Barbara Boxer (D-CA), chairwoman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, is pushing hard for legislation to counteract global warming. Today marks a critical moment in her fight.

The first of three reports released today by the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change says that global warming is caused by human activity and quick action is needed. It is backed by support of officials from 113 countries, including the United States.

“The scientific debate is over. We will have legislation this year,” said Boxer in response to the report. “If we can’t do it all in one breath, we’ll do it incrementally.”

Boxer is working on a program within Congress that she considers to be a “confidence builder.” She is encouraging members of Congress to install energy-saving lightbulbs in their offices, switch to hybrid vehicles, and shut down their computers at night. Her plan is “to make the federal government a model for energy efficiency.”

As this Fox News article explains, “hijinks” such as this are occuring around the world in response to the report.

Al Gore was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize and an Oscar for his global warming alarmism. Paris officials announced that the Eiffel Tower would shutdown its 20,000 flashing light bulbs and go dark for five minutes on the eve of the release of the UN report. The National Football League announced that it would plant 3,000 trees to offset carbon dioxide emissions caused by this week’s Super Bowl. A California state legislator introduced a bill to ban regular (incandescent) light bulbs and to mandate fluorescent lighting in homes and businesses by 2012. The bill is called the “How Many Legislators Does it Take to Change a Lightbulb Act.”

Earlier this week on Tuesday, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held a hearing to discuss allegations that the Bush administration has been editing scientific papers related to climate change and global warming. On Wednesday, Boxer held a seven-and-a-half hour hearing in her Senate committee where she heard from “one-third of senators, either at the hearing or through written testimony, about the need to mandate reductions despite the opposition of the Bush administration and many Republicans.”