Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Concerns about Parallel Thinking of Warmists and Totalitarians


I appreciated Bret Stephens' insights in his column "The Totalities of Copenhagen."

He draws some parallels in thinking between totalitarians and the views of some global warming alarmists:
  • Revolutionary fervor
  • Utopianism
  • Antihumanism
  • Intolerance
  • Monocausism
  • Indifference to evidence
  • Grandiosity
Worth reading and thinking about. Let us remember that men have sinful hearts and we must take steps to guard against sin in our institutions.

Please note: I respect a number of people I've met and read who come at the global warming data from a Christian stewardship perspective, and I do not think they fall into very many of these totalitarian mindsets. The amount of atmospheric CO2 is higher now than at any time we can measure from the past. There are solar radiation cycles which appear to have some inpacts on the earth's temperature (and other planets in our solar system). By at least some measures the Earth is warmer than in the recent past. A warmer earth means we must adapt to some changes (e.g., rising sea levels). Are CO2 levels and temperate related as cause and effect? What should be done by individuals, institutions, and nations? Those are open questions!


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