A common charge by environmentalists is that capitalism is bad for the environment. Indeed, Christiana Figueres, former secretary-general of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, opined that climate negotiations in Paris in late 2014 offered the world its best opportunity to replace the reigning global economic order (capitalism, or free markets) with another (socialism, or government-planned economies). But is capitalism really bad for the environment? One of the Ten … [Read more...]
Blessing or Curse? The Curious Case of Carbon Dioxide
In recent decades, select groups of scientists and politicians have blamed carbon dioxide (CO2) -- a greenhouse gas -- for increasing global temperatures to dangerous levels. Is CO2 really destroying our planet? CO2 is an odorless, invisible, trace gas in the atmosphere that acts as an important source of life for everything that lives on earth. In fact, plant and animal life on earth would be impossible without CO2. CO2 is an integral part of the photosynthesis process. Plants … [Read more...]
Freeman Dyson’s brief case against dangerous CO2-driven warming
At a lecture at Boston University a few years ago, Freeman Dyson, one of the world's top physicists, who replaced Albert Einstein at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, put very simply one of the most basic arguments against the notion that CO2-driven global warming is likely to be disastrous: In humid air, the effect of carbon dioxide on radiation transport is unimportant, because the transport of radiation is already blocked by the much larger greenhouse effect of water vapor. … [Read more...]
Poison for the Mind: The Nation on CO2 and Global Warming
What’s “a far more deadly gas” than the Sarin that Syrian President Bashar al Assad used to kill his own citizens—prompting President Trump to respond with a missile attack? Carbon dioxide. Or so says The Nation. According to “The Other Poison Gas Killing Syrians: Carbon Dioxide Emissions,” by University of Michigan Professor of History Juan Cole, “If Trump and his cronies really cared about children killed by noxious gases, they wouldn’t be trying to spew ever more CO2 into the atmosphere.” We … [Read more...]
Caring for Creation: A Book of Good Intentions but Poor Science
As an evangelical Christian, I believe we should be good stewards of God’s planet. We should strive to reduce pollution to protect human health and the natural environment. We should explore new alternative energy sources, always seeking to maximize benefits and minimize harms. We should prioritize providing electricity for the 1.2 billion people who don’t have it—and consequently suffer high rates of disease and premature death. For these and many other reasons I applaud Mitch Hescox and … [Read more...]
Stop calling me a ‘denier’: Debating science is honorable, not evil
We’ve all read the articles, and heard the voice of doom about “mother earth.” The earth is going to get really hot, it’s all humans fault, and we must make drastic changes to fix our mistakes. Those who disagree with this viewpoint are termed “Climate Deniers,” an insult intended to bring about the specter of Holocaust denial. The fact that this particular insult makes no sense, since it’s impossible to “deny” climate doesn’t seem to matter. What do climate alarmists and climate skeptics … [Read more...]
A Call for Accurate Language about CO2 in the AGW Discussion
In an otherwise fine article at WattsUpwithThat.com, Ari Halperin writes: For some time, the subject [of the residence time of anthropogenic carbon dioxide in the atmosphere] was surrounded by confusion, created by sloppy definitions and evasive statements in IPCC assessment reports. There was a mix-up between the residence time of a CO2 molecule in the atmosphere and the rate of change of the surplus CO2 concentration. The residence time (~5 years) is of little interest, except as an … [Read more...]
Climate Skeptics: Bought By Fossil Fuel Companies?
This video is worth watching and sharing. Well-known scientists, scholars, and policy leaders respond to accusations of receiving money from oil companies, and reveal where their funding really comes from. … [Read more...]
Anglican Bishop and Labour Leader Respond to Pope Francis on Climate Change
Anglican Bishop Peter Forster and Labour Party Leader Bernard Donoughue team up for a clear, concise, respectful, yet telling critique of Pope Francis's encyclical LAUDATO SI', published by the Global Warming Policy Foundation. They argue, as has the Cornwall Alliance, that: 1. The policies Pope Francis supports to reduce global warming will harm the world's poor. 2. Using fossil fuels has been and should continue to be a huge benefit to humanity, lifting billions of out poverty, but also to … [Read more...]
Help Us Be Good and Faithful Stewards We Pray
Our Father who art in Heaven, What an unspeakable honor and responsibility it is that You, dear, Lord, have entrusted us to steward a world that You so creatively and lovingly brought into existence. And regardless of whether we broadly or meticulously examine the genius of how the earth and mankind have been created we cannot help but be moved by the perfect, symbiotic relationship that enables both man and nature to live in harmony with one another.One of the simplest examples of our … [Read more...]
