You can count of these guys to always blow the smoke. The last peak in solar activity was 2001, and with an approximately 11 year cycle, the next peak should be 2012. It is now mid 2008, and the sun has been completely blank for the last 18 days. I’m not saying this is cataclysmic, but it is unusual and interesting.
Well, the ozone hole is a non-issue these days, but climate change is still good for raising some bucks. That is, as long as it's man-made. There's lots of budget money for anybody who can produce evidence of AGW that the policymakers can use to fasten the chains upon us, and NASA wants its bit.
If it turns out to be the Sun doing it, that might get them enough money to orbit a replacement for SOHO, but not much else. Not good enough.