From yesterday’s New York Times: Global Weirding is Here by Thomas Freidman.
This article sums up so much about global warming–excuse me, global weirding. It really is a must read.
Wall St. Journal: Peak Oil–2015
February 16, 2010 – 4:53 pm
The Wall St. Journal wrote a story last week about peak oil. [“Peak oil” is when global production of oil reaches a maximum and begins decline as supply runs out.] That The Wall St. Journal ran an article discussing peak oil is interesting for a few reasons:
1. The Wall St. Journal is a conservative, right-leaning media outlet. They are not known as champions of environment. For the most part, they take a position advancing business interests over the environment. It stands to reason that their discussion of peak oil is not focused on environmental issues but business issues: “What will the world do when we run out of oil?”
2. The reason they covered peak oil was the release of a study by The Industry Taskforce on Peak Oil and Energy Security. The taskforce was formed by, among others, Sir Richard Branson, the owner of Virgin Airlines. A former chairman of Shell Oil and King Abdulla are quoted in the article–both speak of peak oil as fact. The Wall St. Journal openly reports that peak oil is around the corner.
3. They publish a predicted date for peak oil: 2015. Many conservative news outlets discuss peak oil as a distant threat that nobody can predict when will happen. Definitive dates are sometimes hard to come by. The Journal cites “Peak Oil Consulting” as the source for the 2015 date.
4. Maybe the most surprising part about the article is that The Wall St. Journal is reporting about peak oil at all. American media outlets and American politicians have been largely silent about peak oil. Not only do we have no plan for what to do when global demand far surpasses supply, but we don’t even talk about it. It’s as if we’ve collectively buried our heads in the sand. To paraphrase an old teacher: We don’t need to believe in peak oil; peak oil believes in us.
Why should Christians care about peak oil?
Simply put, because wars will be fought for oil. The United States consumes more oil than any other country. If we don’t do anything to change our patterns, we will be forced to fight for oil. If we are to remain a moral, Christian nation, we must start making contingency plans for when there is no oil. As it stands now, the U.S. military is our only contingency plan…
CSM’s Green Blog Shuts Down
February 16, 2010 – 1:47 pm
The Christian Science Monitor’s environmental blog is shutting down as of today. “After 22 months and some 500 posts, the Bright Green blog is coming to an end.” The full story is here.
I’ve read the Bright Green blog many times and always found it well-written, interesting, and informative. The final blog entry has links to the writers’ favorite entries. It’s worth checking out.
Natural Gas Explosion
February 8, 2010 – 7:11 pm
Please pray for the families of the five killed yesterday after an explosion at a Connecticut power plant. And please pray for the the dozens of workers injured in the blast.
More on Natural Gas tomorrow…
Smoking & Scientific “Debate”
February 4, 2010 – 6:20 pm
The time to debate the science of global warming has long past. The scientific community has come to a consensus that global warming is happening. This begs the question, “Why is there a debate?” A look at the “controversy” surrounding smoking is instructive to understanding the global warming “debate.”
In the 1950s, the medical community began publishing report after report confirming the link between smoking cigarettes and cancer. The American media began reporting the findings. Cigarettes companies took notice when cigarette sales began to decline and legislators began proposing anti-smoking laws.
The tobacco industry hired Public Relations firms to fight the battle of public opinion. The goal was “creating doubt about the health charge without actually denying it, and advocating the public’s right to smoke, without actually urging them to take up the practice.”
To win the battle, the tobacco companies didn’t need to actually win the argument—they just needed to have it. They knew if the American public thought there was a scientific debate, legislators would have political cover not to take action against the tobacco companies. So, they created a scientific “debate” where there was none.
They were remarkably successful. Until the 1990s, not one major piece of anti-smoking legislation passed even though everyone knew smoking could kill you.
How does this relate to global warming?
Like cigarettes causing cancer, there is scientific certainty about the causes of global warming. There has been scientific certainty for a decade. Like the tobacco companies, parties wanting to delay global warming action claim there is a scientific controversy where there is none. But don’t take my word for it:
In 2003, political strategist Frank Luntz outlined a strategy for delaying action on global warming. Like the smoking “controversy,” the delay strategy hinges on calling scientific findings into question.
Like the smoking “debate,” the manufactured global warming “debate” has delayed meaningful action against global warming. As with smoking, the goal is not to win the debate but to delay action. If we continue debating, Miami will be ten feet under water and these folks will be suggesting scientific study to figure out why.
Why should Christians care?
By ignoring global warming science, we ignore our responsibility to help those who will be affected by global warming. We are the ones on the road to Jericho ignoring the injured man.
