As the Academy Awards reminded us, political and social action against global warming is the new gospel for an old, tired creation. We can save humanity, even the whole world, if we align our political and personal compasses with the green. An inconvenient truth, one not abided by in the Gore house, proposes a solution to the current and pending plight of the global poor and rich. How should Christians respond to the global warming crisis?
Evangelicals are falling into two main camps on environmental issues. See the New York Times article here. This has clearly come to a head in the divergent open letters put out by the National association of Evangelicals and Interfaith Stewardship Alliance. Signers (Chuck Colson, James Dobson) of the latter letter are taking a more conservative approach. They claim that scientific research clearly demonstrates that human pollution via CO2 and fossil fuels produces marginal damage to the environment, and that the resources and taxation that required to perform political overhaul will outweigh the actual contribution to our ozone. They also pull in Wayne Grudem for biblical support.
The former, including leaders such as Rick Warren and Duane Liftin are advocating increased evangelical action for the environment through the Evangelical Climate Initiative. This statement claims that evangelicals are under a moral and biblical imperative to act enviromentally for the sake of the poor and God’s creation, claiming that humans make a significant enough impact on the enviroment to call for reform.
Where do you land on Global Warming? Will you sign the former or the latter? How has this affected your lifestyle?