Katie Couric

WASHINGTON – Oh, the things multimillion-dollar news readers worry about …

In her CBS blog, the day after the Oscars, anchorwoman Katie Couric frets that Hollywood's overwhelming embrace of Al Gore and the politics of global warming might prove to be a political setback with the hicks in the sticks.

"But as the throngs of celebrities greeted Al Gore as a secular saint, I wondered if this might usher in a backlash against environmentalists," she speculated. "It wasn't too long ago, afterall, (sic) that environmentalists were decried as tree-huggers, and former President Bush rallied against them – trying to say it was the spotted owl against logging interests and jobs in the West."

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Couric also wonders out loud if the Academy Awards Best Documentary Oscar presentation to Gore for his "An Inconvenient Truth" might start the public thinking global warming is a "liberal" cause.

"The Oscars may give Gore's critics ammunition to reject a school of thought that's been validated by countless scientists worldwide," she mused. "Some people I know latched on to a recent Gore global warming conference that was canceled because of a snowstorm."

Couric left no doubt about where she stands on the issue.

"But my fervent hope is that Hollywood's embrace of Al Gore doesn't give people an excuse to condemn and mock the effort – and oppose taking steps that we as a society need to take to deal with the issue of climate change," she said. "Some people find anything trendy repugnant, but this is a trend that's really important."

Couric's network broadcast is currently mired in third place among the Big Three. She took over for long-time anchor Dan Rather.

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