I.AM.SO.EXCITED! (So excited, in fact, that I just used a technique I’ve never used before and associate entirely with people 30 to 50 years younger than I am!)
August 2025 is Cornwall Alliance’s 20th anniversary. For 20 years, Cornwall Alliance has championed Biblical truth about science, economics, and stewardship, mostly reaching Baby Boomers (born 1946–1964, like me) and Gen X (born 1965–1980).
But the battle ahead is bigger—and younger.
Introducing The Next 20 Years!
August will mark our 20th anniversary. For The Next 20 Years, Cornwall Alliance sets sail on a mission to take Biblical truth to younger people. That’s what excites me so much!
The ship is taking us to ports of call loaded with young people: Millennials, born 1981–1996; Gen Z, born 1997–2012; Gen Alpha, born 2013 and later.
Millennials’ first 30 years happened during culture wars marked by the rise of the Internet and social media; embrace of diversity and multiculturalism; relaxation of social norms; and assertion of homosexual “rights” with policies like “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
Gen Z and Gen Alpha are being catechized with outright chaos: socialist “solutions” to “problems” their ancestors wish they’d enjoyed; anti-human ideologies dressed up as virtue like LGBTQ “Pride” and “Gay Marriage” and “gender-affirming care”; “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI); Critical Race Theory; “Shout Your Abortion!” and more.
Millennials, Gen Zs, and Gen Alphas need the wisdom of age to comprehend and evaluate these cultural pressures. And with your help, we can pass it along.
Below I’ll tell you some steps we’ve already taken, and some we plan, to reach those rising generations. First, I’m delighted to tell you another reason I’m excited.
Twelve donors have pledged a combined $100,000 to match gifts received during our Anniversary Celebration (which we’ve dubbed “The Next 20 Years”) from now to the end of August—which would mean $200,000 total. Would you please help us match those pledges with a generous gift today?
Why are we launching The Next 20 Years? Because our hearts go out to young people wrestling with conflicting messages like those I’ve just mentioned. We have a legacy—a legacy of truth telling, a legacy of liberty and virtue, a legacy of Biblical faithfulness.
And we want to pass it on!
The Evil Roots of Radical Environmentalism
Frankly, our nation has reached a tipping point. Forces of falsehood are not just wrong; they’re determined to get upcoming generations to believe their lies.
Let me step back a moment and address what I suspect you might be asking. With Cornwall Alliance’s mission focused on creation stewardship, economic development, and the gospel, why did I just list things like LGBTQ, abortion, “gender-affirming care,” and DEI?
Because, one way or another, all of them, and more, have ties to the driving force underlying the environmental movement and its threat to trap people in poverty—or drive them back into it.
As our friend Rev. Mark Musser demonstrates in his book Nazi Ecology (offered in our emails in July), the environmental movement is rooted in the population control movement, which is rooted in the eugenics movement, which is rooted in Darwinism.
Those three teach that mankind is just one species among many in a struggle for survival—and that mankind is the most destructive of all, consuming Earth’s resources and poisoning the planet while we’re at it.
All three reject the Biblical teaching that mankind bears the image of God and is called not to be enslaved to the environment but to subdue and rule the Earth to enhance its fruitfulness, beauty, and safety.
It’s crucially important that these unbiblical ideas be corrected. Sad to say, however, most religious—even including professedly evangelical—environmental nonprofits don’t correct them, they embrace them.
As Megan Basham documented in Shepherds for Sale: How Evangelical Leaders Traded the Truth for a Leftist Agenda, they trumpet climate alarm, abortion rights, LGBTQ, etc., heavily funded by Leftwing billionaires and foundations. On climate alarm particularly, that’s true of
- A Rocha USA and its Canadian and international partners, with combined annual revenues over $20 million;
- Interfaith Power & Light, with over $1.4 million;
- the Evangelical Environmental Network, with $600,000–$800,000;
- GreenFaith, with $1.5 million.
And there are others.
Those who have embraced mainstream environmentalism see people basically as consumers and polluters and so wish there were fewer of us. And they see LGBTQ, abortion, “gender-affirming care,” and “gay marriage” as paths to shrinking humanity. So they insist on “diversity, equity, and inclusion” to legitimize those lifestyles—or, rather, deathstyles.
All of this has brought us to a crisis.The word denotes a turning point, often characterized by difficulty, danger, or suffering.
Where will the world turn? More to the point, where will America turn?
When Israel, returning from exile, was rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, Jeremiah urged the people, “‘Thus says the Lord: ‘Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls’” (Jeremiah 6:16).
On the eve of its 250th anniversary, which path will America take? Will it take “the old paths”?
Why Young People Need Our Message
More and more, that depends on how younger generations think of themselves, their neighbors, and their world. And what we learn from polling is the predominance of troubled souls.
“Troubled souls?” you ask. What do I have in mind? You can start with some tragic facts:
- “70 percent of young adults say they are ‘very or somewhat anxious’ about climate change,” and 84% of ages 16–25 are “at least moderately worried,” and 59% are “very or extremely worried” about climate change.
