Why did "Global Warming" become "Climate Change"?

Because while "warming" can be easily disproved by showing the temperature heading in the "wrong" (i.e. colder" direction). But "climate change" simply states that temperatures over time will be variable - something that is guaranteed to happen. However, more and more both proponents and skeptics are wondering if we know anything substantive about climate science and its causes.

Of course, this does NOT mean that we should not be looking to change our technologies to less-polluting versions

Should we do nothing about our consumption of petroleum? No, we should use this window of opportunity to decrease our reliance on petroleum; not because of "climate change," but to deprive the oil-producing nations of money too many of them use to underwrite terrorism. This should satisfy both the global warming disciples and deniers and make America and Europe less dependent on nations that wish to destroy our liberty. But threats to liberty are not limited to some oil-producing nations; they can also be found in the British Parliament and in the American Congress.

Let's abandon quests for "philosophical purity" in the Copenhagen debate, and find common points of agreement like this.

Why haven't we found aliens? Global Warming. No, really.

We like to think that science is a cold, logical, precise search for Truth-with-a-capital-T, but the fact is that like any other human endeavor science has fads and fashions. For instance, it can still be career death for a physicist to suggest any explanation but String Theory for unifying gravity and quantum mechanics. At the moment, the "fad" in science is Climate Change a.k.a. Global Warming a.k.a. Sustainability. The idea that we have proven no human action is environment-neutral and that survival requires limiting human population growth and activity.

Now, SETI scientists have tried to explain our inability to detect alien life on this same principle. Essentially, the argument goes that any advanced civilization determines that their resources are limited, and thus becomes self-limiting before achieving colonies on other worlds. Thus, no aliens in our neck of the woods.

An interesting idea, but one that is bound to be "disproven" as soon as the winds of scientific fashion shift.