Cooler Temps Redux

The issue of global warming just will not go away. Recently, a group of evangelical Christians signed on to the environmental debate by siding with those who see man as the problem, predict catastrophic climate changes in the future, and propose solutions that would have an equally severe economic impact on America.

Two questions insinuated themselves into my thought processes.

First of all, does a consensus view prevail on the issue of global warming? Second, what should be the response of Christians and churches with regard to global warming? How one answers the first question determines the answer to the second.

A recent article posted on the online version of National Review magazine offered a dissenting view of the popularly held position of human-induced global climatic change. The author, Kenneth Green, pointed out that "some establishment scientists seem to be getting the message that they may have overplayed their hands and become more parody than prophet. In just the last few weeks, two studies in major journals (Nature and Geophysical Research Letters) dump cold water on the high-end horror-story estimates coming out from modelers seeking ever higher-end scenarios to publicize."

He furthered stated that "other scientists seem to have figured out that there’s more than one way to skin a cat. One used to hear near unanimity among the scientists beating the drum of climate alarmism. There was, invariably, only one possible course of action supported by ‘the consensus of scientists’: reducing greenhouse-gas emissions immediately, even if it meant the collapse of national economies. Not any more. On April 18, a group of 90 scientists wrote an open letter to Canada’s prime minister observing that ‘advances in climate science . . . have provided more evidence supporting the need for action and development of a strategy for adaptation for projected changes." The group goes on to emphasize that as ‘mitigation measures will become effective only after many years . . . adaptive strategies are essential and must begin now.’"

In other words, human beings, organized under governmental and scientific institutions, have enough sense to prepare for the changes to come in ways other than those that would devastate the national economies of industrialized nations. Human societies, especially modern ones in the western world, have shown remarkable skill in correcting their problems in creative and effective ways.

Now, question two: what about Christians and the environment? Personally speaking, groups who are radically committed to an issue engender in me a degree of mistrust. I am suspicious of anyone who is so ardent in their views as to suggest that all of life’s ills have a single cause and can be solved by their solution alone. Thus, I remain unconvinced that global warming is all that some would have us believe.

Further, I am intensely suspicious of any issue modern mass media promote from only one perspective. When was the last time a major print or broadcast news source gave even the slightest nod to the notion that global warming might be a natural process, and be one we humans cannot change? You can count the times on one hand and have five fingers left.

So, what about Christians? Believers should be wary of hitching their wagon to any movement founded on principles in conflict with biblical Christianity, as are many radical environmental groups. As hard as any group might try to avoid the stigma, the movement of which it is a part will define said group. Christians who, naively I believe, enter the global warming debate will marginalize themselves in the greater task of biblical Christianity.

Sadly, just when the debate has changed significantly, a group of evangelical leaders jump into the argument. At a time when respected experts in the field of climate and environment are questioning seriously the underlying assumptions of the global warming issue, we might encourage responsible stewardship of creation without aligning ourselves with those who appear to be wholly antagonistic to traditional Christianity.

If we humans are the problem, we cannot be the answer to the problem. If we have created the problem, or some part of it, we then can and should provide a range of solutions. From the standpoint of the Bible, all human beings have a problem, namely, sin. God has invited us to be a part of the solution. Christians often must do a balancing act so as to not compromise our integrity and reputation. Buying into popular issues may tilt us in the wrong direction. Thus, we limit our effectiveness as heralds of the gospel.