Last week, as Republican congressmen convened a hearing on climate science with the hopes of having friendly skeptics throw cold (or, actually, warming) water on the whole environmental crisis, a group of slightly more liberal-minded folk got together in New York for their own summit on the issue. Of course, we're talking about the Christie's "Green Auction," which drew an ultraposh crowd of the city's artists, philanthropists, singers, designers, and, of course, supermodels to bid on an array of swanky high-life-related goods — all in the name of combating climate change. Which gathering was more successful?

At Christie's, a greenery festooned stage welcomed such guests as actress Diane Kruger (who will go down in history as having the audacity to play Helen of Troy, and getting away with it), archpatron Christophe de Menil, MoMA funder David Rockefeller, model Jessica Stam, designer Thakoon Panichgul, actor Sam Waterston, and Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter. Everyone bid on things like private trips to Chanel shows (is that still eco-friendly when planes are involved?) and enjoyed the surprisingly guttural musical stylings of Nicki Minaj. Overall, the evening raised over $1 million to benefit environmental causes including Oceana, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and Conservation International.

As for the Congressional hearing, how did that go? According to columnist Paul Krugman, a Berkeley scientist who was called to the stand to reveal the eagerly-awaited fruits of research hoped to debunk global warming, "reported that his group’s preliminary results find a global warming trend 'very similar to that reported by the prior groups.'" Oops. Looks like this round goes to the artsy supermodels.

For pictures from the auction and attendant fashion show and concert, click the slide show at left. 

View Slideshow: Supermodels and Nicki Minaj Joined Forces With Art Patrons at Christie's Green Auction to Save the Environment