Earlier this month, a thunderstorm postponed a school “science walk’” during which my six-year-old was supposed to learn more about “aquatic ecosystems, the harmful effects of litter and what we can do to help”. Despite this little hiccup, like that of most middle-class kids living in America’s big cities, her indoctrination as an eco-warrior is progressing well. She has become a menace in the grocery store, where my failure to bring our own bags is pointed out for the environmental sin that it is; family members (usually me, I’m afraid) who try to sneak recyclable trash into the regular garbage are in trouble; and the window ledge in our living room is now attractively covered in moist soil and soggy seeds in a (doomed!) effort to grow our own food.

Philosophically, I accept all this as a good thing. After all, even long-time hold-outs are coming round to the idea that we need to do something about global warming. The first official act of Australia’s newly elected Labour prime minister was to ratify the Kyoto Protocol. John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential candidate, supports international action on climate change, too. Even outspoken conservatives like David Frum, of “axis of evil” fame, are climbing on the bandwagon. As Frum told the New York Times magazine: “I’m a late-comer to the environmental issue ... But I can see that in rich societies, voters are paying less attention to economic issues and more to issues of the spirit, including the environment.”