Global Warming Alarm: Truth or Consequences?

I, like a lot of others, have not been persuaded by the screeching rhetoric of the "global warming" crowd. Perhaps it is because of my politics, perhaps it is because I am mistrustful of those who seek "global action" of any kind - in the name of Big Environment. Besides, the doom and gloom tone and the dark foreboding of an Earth destroyed by humanity runs counter to my worldview. Of course, the way I read the Bible affects my view on this. The initial clause of the Noahic Covenant:

"While the Earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease." Genesis 8:22

One could take this passage in three or four different directions, but what is clear that we have the Lord Almighty, creator of Heaven and Earth, making an explicit promise to Noah and his seed - that is, to all of us, that His creation will function for the purposes of providing seasons, food, and the normal cycles required to sustain human, animal, and plant life. From a biblical worldview, the global disaster alarmism ought to be stopped right there. But it hasn't. We'll get to why in a moment.

But you might say, ah, brother Fred - it says, while the Earth remains. Doesn't that suggest that the Earth could be destroyed by human beings? Well, taken without a single contextual strand of scriptural support, it could. But neither is there isn't anything in the passage to suggest that the control of the Earth belongs to anybody but God. Thus, the "while the Earth remains" passage isn't as problematic as some might suggest. The conditional tone of the clause posits two things: a) the Earth isn't a "forever" kind of creation (c.f., Rev. 21:1 and Matt. 24:29-30) and b) Sustenance. The Creator's point is this: as long as the Earth is around, it will do what it was designed and built to do - to provide it's natural supplies in life sustaining cycles for you. All you must do is be fruitful, multiply, and replenish the Earth. You have the Creator God's word on it!

But this is not to say that environmentalism, per se, is off the mark. Why not? Because God's imperative to replenish the Earth - an imperative given to Adam and Noah and their seed - is as much concerned about the ecological care of the Earth, too. So, yes, we may build bridges and canals, clear swamps, harvest from forests, etc., but we must also replant seedlings, rotate crops, create fisheries, provide rest for farmlands, and clean up our oil spills. Individual and corporations together must practice responsible stewardship of the Earth.

But, alas, from whence cometh the global warming alarm bells? Well, the president of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Klaus, - the only statesman who has challenged Al Gore to a debate on the subject - thinks he knows where all of this is headed. And it is not good. His thesis is that the global warming movement is about obtaining power and control of every human life on Earth. My instinct (and my eschatology) tells me he's onto something. This quote from his speech to the National Press Club is telling:

"My deep frustration has been exponentially growing in recent years by witnessing the fact that almost everything has already been said, that all rational arguments have been used and that global warming alarmism is still marching on. It could be even true that "We are now at the stage where mere facts, reason, and truth are powerless in the face of the global warming propaganda."

This appears to be worth the read. The name of his book is "Blue Planet in Green Shackles". But want to know something else? This book was copyrighted May 2008 - and nobody has it in stock! Not Amazon, not Barnes and Noble, not Borders. Amazing. I can't find it. Is there information - counter to the cacophony of global environmental gloom - that is being supressed here?

Fom the Wild World of Eschatology. (that's the "End Times" for the theological layperson out there) I used to be very much into the End Times, all the scenarios, the mark of the Beast, identifying the when and where of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and the Antichrist, etc. And I must now say that it fascinates me to read about Mikhail Gorbachev and his Green Cross International foundation. Here's a man who was once General Secretary of the Soviet Union, its President, and in a breathtaking series of events, was deposed. It just so happened that when Gorby came to power a book I read about him being the Antichrist was floating in evangelical circles - which has now been largely discredited. Ok, so he's not the Antichrist. But, but, but, but....imagine if you will a scenario by which some man-made disaster to the environment should take place. An already near-hysterical world would demand an international and global solution, an iron-clad policy by which the nations of the world will agree to abide by for collective survival and protection. To whom might they turn for leadership and institutional guidance? The president of Green Cross International, maybe? Hmmm.

Baruch Hashem! Soli Deo Gloria!