If this report had slid under the radar, a few thousand scientists in the climate change community/industry would have known of its existence. With this wide open airing (curteous NYT), it becomes a great foil to sow doubt in Bush's base as the the president's commitments on politically charged issues.
First, I'm glad that the actual report isn't as the NYT represented it.
Second, the way to deal with it is to go on the offensive, take the initiative in the media. Bush and Whitman and other Administration spokesmen (get some sound, sane-speaking scientists, for Pete's sake) need to blow the hell out of the Global Warming boogeyman. Network news and the daily papers are all seeing declining audience share as the internet and talk radio wax in influence. We need to kick the Leftist media and their Democrat allies in the teeth over and over again with the straight facts, and stay on message.
Until the GOP steels itself and learns to wage political war to the death of every adversary in every theater, we have no one to blame but ourselves for getting jerked around by the paper tigers of the so-called "major media."