Environmentalism: Keeping it in Perspective

Environmental science has reversed itself on the issue of runaway temperature trends three times in less than a century. In the 1920s, newspapers warned of an “imminent glacial age.” In the 1930s, science the world over predicted an onslaught of “global warming.”

By 1972, Time magazine was again warning us that mankind would soon meet its demise at the hand of “runaway glaciations,” and Newsweek reported just a few years later that there was overwhelming evidence that an “ice-age” was soon to be upon us. The governor’s cookie-cutter Climate Change Advisory Council is eerily reminiscent of earlier warnings that state and federal governments needed to stock-pile food in preparation for an inevitable catastrophe. Finally, in 1976, the U.S. Government released information affirming that we were headed only for a “mini ice-age”!

Today, despite the fact that climate science is in many ways in its relative infancy, the same politicized advocates who insist that green technology is good for business undercut those claims by calling for government mandates. If a green economy is really cost-effective, why do we need Des Moines to tell us so? Doesn’t free enterprise naturally incline itself toward profit? This disconnect, coupled with the perception that politics is trumping responsible science, may help explain why two-thirds of evangelicals do not consider global warming a top priority.1

Christians who remain cautious about Al Gore’s dire warnings of catastrophic, human-caused global warming find support among the many scientists who think alarmism is premature. Ironically, people of faith are joined by a growing number of scientists who question key aspects of the global warming theory. In this debate, it is the global warming alarmists who are demanding that we accept doomsday predictions as an article of faith.

Why do so many evangelicals insist that policy be grounded in solid evidence? Part of the answer may be that religious conviction provides a bulwark against the wild pendulum swings of media-driven public perceptions. We believe the promises of God are sure and, in our better moments, are less likely to be swayed either by doomsday predictions or by the subtle vanity of thinking we must save the planet. I suspect the answer is simpler still: Jesus commands us to care for the poor, and most of us know instinctively that starvation, disease and grinding poverty, not global warming, are the real challenges facing our most needy global neighbors.

We believe in the development of clean coal technology and responsible oil refinement, like that proposed by Hyperion, because it will boost Iowa’s local economy and provide much-needed employment. I hope to see local citizens (including members of my church) benefit from better jobs, better wages, and a better environment.

Some politicians may support global warming policies in the name of “environmental justice,” but Christians must remember that the test of true religion is how we treat the most destitute among us. State policy must be both wise and just; government mandates that drive up the cost of energy – a de facto regressive tax on the poor – is neither.

That is why I am a member the Iowa Stewardship Council of the Cornwall Alliance, part of a national coalition of clergy, laymen, scientists, academics, and policy experts committed to bringing a proper and balanced biblical view of stewardship to the critical issues of environment and development. We recognize that a cleaner environment is a costly good, and prosperous societies tend to have cleaner environments. We invite all people of good will to join our call to care for the environment by caring for the poor.

Rev. Cary K. Gordon is an Associate Pastor at Cornerstone World Outreach, (for identification purposes only), a 1,000-member congregation in Sioux City Iowa and member of the Iowa Stewardship Council of the Cornwall Alliance. He is also the President of PeaceMakers Institute.

www.cornwallalliance.org

1. “Americans Describe Their Moral and Social Concerns, Including Abortion and Homosexuality,” The Barna Group, 1/21/2008.