But when it came to global warming I was more dis-oriented than the Dixie Chicks at a NASCAR race.Pretty much everyone agrees the earth is heating up,so the question isn’t “if” the earth is warming. Thequestion is “why” is it warming? (Although, if that istrue, why do my heating bills keep going up?)

Global Warming or Hot Air?I decided to get to the bottom of this controversy withmy own special investigation. I found the British Petro-leum Environment and Society page and learned that my“carbon footprint” is 18 tonnes (a tonne is a metricton which equals 2,204.62 pounds). That means I release 18 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere each year. That’s enough to fill anOlympic swimming pool three and a half times. Thatis an incredible amount of CO2, but less than theAmerican average of about 22 tonnes per year. That’sbecause I recycle, turn the heat down, shut lights offand shower just once a month (joke).

Carbon dioxide is important because it is one of the “greenhouse gases” that capture and retain theheat from sunshine. Too much CO2 in the atmospherewill cause the earth to warm up—globalwarming. Worldwide,eight billion tons ofhuman-produced CO2

are being releasedinto the atmosphere

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Iconsider myself a man of reasonable intel-ligence. I circle 19 when asked how manyyears of school I’ve completed. I can actuallyplace an order at Starbucks. I’m pretty certain Elvis isdead and I can check voice messages on my cell phone.(No, I can’t take pictures or send text messages.)

Global Warming—or Hot Air?

b y G l e n M o y e r

Al Gore giving his global warming talkin Mountain View, CA on April 7, 2006.

each year (and rising). I don’tknow about you, but that soundslike pouring a shaker of pepperover a perfectly good egg.

From there I decided to read thehighly touted summary of the Inter-governmental Panel for ClimateChange released in February 2007.Good idea if you are a scientist.Bad idea if you are an average person. The “summary” is 18 pageslong and is written in a languagethat looks to be a blend of English,mathematics and ancient Egyptianhieroglyphics.

After that, I realized that watchingAl Gore’s hugely popular docu-mentary, “An Inconvenient Truth”would be more in line with myabilities. Everyone should see thisexcellent film. Gore presents a lotof great information that cannotbe quickly dismissed. Yet, only aday after Gore’s film won an Oscar,Rush Limbaugh said, “I think theAcademy Awards made globalwarming look like the joke that itis.”

Scientists Against the Kyoto AccordIf it were only talking heads likeLimbaugh protesting global warm-ing, it wouldn’t be so doggonecomplicated. But more than 15,000scientists signed a petition againstthe Kyoto Accord, an internationaltreaty whereby countries agree toreduce the amount of greenhousegases they emit if their neighborsdo likewise.

The cover letter to the petitionwas signed by Dr. Frederick Seitz,president emeritus of RockefellerUniversity and past president of theU.S. National Academy of Sciences.

In the letter he states: “The treaty is,in our opinion, based upon flawedideas. Research data on climatechange does not show that humanuse of hydrocarbons is harmful. Tothe contrary, there is good evi-dence that increased atmosphericcarbon dioxide is environmentallyhelpful.”

I mentioned this discreditingglobal warming information tosome of my scientist friends, andthey quickly pulled out a pile of in-formation that showed how Seitz(and the document that the abovepetition was based upon)

is less than credible and basedupon unpublished documentationwhich is now outdated.

My investigation also led me toGary Calder, a former editor ofNew Scientist. He says that clouds(in conjunction with solar rays) arethe reason behind climate change.I then found others saying thatglobal warming is too complex tobe attributed to just one factor,whether greenhouse gases orclouds. Still others, like Nancy whowrote a letter to the editor of mylocal newspaper, say global warm-ing is not caused by any physicalemissions, but rather by the spiritualomission of God in our country.

I started to think that the earth must be warming up

from all the hot air that the different sides are blowing at

one another. I was a month into my investigation and I

had as many questions as answers.

I decided early on in my

investigation to pull another

chair up to the table and pour

a fresh cup of coffee so I

could listen and learn from all

parties in this matter.

Truth is what sets us free, so

why be afraid to pursue it?

