Startling, how effective the well-funded climate change denial machine functioned for so many years, and, even now, still functions.  Sharon Begley’s Newsweek article paints the full – not too sunny—picture. Just recently, after the verdict of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that the evidence of global warming is “unequivocal” and with a 90% certainty caused by human activities, a conservative think tank funded by ExxonMobil was paid $10,000 to write articles undermining the report.

While climate experts in Japan and Europe have a broad consensus that burning fuels causes climate change, the naysaying lobby in the US has been strong. Undermining science has stalled actual action to reduce emissions. At least eight bills have been introduced in Congress, but their fate is unsure.

With Congress taking the subject up more than 75 times this year, more venture capitalists willing to invest in green technologies, and millions of viewers watching Live Earth, “it seems like the world is getting downright giddy about stopping global warming,” says Mindy Lubber on WorldChanging.

Unfortunately, awareness doesn’t mean action. When three top power CEOs presented their expectations on climate change last month, Lubber compared their predictions with those of NASA scientist James Hansen, who has repeatedly warned that problems are worse than we tend to think.

Hansen says dramatic change is needed within the next 10 years. However, this is not in line with what power companies expect to do. Bruce Braine of American Electric Power said that real substantial carbon reductions will not occur before 2020. Exelon CFO John Young said that green energy will be far more expensive than what Congress wants to support. On a more positive note, PG&E in California will spend $1 billion on energy savings programs by 2008, including a plan to install smart meters with which consumers can lower their energy use.

Last night, Games For Change, the nonprofit network for developers interested in creating serious (or educational) games, launched the Xbox 360 Games for Change Challenge with Microsoft, which asks college students to create educational games on global warming.