It may surprise you to learn that I don’t agree with the commonly-held beliefs about man-made global warming. “What?” you may be asking in shock and dismay. “You’re an environmentalist of sorts, but you don’t believe that we are irrevocably changing the climate of our planet? Didn’t you watch Al Gore’s movie?!?”
I’m not going to really get into why I don’t buy the whole “we’re causing the polar ice caps to melt/big hair in the 80s caused a hole in the ozone/the oceans are rising and are going to flood New York” thing. You can read the reasons other people have here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. It’s safe to assume that I think along those same lines.
(And I don’t really tend to bring this up much with other people because, um, I’m sick of arguing about it. Just like I don’t bring up most parenting topics when I’m in a hostile environment, or why nobody in our family knows we don’t do fluoride, or why I don’t bring up Wally’s vaccination status – or lack thereof – around, well, anyone.)
But, unlike many people, I don’t think that one necessarily must believe all of the tripe contained within “An Inconvenient Truth” to feel that we must take better care of our environment. Genesis features God giving Man dominion over the earth, (‘Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth’ Genesis 1:2 
seeming to imply that man ought to use these resources wisely, rather than just destroying them. Additionally, the Earth was given to Man by God to care for, and the Bible makes it clear throughout that God expects us to take good care of the gifts He gives us.
And, all that aside, it just doesn’t make sense to continue to fill up landfills, creating vast fields of trash. It isn’t healthy to surround ourselves with chemicals. And it’s just a waste of money to continue to buy disposable items when reusable ones are available.
That’s why I proudly wear my Crunchy Conservative T-shirt. That’s why I promote responsible living, reusable lifestyles, and green ethics. Not only is it about faith and religious beliefs, but it’s also just about common sense.
I hadn’t heard someone else throw God into the environmental equation-which I usually do. If our being given the responsibility to TAKE CARE of what we are given dominion over isn’t reason enough to take care of something, or, oh our health in general being severely threatened, then what is? I am far more concerned with what God thinks of how I live than Al Gore and friends…
The concept of “tikkun olam,” which is Hebrew for “to heal and repair the world,” is central to my religious identity. I have never understood the people who think that it doesn’t matter to God if we trash the earth.
To clarify, Sarah, are you saying that you believe global warming is happening, but it’s not caused by human activity emitting too much carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. (That is, you believe the earth is getting warmer, but it’s part of a natural cycle?)
I disagree with that, but I think that’s at least an opinion that can be debated.
In contrast, the contention that global warming is not happening is not defensible, in my opinion. Even Republican Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska has become convinced after seeing what has been going on in his state. The melting of the permafrost is wreaking havoc with ecosystems all over the Arctic Circle. This is being documented in several countries.
Hi! I popped over from Abby’s blog. This is a great post. I think more and more Christians (I hope) are starting to look at the world in this way. I know I am much more aware of my “footprint” in the world as I was a year ago.
Laurie, to clarify, I think to deny that our planet’s climate changes, and has been changing since God created it, is not possible if one looks at the facts. Yes, the climate changes. Particularly if one believes there was an ice age with large glaciers, one has to believe that the planet has gotten warmer since then.
Do I think it’s “caused” by man? Not really.
But man obviously makes an imprint on the planet, all actions have consequences.
But I’m not sure the evidence supports that all climate change is a result of man. (I know this is trite and slightly sarcastic, but I don’t think early man was driving an SUV and cutting down the rainforests, yet the planet did warm up after the ice age.)
I think it’s more likely that the planet is changing, has always been changing, and always will change. And our actions are impacting it both positively and negatively.
It’s great that more people are finally going to care about the planet. Are you familiar with Interfaith Power and Light? Is there any scientific basis to your ideas that carbon dioxide isn’t increading our warming blanket over the earth and making things hotter? Most scientific organizations such as the American Chemioal Society and The Association for the Advancement of Science would disagree with you. The earth was once very warm. It cooled when the organic matter was pressed into coal and oil and removed the carbon dioxide. Now we’re putting it back into the air. It makes sense that we are on our way back to a very hot time full of bugs and bacteria. Many will die as a result. Shouldn’t we feel a bit responsible?
I’m unimpressed by sources when 3 of your 7 are from the same site (junkscience.com) which doesn’t credit one real Scientist to it (as best I could find from its poor layout), and sites an awful lot of Foxnews.com articles (not what I’d call reputable relative to peer-reviewed scientific journals that state global warming is happening most likely do to humanity’s actions). The rest of your sources are a right wing think tank (2 of their main scientists who disagreed with man-made global warming have since changed their positions - http://www.cato.org/dispatch/10-31-03d.html), another corporate sponsored right-wing think tank (NCPA), yet another (surprise) right-wing think tank (CEI) that makes some pretty unfounded and ridiculous claims, and a blog (which is a step less reputable than wikipedia). Regardless of what your old books tell you, polluting the environment is bad (I think we agree), but not realizing the scope of our impact is a grave mistake.
And I have not seen An Inconvenient Truth, I just tend to use decent sources (like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change of the United Nations - what I’d consider an impartial judge of the situation, as opposed to right-wing American think tanks that are funded by oil companies to specifically say certain things).
[...] I have looked into actual studies and the science (of which there isn’t as much discord as some may have you believe). The key point to remember is that global warming is happening, and its [...]
Oh, I’m sorry that you have misunderstood. I wasn’t using those as SOURCES in any scientific sense. In fact, I didn’t even use the word sources, nor did I refer to them as anything of the sort.
As the post made clear, those are other places/websites/people who think along the same lines I do. It was a convenient way of explaining what I think without having to type it all out.
Again, I’m sorry that you were so confused!
Also, this illustrates one of my favorite points from Crunchy Cons (the book). In a sort of “why can’t we all get along” section, the author points out that we could get so much further in protecting our natural resources if people could just shut up with the ideology. It should be enough that people want the same goal - reduce pollution of all sorts, reduce waste, etc - and it shouldn’t matter WHY.
But we’ll never, never move forward on this topic in this country until the liberals can cut out the rhetoric, requiring that everybody buy in to their beliefs, and the conservatives can accept the fact that it’s OK to be green. And both sides need to realize that working together is actually a good thing sometimes.
See this post for more on the book: http://theviewfromhere.wordpress.com/2006/11/14/crunchy-cons-post-11-the-environment/
so much criticism over whether or not global warming is happening. what matters most is that, no matter what your religion, we are still the species intrusted by (insert what ever belief/diety works for you) to watch over this world and protect it and the creatures on it. we had a neighborhood trash cleanup day yesterday and my 4yr old told me that there is no trash and that garbage dumps are bad. if a 4yr old can understand this why can’t most adults? simple concept. god made the world. nature is a miracle and should be protected.