She said, “the stench of moraldecay and ungodliness has comeup to God’s nostrils and has kin-dled his wrath, which is comingupon this earth….” Thus, God’swrath is causing global warming.

Religion Weighs InOne side says this, another saysthat. I started to think that theearth must be warming up from allthe hot air that the different sidesare blowing at one another. I was a

month into my investigation and Ihad as many questions as answers.

Can we ever find our waythrough this maze of informationto the truth? Not if we follow someof the religious leaders of today.For example, when the late JerryFalwell said, “there’s no need forthe church of Jesus Christ to bewasting its time gullibly falling forall of this global warming hocus-pocus. We need to give our totalfocus to the business of reachingthis world with the Gospel of JesusChrist....”

In a recent letter to the NationalAssociation of Evangelicals (NAE),Focus on the Family President JamesDobson and two dozen co-signerscame against NAE vice-presidentRich Cizik because of his “creationcare” agenda. They said, “Cizik andothers are using the global warmingcontroversy to shift the emphasis

away from the great moral issues ofour time,” citing abortion, same-sex marriage and abstinence as thereal issues. They are calling forCizik to resign or be fired from theNAE.

This is the same tactic the reli-gious leaders of Jesus’ day usedagainst him. After hearing Jesus saysome things that disturbed them,“the Pharisees plotted a way totrap him into saying somethingdamaging.” They then launchedattack after attack at Jesus withtraps and trick questions that hefended off. Jesus “stumped them,literalists that they were. Unwillingto risk losing face again in one ofthese public verbal exchanges, they quit asking questions forgood.” They rejected the truth andactually started to plot how theywould kill Jesus. (See Matthew22:15; 46, The Message.)

I’m not saying which globalwarming perspective Christiansneed to side with—I’m saying weneed to stop taking sides that cut off dialogue and create ene-mies. We need to get over beingthreatened and threatening. AsChristians, we of all people shouldknow by now that when we blind-ly reject both the message and themessenger that the masses willrightly reject us.

Enlarging Our PerspectivesI decided early on in my investiga-tion to pull another chair up to thetable and pour a fresh cup of coffeeso I could listen and learn from allparties in this matter. Truth is what

sets us free, sowhy be afraid to

a lesson Ilearned frommy mom and

dad when I wasfive years old is

what guided methrough thecontroversy.

My parentstaught me

that Ishould

always leavea place

cleaner thanI found it.

...by the time I formedmy opinion about globalwarming it didn’t really

matter which “side” Icame down on, becauseit turns out that

I then found

others saying

that global

warming is too

complex to be

attributed to just

one factor,

whether

greenhouse gases

or clouds.

• House Tem-perature. Weturn the thermo-stat down in winter (put on asweater) and upin summer (usenight air to coolhouse). We alsoturn the heat

down when no one’s home and whenwe’re sleeping, and we use windowblinds to keep summer heat out.

• Lights. Wereplaced our in-candescent lightbulbs with com-pact florescentbulbs (CFLs).They last muchlonger and usea fraction of theenergy. We turnlights off whenleaving a roomand use morenatural light.

• Reduce and Reuse. The three ar-rows in the recycle triangle stand forreduce, reuse and recycle. Wethink of creative waysto reduce and

reuse, like making bags for groceryshopping and packing lunches. My wifeoften buys cool second-hand clothesthat we wear till they get holes. I saveenergy by not shopping.

• Recycle. Werecycle tons ofstuff—from news-papers and cansto cell phones andmilk jugs. Note:rinse out old milkjugs and cans oryour garage will

smell like the neighborhood recyclingcenter!

• Water. We run only full loadsof dishes or clothes. We wash

clothes in cold orwarm water. We

also turned downthe temperatureand insulated

We stopped thinking that we are separate from creation. The earth wasn’t created forhumans, it was created for God’s glory, and we were created from the earth. So takingcare of creation is taking care of us.

We realized that classic evangelism is not all there is to the gospel. Jesus spentmost of his time teaching people how to live on earth, not how to get to heaven afterthey die. Besides, who will listen to our evangelistic presentation when we’re literallydoing no earthly good?

