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Reading the News Through the Lens of Faith- Pt 8- Global Warming
By Dan | June 26, 2008
I could take a number of angles on an article like this, but since we’re doing a series on environmental news and stewardship that’s the piece I’ll highlight. If you read to the end of the article you kind of get the sense that scientists are now convinced that global warming is indeed happening and that it’s a settled issue.
Sometimes this “settled” phrase concerns me a little. I’ve got no problem with scientists doing research and with governments starting to ask serious questions. At the same time, I’m not so sure about how settled things are. Go ahead and glance at this article and you see Gore trumpeting catastrophic global warming as “settled” science, yet when you read the scientists at the end you see them raising some questions about the science behind his predictions even while they support him. Go ahead and read this article and you hear about a layer of discussion going on about scientific data that goes deeper than the headlines. Or read this series of articles on “The Deniers”, prominent and esteemed scientists who are raising serious questions about climate change science and how much we really know.
Now I don’t want to give the impression that some kind of human influence is impossible. Obviously, many scientists are convinced the threat is real and humans needs to do something right away. What I want to do is say that Christians need to be careful and prudent in how we approach this issue. To enact the drastic measures some activists are calling for could sends costs spiraling for energy, food, and many other products. Now maybe that’s a tough but legitimate sell to countries which are more prosperous, but tell that to the families who are barely able to afford foodstuffs and other essentials in less developed nations. Of course there’s the other side of the issue, which is that warming itself could have costs if it truly is responsible for storms, floods, and other environmental events that would obviously affect economics.
Christian stewardship, as pointed out in the first of this series, is something we have to take quite seriously. That means not just paying attention to headlines, but digging more deeply. That means we need to care enough to push our politicians to enact policies that are thoughtful and informed, not overly reactionary or that only paper over the problem.
How have you experienced this issue as a Christian?
Topics: News Through Faith |
June 30th, 2008 at 10:41 am
I think this issue will be difficult until we can cut through the propaganda. One big pile of propaganda is the idea that somehow the changes we need to make are going to cost a fortune. That is a scare tactic by opponents of global warming. They have successfully scared the American population into non-action.
For example, anytime information comes out that proves global warming is a reality, the energy companies and “conservative think tanks” crank out false advertising to try and cut off the information. The result is we have a poorly informed population.
Example: http://thinkprogress.org/2006/05/17/attack-on-gore/
Global warmed IS settled science (as much as any science is EVER settled). Science never stops asking for more information. Details about specific estimated effects are and will always be an ongoing investigation, but the question about human induced global warming has be proven.
The fact that you still have a “question” about this is proof that the propaganda has worked. The energy companies are getting their money’s worth from the ads.
(ads funded by big oil companies)
http://cei.org/pages/co2.cfm
June 30th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
I don’t think I’ve viewed many ads on the subject recently. What I have done is a lot of reading on the subject from a variety of sources and what’s been interesting for me is that each time I think I’ve got my mind made up on the subject, I start reading research (not press releases) that tells me the issue is not settled in one direction or the other.
Especially when I read comments from internationally known scientists that question how much we really know(including some who are part of the IPCC) in the article about “Deniers”, I realize that this is an issue I can’t just make easy.
As a Christian, our chief role is to steward creation, which on this issue involves so many pieces. I’m not sure we yet know how to properly steward our energy, food, human, and other resources in such a way as to suggest a big change in international policy at this time.
My greatest hope is that we keep pushing technology forward in such a way that we can replace many of technologies people fear are causing warming in a responsible, but controlled fashion. Another side of the issue is that many of these older technologies create pollution that isn’t debated, so that’s in our interest as well.