Last week I had a post up titled “Yohe vs. Lomborg” focusing on an exchange in the Guardian between Gary Yohe and Bjorn Lomborg. Now, are you sitting down? If not the following might knock you over.

Gary and Bjorn have decided to discuss their differences and write a joint op-ed for the Guardian that has just been published. Can you imagine? Two people who disagree on climate change policies actually working together in the public eye. Shocking behavior. But admirable and exemplary. Here is how they start:

After a very public debate on the Guardian website over the past few weeks, we have learned some lessons. Here are a few that come to mind. First, even carefully-crafted prose can be misunderstood. Throwaway lines, even those inserted parenthetically, can carry as much weight as key sentences. Second, attributing motive is dangerous, distracting, and frequently wrong; it should be avoided, not only because it has consequences for us as individuals, but also because it easily distracts attention from the value of our analytical work.

To the extent that we have both been guilty of imprecision and attribution of motive in the heat of this debate, we are happy to report that cooler heads have prevailed. We recognise that despite our differences in view, we respect each other’s commitment to robust public debate informed by different perspectives. To that end we both have agreed to forswear recent comments, and to wipe the slate clean. With this essay we’d like to show how people who disagree on policy options can still agree to collaborate productively, even under the hot glare of the very public, and very political, debate over climate change.

Good for both Gary and Bjorn, and also for the rest of us. While some folks clearly want to see a brawl based on tribal loyalties, the view we hold here is that policy discussions are so much more useful as discussions. Please read the full text of their joint piece, and feel free to come back here and discuss.

[UPDATE: Richard Tol in the comments has this observation:

. . . climate change is not a policy issue. It’s entertainment for the degreed masses. Bjorn and Gary shook hands in public, and lost their entertainment value. They’ll be replaced by new champions for the cause in no time.]