We try to distinguish God’s truth from human agendas. At times our faith can be-come so entangled in social/political agendas that we forget it is the Spirit who leadsus into all truth, not talk show hosts, news programs, political parties or even churches.

our hot water heater and installed low-flow showerheads.

• Automobile. I admit that I can’tseem to drive 65 mph on Montana’swide open roads; however, I do keepour cars tuned up and check the tirepressure often. My wife rides her bicycle to work year-round, and wedonate our older cars to the poor in-stead of trading them in.

• Faith and Fun. We are environ-mental, but we try to not be wacko.Faith keeps us from fearing the future,and fun keeps us from turning intoprunes.

For more information about“creation care” see theJan/Feb 2006 issue of PlainTruth at www.ptm.org.

We Act Differently:

We Think Differently:

Regardless of your position on the global warming controversy, everyChristian should be involved in “creation care.” Here are some things ourfamily has done to be better stewards of God’s creation.

9

pursue it? In the process, I builtseveral new relationships withfolks from all perspectives.

This is what Paul did in Athens.“…every day he went out on thestreets and talked with anyone whohappened along. He got to knowsome of the Epicurean and Stoicintellectuals pretty well throughthese conversations. …These peo-ple got together and asked him tomake a public presentation over atthe Areopagus.…” (See Acts 17:16-34, The Message.)

With all due respect to ideasabout this issue advanced by JimDobson and the late Jerry Falwell,

I’m afraid they are following theexample of the rigid religious lead-ers, not Paul. In trying to protecttheir agenda and doctrine such no-tions reject all opposing viewpoints and those who hold them.Consequently, we may be in dan-ger of missing a portion of God’struth that would have benefitedus. Remember Galileo?

For what it’s worth, my investi-gation found that the data whichsupports the assumption that hu-mans are contributing significantlyto global warming was much moreextensive and credible than thatwhich rejects it. I’m not panicking,

but not all the global warm-ing press is just hot air. Wereally do have a serious situ-

ation on our hands with the potential for major global impli-cations if we don’t act—soon.

However, by the time Iformed my opinion about global warming it didn’t reallymatter which “side” I camedown on, because it turns outthat a lesson I learned from mymom and dad when I was fiveyears old is what guided methrough the controversy. Myparents taught me that I shouldalways leave a place cleaner thanI found it.

This remarkably simple prin-ciple of leaving things betterthan we find them is a mandateto all people. Regardless of yourview on global warming, it

should come as no surprise that Godexpects us to leave the earth for ourchildren in better condition than wereceived it from our parents.

“God spoke: ‘Let us make humanbeings in our image, make themreflecting our nature so they can beresponsible for the fish in the sea,the birds in the air, the cattle, and,yes, Earth itself, and every animalthat moves on the face of the Earth”(Genesis 1:26, The Message).

From the opening chapter ofGenesis and woven into the wholeof Scripture, human beings, actingas God’s stewards, are to providecare for creation, rememberingthat it does not belong to us.

Every generation since the indus-trial revolution has failed miserablyat this, and we’re now paying theprice. Someone must turn thingsaround. We must turn thingsaround.

Yes, that might make us bedfel-lows with some folks that we’renot used to siding with, but thatsure beats taking religious, dog-matic stands that make it look asthough we don’t believe God creat-ed this awesome planet or that heassigned us to be stewards of it. Tobe Christian is to be an environ-mentalist. ❑

Glen Moyer is an Amy-award win-ning writer and pastor of High PointAdventures in Missoula, Montana.Feel free to contact Glen at www.clothman.com.

...woven into the

whole of Scripture,

human beings, acting

as God’s stewards,

are to provide care

for creation,

remembering that it

does not belong

to us.

Every generation since the

industrial revolution has

failed miserably at this....

Someone must turn things

around. We must turn

things around.

I’m not panicking,

but not all the global

warming press is just

hot air. We really do

have a serious

situation on our

hands with the

potential for major

global implications if

we don’t act—soon. 10 THE PLAIN TRUTH