"False Alarm" on Climate Change? An interview with the Author
In a year or two, I'd like to finally sit down and watch Al Gore's movie "An Inconvenient Truth" and see how many of the predictions have or have not come to pass. I suspect the latter will more often be the case, but we will see.
Now, I must say - like the author in this interview - that I do believe in Climate Change, I do believe that at least a good portion of it is man-made, and I do believe that our public policy and our personal habits should work together to minimize its impact. Indeed, the energy efficiency revolution, combined with lower-emission sources of energy are already having a significant impact.
But I also believe that the danger posed by Climate Change has been exaggerated to the point of absurdity, particularly by our media and politicians.
And, I cannot help but note, they are also precisely the people who have the most to gain in terms of influence or profits from everyone believing a narrative that says "The End is Nigh!" (so read this article! or vote for this savior!).
Indeed, according to this video, surveys show that nearly half (48%) of the world's adults believe that "Climate Change is likely to cause the extinction of the human race."
This interview is with a "climate economist" named Bjorn Lomborg, who says that the facts indeed do not support this kind of dire thinking.
I cannot help but thinking that there is something about the human spirit that has trouble seeing anything past the absolute very the worst case scenario (or worse still!). Remember Y2K? The voices saying "Probably nothing much will happen" were certainly not the voices most amplified in our public discourse. But they turned out to be right.
Again, the Climate problem is real, and bad things will indeed happen if we do nothing...but humans are extremely adaptive and assuming that we will do nothing at all, as some news articles have done (which he points out in the video), is an unrealistic assumption.
As I said, Mr. Lomborg is a climate economist, and I am always suspicious of arguments that pit economic benefits over against environmental health in a simplistic way (and then always say to go with "economic benefit").
Mr. Lomborg has a much more nuanced and data-driven approach.
He also points out some things that are often missed in the discussions. For example, many of the strategies to combat climate change have a disproportionately negative impact on the lives of the poor and working class.
As Christians are called to care for the poor and needy - and also be good stewards of the natural world - this is an especially important consideration for us as we think and pray through these issues.
Anyways, that is enough introduction: here is the thought-provoking video.
John Wesley, at the end of his "Roman Catechism and Reply" shares this great quote from St. Vincent of Lerins, one of the Early Church Fathers. St. Vincent (died A.D. 445) was describing how the Seven ancient Ecumenical Councils determined what was and was not orthodox Christian belief, as they attempted to clarify the Bible-based faith during times of theological controversy.
Embracing this theological method as a gift from God was United Methodist theologian Thomas C. Oden's great point that he argued for in so many of his books: From the Ancient Councils right down to John Wesley, right down to the Classical Christians of today (over against all forms of what might be called "revisionist" Christianity), we have a remarkable agreement about how to do theology. Look for what is held in common across the ages, across the cultural boundaries, by the great mass of Christians. That is orthodoxy. This is what is meant by doing theology by "catholicity" or "ecumenical consensus."
This saves us from odd, idiosyncratic, or culturally captive forms of belief. This is how we hear what the Spirit has been saying to the churches.
It is ancient; it is also Wesleyan. It is Classic Christianity.
Since Wesley was an Anglican priest, it will come as no surprise that this method is largely the approach to theology taken by the Anglican tradition as well.
Let's face it, the Bible is not an easy book to read. Not only are we separated from the original writers by language, culture, and thousands of years, but the standard Bible that you probably have on your shelf or nightstand is not presented in chronological order. What if you could read the Bible as one large, unfolding story like a novel or Historical chronicle? Well, you can.
Another great tool to help you understand the Bible as a whole is the Chronological Bible:
