Is Global Warming Not a Big Concern?

Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:

Cold Truth

A new Pew Research Center poll shows that global warming is at the bottom of the list — when it comes to the public's top priorities in 2009. Nineteen other topics trump climate change in the pew poll identifying the top 20 issues. Just 30-percent say global warming is a major concern.

Not surprisingly — the economy is the number one issue. Eighty-five percent said it was a top priority — followed by jobs, terrorism, Social Security and education.

Global warming was dead last behind topics such as moral decline, lobbyists and trade policy.

Green Scheme

A well-known British scientist and environmentalist says while he believes in man-made global warming, most efforts to protect the planet are little more than money-making scams. James Lovelock is known for his work in detecting harmful gases that damage the ozone layer.

He tells New Scientist magazine, "most of the 'green' stuff is verging on a gigantic scam. Carbon trading, with its huge government subsidies, is just what finance and industry wanted. It's not going to do a damn thing about climate change, but it'll make a lot of money for a lot of people and postpone the moment of reckoning."

Indecent Proposal

Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi says President Obama should seek peace with Al Qaeda leader Usama bin Laden. Gadhafi spoke via satellite to students at Georgetown University saying "Terrorism is a dwarf not a giant. Usama bin Laden is a person who can be given a chance to reform. Maybe we can have dialogue with him and find out the reason that led him in this direction."

Gadhafi went on to say that he supports Israel’s right to exist but thinks that its citizens should leave the Middle East. "If you want to preserve this group, the Jews as an ethnic group, Palestine is not really the right place. The Middle East is a sea of Arabs. Take them to Alaska or Honolulu or the Hawaiian islands or the Pacific Islands and they can live peacefully in an isolated setting."

Sour Note

And finally, it turns out the some of the music heard by the masses at President Obama’s inauguration was not performed live.

A quartet featuring renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma and violinist Itzhak Perlman played instruments, but the music that was pumped through the public address system was taped. Carole Florman, a spokeswoman for the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies referred to the 1980s pop group that was stripped of its Grammy award for lip-syncing saying, "this isn't Milli Vanilli. They had to perform in such cold weather, the instruments couldn't possibly be in tune."

She also said a piano cannot hold its tune if it has been in temperatures colder than 55 degrees for more than two hours. It was around 30 degrees for the inauguration.

— FOX News Channel's Zachary Kenworthy contributed to this report.