Is the world getting nuttier? Looking at recent events in North America, itB次元官网网址檚 hard not to conclude that humanity is taking a crazy step backwards. I recall a time when science and scientists were taken seriously, but lately theyB次元官网网址檝e been getting knocked around, especially in the U.S. and Canada.
The State of Tennessee, for example, passed a law allowing teachers who donB次元官网网址檛 believe in evolution or human-caused climate change to challenge existing scientific theories.
Yes, students should be encouraged to think critically and to question everything they are taught but, given the current political climate in the U.S., this is likely to lead to misinformation. In the 1920s, a Tennessee school teacher was tried and convicted, for teaching evolution.
Meanwhile, candidates vying for the Republican presidential nomination reject the overwhelming scientific evidence for human-caused climate change. Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich once held rational positions but have since capitulated to the fossil fuel lobby. Rick Santorum just seems out of touch on every issue, from rights for women and gays to the environment. HeB次元官网网址檚 referred to climate change as a B次元官网网址渉oaxB次元官网网址� and once said, B次元官网网址淲e were put on this Earth as creatures of God to have dominion over the Earth, to use it wisely and steward it wisely, but for our benefit not for the EarthB次元官网网址檚 benefit.B次元官网网址�
Some of these people put their misguided beliefs above rational thought. Republican senator James Inhofe, one of the more vocal and active climate change deniers in U.S. politics, recently said, B次元官网网址淕odB次元官网网址檚 still up there. The arrogance of people to think that we, human beings, would be able to change what He is doing in the climate is to me outrageous.B次元官网网址�
That statement is in keeping with the Cornwall AllianceB次元官网网址檚 Evangelical Declaration on Global Warming, which has been signed by a range of religious leaders, media people, and even some who work in climate science, such as Roy Spencer, David Legates, and Ross McKitrick. It says, in part, B次元官网网址淲e believe Earth and its ecosystems B次元官网网址� created by GodB次元官网网址檚 intelligent design and infinite power and sustained by His faithful providence B次元官网网址� are robust, resilient, self-regulating, and self-correcting, admirably suited for human flourishing, and displaying His glory. EarthB次元官网网址檚 climate system is no exception.B次元官网网址� It also states that reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide and fossil fuel use will B次元官网网址済reatly increase the price of energy and harm economies.B次元官网网址�
And then there was this claim from Arizona Senator Sylvia Allen: B次元官网网址淭his EarthB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址� been here 6,000 years, long before anybody had environmental laws, and somehow it hasn't been done away with. We need to get the uranium here in Arizona so this state can get the money from it and the revenues from it.B次元官网网址�
And so there you have it. The economy matters more than the environment, and God wonB次元官网网址檛 let puny humans damage B次元官网网址淗isB次元官网网址� 6,000-year-old creation anyway. ThatB次元官网网址檚 not to criticize religion; only those who let it blind them to science and who would use it to advance agendas that donB次元官网网址檛 reflect the spirit of their own traditions.
Lest we get too smug in Canada, we must remember that we have politicians who hold similar religious views and are just as anti-science, although Canada has so far managed to keep religion largely out of politics.
But recent cutbacks to government scientific research and staff show that many of our leaders also believe the environment should take a back seat to corporate interests, and that any science that gets in the way must be hushed up or discredited.
Whether they justify it with religion or political ideology, it still doesnB次元官网网址檛 make sense.
Note: Last weekB次元官网网址檚 column contained information about coal used for electricity in Canada. Those figures, from the Natural Resources Canada website, were not up to date. In fact, Ontario got 2.7 per cent of its electricity from coal last year.
