What Are We So Afraid Of?

Creation care is misunderstood, even by some who practice it. While all of us recognize a biblical mandate for environmental stewardship, many are still mired in the debate over the validity of man-induced climate change. The “We Get It!” campaign, endorsed by thousands of pastors and signed by influential people such as Senator James Inhofe and singer Pat Boone, is one high-profile attempt to discredit the global warming argument for reasons of “protecting the poor.” Since protecting the poor is a primary impetus for environmental advocacy regardless of political affiliation, I decided to delve into this campaign to learn more.

Here are just a few of the points cited in the 3-minute video on a backdrop of images of hungry African children:

• Global warming policies will make energy and food more expensive and less available
• Skyrocketing prices for basic necessities hurt the poor
• A price increase on corn or wheat, even just a few cents per pound, means some children don’t eat
• Worldwide, 3 million women and children die each year from respiratory diseases because they must burn wood and dung to cook their food and heat their huts
• Contrary to popular belief, the science is not settled.
• God calls us to do justly, love mercy and walk humbly. Should we really keep millions in poverty because of an unproved threat?

Citing a recent Barna study of evangelicals, the campaign tells us “only 33% of Christians consider global warming to be a major challenge. They are the most skeptical segment of the American population, and they differ most from the general public on this issue among the ten included in the poll.” Is this intended to suggest that because two-thirds of Christians do not recognize climate change as a major challenge, then it really isn’t?

Being that there are two sides to every story, I respectfully offer mine, point by point:

• Citing the negatives of global warming policies does not mean that global warming isn’t happening and that we aren’t making it worse. Global warming policy, as with education, health care, and fiscal policy, is a very complex undertaking. While there is no easy solution or single policy that will solve the problem, we can’t very well go on without one. Denying the problem is not a way to solve it.
• Rising prices do hurt the poor, but so do rising temperatures, rising tides, increasing floods, increasing pollution, and increasing toxins in our air and water. Environmental policies are needed to address these issues because most experts admit that our voluntary efforts, individual and corporate, are just not going to be sufficient to make the kinds of changes needed.
• Granted, the policies that promote biofuels did lead to price hikes in corn and wheat. However, biofuels made with consumables are being replaced with clean renewable technologies such as waste-to-fuel, which does not require any such food substances. Climate change policies help make these and many other promising new technologies feasible.
• In America, the incidence of asthma has reached epidemic proportions. Industrial fumes are hurting our kids as much as they are hurting the climate. And as for Africa, technological innovations like Sun Ovens can help village women harness the power of the sun with none of the harmful side effects of burning wood or dung.

While we don’t have 100% certainty about the source of climate change, we do have a good 90% certainty in the latest IPCC report. For my part, I’m willing to get out of the way and let the 600 or so most prominent scientists in the world (from 40 different countries!) do their work. Besides, it doesn't take a scientist to recognize that the black smoke spewing from smokestacks is harmful! True environmental stewards should be less interested in trying to refute inconvenient truths than in asking, “What are we so afraid of?” Are we afraid of science? Are we afraid of appearing too “liberal”? Are we afraid of changing our standard of living? Are we afraid of losing our jobs? These are all valid fears, but just because we feel fear doesn’t make any of it true. And even if some of these negatives do come to pass, there are no guarantees that continuing down our current path will protect us either. Green policies didn’t get us into the current economic recession – unabated capitalism did.

Why does the possibility that we are creating our own mess infuriate people so much? Maybe because they don't want to confront their own wrongdoing. Nobody likes to recognize sin in themselves. Nevertheless, the sin of gluttony, whether it be rampant consumerism or unfettered energy consumption, is alive and well in our society. How else can we explain how American citizens use 30 percent of the world’s resources with only 5 percent of the population?

This debate over climate change may continue long after green practices become commonplace in America. Some hot-button issues from the 1500s are still being debated five hundred years later. Such is the case with the Flat Earth Society, whose motto is “Deprogramming the masses since 1547.” To the Flat Earth Society, undeniable mathematical and scientific evidence are nothing more than an “evil” tool to promote heresy. Isn’t it interesting how something that once seemed blasphemous to the masses is now considered common sense—except, that is, to the esteemed members of the Flat Earth Society? I wonder if one day the same will be said about the climate change debate.

The only obvious truth to me is that we all have to recognize that the disparity in the American lifestyle and the rest of the world’s. If we really want to help the poor and downtrodden, let’s start by decreasing our consumption of precious resources so that they may have more. We have to use less energy. We need to conserve water. We need to work with industry to do the same - and if they won’t change voluntarily, we need to be prepared to take a policy approach. And most of all, as we do these things, we need to put more faith in God to meet our needs.

So he said to them, "Then give back to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." Let’s leave the science up to the scientists and focus on what we do best: spreading the good news. What are we all so afraid of anyway? The point of being a Christian is that we don’t have to be afraid. That is the truth that so many people still need to hear.

Anna Clark is president of EarthPeople, a sustainability consulting firm. She is an author, speaker, and featured blogger for Greenbiz.com and SustainLane.com. Anna lives in Dallas with her husband and two toddlers in one of the first LEED-certified Platinum residences in Texas.