An Inconvenient Truth

Okay. I hope this is my last pseudo-political post for a while. I say pseudo-political post because I believe this issue extends beyond politics and into our role as caretakers of God's earth. The environment is one of my key, touchtone issues. It is the first real issue that I fervently sided with Democrats on. Actually, I feel more aligned with the Green Party on the environment than even Democrats. We have done a terrible job of caring for the Earth over the last 150 years or so. We are beginning to see the effects, and the global scientific consensus clearly indicates that human activities are a primary cause of global warming. Yet, many oil companies and their political allies continue to deny the impact that human activities have had on the environment.

That's where Al Gore's film, An Inconvenient Truth, comes in. It chronicles Al Gore's global campaign to get politicians and companies to recognize the problem and take action. The problem is that too many people are enslaved to oil and the companies that refine it. Some of those companies, under the guise of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, have realeased a couple of ads that make the ridiculous claim that Carbon Dioxide is not a pollutant. "It's not pollution. We breath it out." Anyone whose ever taken a science class knows that global warming is caused by TOO MUCH CO². Yes, it's necessary for life, but like all things, it should be in moderation.

As a Christian, I believe it is irresponsible and immoral to ignore this problem anymore. I hope everyone will find a way to see this film. More importantly, I hope more people will get to action on this. Politicians and oil companies need to do something about this, but consumers can too. Find a way to get to work without your car. Use mass transit, if possible. Carpool. Ride your bike or walk. Conserve the energy in your home by turning off lights and using fewer electronics (that's a hard one for me). Find activities that do not require using natural resources for energy. Recycle. All of these things alone will not do the trick, but it's a start.