100 Million Plastic Bottles a Day
February 3, 2010 – 10:27 pm
Some solutions to the global warming crisis are simple. Drinking out of a reusable container rather than buying bottled water is a simple way to consume less.
The Facts: Fifty billion bottles of water are consumed each year in the United States, about 137 million bottles every day. About one quarter of these bottles are recycled (through an extremely energy intensive process). Each day, Americans throw out 103 million plastic water bottles.
Some claim bottled water is safer or tastes better than tap water. Consider this: both Aquafina (PepsiCo) and Dasani (Coca-Cola Company) originate from municipal water systems. In blind taste-tests, most people can’t tell the difference between bottled water and tap water. And, plastic bottles often leach chemicals into the water they hold.
Here is a trailer for “Tapped” a documentary about the bottled water industry:
Why should Christians care about bottled water?
Using a refillable container instead of buying bottled water is an easy way to live out Christ’s message of mercy. When we use a refillable container, we don’t consume the energy for producing and transporting a disposable plastic bottle. We also don’t consume the energy to recycle or dispose of the plastic bottle. While this may seem like a small measure, the cumulative effects make a difference. You can stop the production of 50 billion plastic bottles by using one refillable bottle.
Peak Oil
February 3, 2010 – 1:56 am
Today I’ve been thinking about “Peak Oil.” Basically, the Earth will run out of oil someday. “Peak Oil” is the concept that before we run out of oil, we will reach a period of peak extraction. Many scientists believe we are reaching that point. I found this video explaining the concept:
In about 1970, the U.S. reached peak oil. Before peak oil, we extracted MORE domestic oil each year than we had the previous year. After 1970, we extracted LESS domestic oil each year than we had the previous year. As the graph below shows, to meet our shortfall in domestic production, we have relied on oil imports (rather than decreasing demand).
Sometime this century, we will reach global peak oil—each year after that, the world will extract less oil than it did the previous year. Unless demand drops with supply, there will be extremely high prices and severe oil shortages. Transportation, agriculture, the manufacture of goods, even the production and delivery of medicine will all be drastically effected.
Why should Christians care?
When there are limited supplies of necessary resources, people have a predictable reaction: war. The winners of conflict will have oil; the losers will go without. If we do nothing to reduce demand before supply begins running out, a generation will be thrown into a world of war and poverty. Will this be the legacy we leave future generations?
The transition away from a petroleum-based economy will happen by the end of this century. The question is whether we Christians take action to make this a peaceful transition to renewable resources; or, will we ignore the suffering we will cause future generations by continuing our complete dependence on oil.
What got me thinking about peak oil today is this Honda commercial/documentary. Interestingly, the commercial casually mentions the end of oil as a known fact. It’s surprising we don’t hear more about this in the national energy conversation.
Enjoy.
Welcome
January 28, 2010 – 11:22 pm
Thank you for visiting JesusConserves.org, a website dedicated to examining the global warming crisis from a Christian perspective.
The story of JesusConserves.org began a few years ago while I was studying climate change policy in law school. I was struck by the disconnect between many Christians and environmentalists. Surprisingly, many Christians and Christian organizations have positioned themselves on the wrong side of global warming. This is not the fault of these Christians.
For too long, global warming has been presented to the American people as a distant environmental problem rather than a looming humanitarian disaster. In the American zeitgeist, the image most associated with global warming is of a polar bear on an iceberg. Instead, we should think of a Bangladeshi mother holding her starving child.
Global warming solutions have also been misrepresented. Christian Americans have been given the false choice between fighting global warming and continued American economic growth. Nothing could be further from the truth. Solutions to the global warming crisis offer unparalleled economic opportunities at a time America needs them most. If the United States is to remain a moral, economic, and military world leader, we must address global warming.
I firmly believe that once American Christians understand the moral and humanitarian implications of ignoring global warming, they will join the fight. When American Christians understand the long-term economic and national security benefits of global warming solutions, our Christian nation will act.
Please help JesusConserves.org spread this message of peace. Even if you aren’t a Christian or don’t know much about global warming, you can help publicize JesusConserves.org and its mission. Most of us know many Christians, many environmentalists, and, dare I say, even a few Christian environmentalists. Please share this site with them. More importantly, please share this site with people who do not believe global warming is real or think global warming won’t affect them—these are exactly the people JesusConserves.org needs to reach.
Here are a few things you can do to get the message out:
• Email a link to JesusConserves.org to anyone who would be interested.
• Email a link to JesusConserves.org to anyone you think would disagree.
• Join the Jesus Conserves Facebook page.
• Invite friends to join the Jesus Conserves Facebook page.
• Follow Jesus Conserves on Twitter.
Thank you for taking a moment from your day. With your help, we can make a difference.
God Bless,
Tim Mahon
JesusConserves@gmail.com