Deepak Lal, one of the world’s leading development economists, wrote in his book Poverty and Progress: Realities and Myths about Global Poverty: The greatest threat to the alleviation of the structural poverty of the Third World is the continuing campaign by western governments, egged on by some climate scientists and green activists, to curb greenhouse emissions, primarily the CO2 from burning fossil fuels. … [I]t is mankind’s use of the mineral energy stored in nature’s gift of fossil fuels … … [Read more...]
Archives for November 2015
Reasons to Sign An Open Letter on Climate Change to the American People and their Leaders: An Appeal to Christian Academics
Four-part Series: Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4 Burke, VA, November 18, 2015 Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ—Friend of sinners, Friend of the poor. We’re writing to ask you to join us in doing something that will take courage, so we want you to be well informed, first about who we are, and second about the subject on which we’re asking you to take a stand. Along with nearly 400 others—including many climate scientists, physicists, mathematicians, economists … [Read more...]
Climate Change, Climate Policy, and the Precautionary Principle: An Appeal to Christian College Faculty Members
Four-part Series: Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4 Burke, VA, July 29, 2015 Greetings in Christ’s name! I’m David R. Legates, Professor of Climatology and Geography at the University of Delaware, a Senior Fellow of The Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation, and a Christian committed to Biblically sound environmental stewardship and the reduction of poverty around the world. Proponents of efforts to mitigate climate change often appeal to the “Precautionary Principle”—Principle #15 of … [Read more...]
Bad Science Makes Bad Policy: Why Christian Educators Should Care about Climate Policy
Four-part Series: Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4 Burke, VA, July 15, 2015 “Bad science makes bad policy.” That’s what Robert Stewart, Ph.D., Professor and Chair, Department of Science, Technology, and Mathematics, Regent University, said when asked why he had endorsed “An Open Letter on Climate Change to the People, their Local Representatives, the State Legislatures and Governors, the Congress, and the President of the United States of America.” That Open Letter is reprinted below, and you … [Read more...]
An Invitation to Christian College Faculty to Sign an Open Letter to Protect the Poor in America and Around the World
Four-part Series: Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4 Burke, VA, July 9, 2015 I’m writing to you about a very serious matter, so I beg for your patience as I explain it. Rest assured from the start, though, that I’m not asking you for money. I’m privileged to coordinate a network of about 60 evangelical scholars—roughly a third theologians, a third natural scientists, and a third economists and policy experts—all dedicated to applying excellent theology, ethics, science, and economics to public … [Read more...]
5 Questions That Expose the Errors of Climate Alarmism
Many people are asking us for questions they can raise at various public meetings—at churches, schools, universities, community organizations, etc.—to expose the errors of climate alarmism. Here are five: 1. Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman once said the “key to science” was realizing that if your theory about how the world works yielded predictions contradicted by observations, your theory was wrong. Since the only basis for fears of dangerous, manmade global warming … [Read more...]
Why ISIS Should Support COP21 in Paris…
After the horrific terror attacks in Paris Friday night, there is considerable speculation over the possible cancellation of the COP21 climate talks in Paris in a couple of weeks. I will remind you that President Obama has stated that the threat of climate change is greater than the threat of terrorism. I will also remind you that many believe that ISIS would not have arisen if not for climate change, specifically, drought in Syria caused by your SUV. It is only logical that ISIS should be … [Read more...]
Sixpence None the Richer
Ever dreamed of living like royalty? Count your blessings: If you can afford this magazine (WORLD, where this article was originally published), you're already much better off economically than most kings ever were. Reginald Labbe, an English farmer better off than most in his time, died in the year 1293. His will listed the following possessions: one cow and one calf two sheep and three lambs three hens a bushel and a half (about 90 pounds) of wheat a seam (about 400 pounds) of barley a … [Read more...]
Models vs. Observations: Plotting a Conspiracy?
John Christy and I received an email today from Marcel Crok, who presented our satellite observations-vs-models graphs to the Dutch version of the American Physical Society (APS). He said there was considerable push-back about the way we plot the data…not from the society itself, but from global warming activist bloggers. I’ve heard these objections before, and mostly ignored them as uninformed and lame, since I’ve never heard one from an actual climate scientist. But apparently it’s … [Read more...]
Georgetown University Climate Symposium Includes Prominent Neopagan Speaker
Wish I’d heard of Georgetown University Berkley Center’s “Symposium on Religion and Climate Change“ earlier. Perhaps Cornwall Alliance could have had someone there to offer a contrasting perspective---something most meetings seem rather loathe to entertain. Alas, I only learned of it about an hour before it was to begin. Aside from the usual problem of such conferences having scientific blinders on, assiduously avoiding the need to interact with the serious scientific objections to climate … [Read more...]