- “61% of college students support “shouting down” a speaker with whom they disagree.
- Mental health is plummeting among young Americans:
- Over the past 10 to 12 years, the number of young Americans reporting symptoms indicating major depression increased by 52% among those aged 12–17 and 63% among those aged 18–25.
- Over a similar period, the suicide rate for 10–24-year olds increased by 56%, and for adolescents aged 10–14 by 167% for girls and 91% for boys.
- Young adults 18–25 have the highest prevalence of any mental illness (36.2%), compared to 29.4% for those aged 26–49 and 13.9% for those 50 and older.
“Ah, the extremities of youth,” you say.
I wish it were so. But youth don’t write school curriculum. Grown-ups do. And what do they teach our youth? The National Center for Science Education reports that “More than 75% of public-school science curricula assume anthropogenic climate catastrophe without offering dissenting scientific views.”
Combine that with the fact that 75% of public-school science teachers cover climate change in class—often presenting it without balanced perspectives. And then remember that plenty of history, social studies, and other teachers also teach on climate change, bringing, if anything, an even less informed view, since they lack the scientific discernment.
So, no wonder
- 36% of Americans aged 16–25 (predominantly Gen Z) report being hesitant to have children due to climate change.
- 37% of Gen Z say climate change is a major or minor reason they do not have children.
- 40% of Gen Z surveyed worldwide are hesitant to have children because of the climate crisis.
Similarly for Millennials:
- 34% of Americans cite climate change as a major or minor reason for not having children.
- A third or more of Americans younger than 45 (including Millennials) either don’t have children or expect to have fewer than they might otherwise because of concerns about climate change.
- 33% of adults aged 20–45 (largely Millennials) who had or expected to have fewer children than they wanted cited climate change as a reason.
Those statistics may not sound that ominous, but think what—in addition to all the lost joys of having and raising children—they imply.
Replacement-level fertility rate (births per woman) is 2.1. Except for brief periods of economic downturn or World War II, America’s stayed at or near replacement rate. But it fell off a cliff after 2010, to 1.6 in 2023.
The results? There are many, but consider these:
- Shrinking workforce: labor shortages and fewer contributions to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, food and housing assistance, etc., and increasing burdens on the young to care for the elderly. (Hello, assisted suicide!)
- Social decline: Smaller families with weaker family networks and reduced intergenerational support leading to increased loneliness and community participation.
- Reduced national security: Declining pool of recruits for armed forces, shrinking geopolitical influence, declining stability, and increasing polarization.
- Eroding national ethos: Rising percentages of recent immigrants mean fewer people with deep roots in American values of a democratic republic; rights to life, liberty, and property; and a competitive market economy.
If you’ve never thought about the consequences of sub-replacement fertility, I hope (after you’ve read this letter, prayed for God’s guidance, and, I hope, written and mailed your check to support us at this critical time), you’ll watch the 2008 documentary Demographic Winter on YouTube. It’s chilling.
But demographic winter wasn’t inevitable.
The data I cited above indicate that, absent needless fears of catastrophic climate change, about a third more children would have been born in each of the last 40 years—nearly 52 million more. Half of them would likely be in the workforce. And every problem listed above would have been less severe than it is.
Absent climate-change paranoia, 2022’s fertility rate would have been not 1.64 but 2.18—above replacement. Indeed, America’s fertility rate would not have dropped below replacement. Our economy would have been larger, our tax revenues higher, our budget deficits and national debt smaller.
That’s just one of many reasons it’s so important to help younger generations escape climate-change paranoia.
Guiding the Young to the “Old Paths”
So, back to Jeremiah and “the old paths.” My friend, you know those paths. So do we. And we want to help younger generations ask for them, walk in them, and find rest for their troubled souls.
Your generous gift now can help us direct them to those paths—and persuade them to take them.
For the past 20 years, we’ve used our website, widely published op eds, radio and TV interviews, speaking engagements, YouTube, Facebook, and more recently X (Twitter) to spread our message. The first five reach mostly Boomers and Gen X. The last, joined by podcasts, Substack, and the like, reach more Millennials, Gen Z, and even some Gen Alpha.
So, a little over a year ago, we started our podcast, Created to Reign. In coming months and years, as we grow our staff, we intend to expand into more media that reach those younger people—perhaps TikTok or Instagram, things suited to short, quick messaging.
But we’re not fools. We know short, quick messaging isn’t well suited to building worldview-based understanding of complex issues. Indeed, it’s likely just to perpetuate the shallow thinking that characterizes so much of what we oppose.
So, this month, we launched a new element of our educational outreach: a serious, FREE online course, “Basic Climate Science,” suitable to high school and college, taught by Dr. David R. Legates, retired professor of climatology and our Director of Research and Education.
