand year drought. As the UK's Independent reported in April:
... few scientists dispute the part played by climate change, which is making Australia hotter and drier..... Until a few months ago, Mr Howard and his ministers pooh-poohed the climate-change doomsayers.
You can read about Howard's lame attempt to change his rhetoric on global warming here.

Now we are the last industrialized nation with a leader who refuses to take any serious action -- hopefully that dubious distinction will be corrected in next year's presidential election.