How badly do America’s youth need such a course? The day I finished this letter, my friend Dr. Larry Bell, professor of space architecture at the University of Houston, published “Middle School Textbooks Flunk Climate Science” in Newsmax. Here’s a brief excerpt:
Chemist Martin Cornell has highlighted inaccuracies and omissions in K-12 educational materials produced by major publishers.
These materials incorrectly assert that carbon dioxide—the gas essential for carbon-based life—is a pollutant derived from fossil fuels and is the primary factor controlling global temperatures. Additionally, warming is portrayed as universally and significantly harmful.
… While much of the material is solid science, the sections on climate science shift to biased and unsupported claims, telling students what to think instead of how to think critically.
Such indoctrination by error and omission begins heavily in eighth grade, most particularly asserting that effects of fossil fuel burning have warmed oceans, acidified oceans and increased extreme weather.
All these alarmist representations are false ….
Larry then goes on to list many more errors—serious ones—that give students a false understanding of how human activity and climate change relate.
Our FREE course, “Basic Climate Science,” corrects such errors (and more) and explains how our climate system really works, reflecting God’s wisdom in designing it to be, like all else He created, “very good,” and what the science really says about manmade climate change—and why spending trillions to “stop it” could do more harm than good!
The only way we can keep producing free online courses, with all the work that goes into them, is with ongoing generous support from wonderful friends like you!
Challenge Your Child or Grandchild to take “Basic Climate Science” with You!
While I’m talking about that course, let me mention a great opportunity it makes for you to do something together with a child or grandchild.
Just yesterday, when I spoke with one of the people who generously pledged to match donations during our anniversary celebration, he mentioned that he was proposing to his grandson that they take that course together. They don’t live near each other, but that doesn’t matter, since the course is online.
He’s excited about how that will enable him and his grandson to strengthen their relationship while his grandson gains Biblically, scientifically, and economically sound understanding of climate change and how to respond to it. Do you have a child or grandchild with whom you could do that?
After “Basic Climate Science,” we plan to produce more online courses on basic economics; environmental stewardship; Biblical ethics; and more.
New Collaborations Ahead for Cornwall Alliance!
To bring these courses and other educational material to larger and younger audiences, we’re building relationships with home schoolers, private Christian schools, and Christian colleges and universities.
Last month we exhibited at Repairing the Ruins, (RTR), the annual conference of the Association of Classical Christian Schools (ACCS)—a thrilling gathering where we made great new connections.
(You might recall that, at 2024’s Repairing the Ruins Megan Basham, author of Shepherds for Sale, praised the Cornwall Alliance while delivering her keynote speech accepting the Boniface Award.)
Exhibiting at RTR has already led to my being on three podcasts hosted by the president of Veritas Press, one of the largest publishers of classical Christian curriculum, and first steps to cooperation with Turning Point Education (associated with TP USA) and Christian Halls (a growing global network of mentorship programs on the Oxbridge model).
I’ve also proposed—and top ACCS leaders have embraced—speaking at next year’s Repairing the Ruins on how classical Christian education can rescue science from irrationality since it jettisoned its roots in Biblical worldview and embraced atheism and post-normal science.
In the future, we’ll exhibit at homeschool conventions, reaching tens of thousands of home-school parents.
And at the collegiate level, we’ve just affiliated with Union University, a strong, conservative Southern Baptist university in Jackson, TN, that opens the door for us to provide guest lecturers and internships for students while benefiting from participation in our own work by Union faculty members, and access to Union’s library and very costly online subscriptions.
I could name many more reasons why we’re optimistic that our message will spread more and more widely in coming years, but I’ll stop with just one.
We’ve just taken first steps to add to our full-time staff a young scholar with both scientific and theological expertise.
Help Us Disciple the Next Generation in Biblical Earth Stewardship!
The generous support of people like you has brought us to where we are—reaching more people than ever, of more ages than ever, with a more vibrant and compelling message than ever.
The next generation won’t disciple itself. That’s our job. Cornwall Alliance’s Next 20 Years begin now, with your response to this letter. You can help us help Gen Alpha, Gen Z, and Millennials to correct course from fear to faith.
Now, I’m asking you to pray for God’s guidance as you consider your next contribution to the Cornwall Alliance’s mission.
Remember, whatever you and others give during our 20th anniversary celebration, up to a combined $100,000, will be matched by twelve other donors! This is your opportunity to have double impact in support of our mission.
Whatever the amount you give, you can be confident that we will use it to help young people understand that God calls them to creation stewardship, not climate hysteria. He made them to be stewards, not parasites or slaves.
And whether you can give now or not, the most important thing you can do is to pray. Pray for our wisdom, our health, our endurance, our growing communications networks. Pray for those, young and old, to whom we bring our message. Pray for revival all over America. Pray.
Thank you again for your support, past, present, and future. Thank you for your prayers. Thank you for your partnership. May you grow daily in faith, hope, and love.
In Christ’s Joyous Service,
E. Calvin Beisner, President
