Those who know me, know that I am a bit of a weather nerd. I watch the weather online, read weather blogs, look at forecasting maps like the NAM & GFS, and get depressed when a snow storm misses our area. Honestly most of this is in the winter, trying to sniff out when we might have snow which I love so much. How did a guy who grew up in South Texas get such a love of and hunger for snow??
Well the winter here in PA has been a terrible year so far for snow which always brings the global warming debates to mind! And recently we at the Moore house have been increasing our “green” awareness and thinking about how we can reduce our carbon footprint more. This past summer we listened to a great sermon series with Matt Krick and Rob Bell from Mars Hill Bible Church called “God is Green”.
I am a bit ashamed to say that when I was younger my attitude was “it’s all going to burn anyway, so why worry about it!” But this goes contrary to everything that I love. I grew up spending a lot of time camping, hiking, and loving the outdoors. I realized that this is something that I treasure and want to pass along to my kids too and that if we don’t make a priority to care for the creation, they won’t be able to enjoy it as I have.
Additionally, listening to Rob Bell, he pointed out that this is a sanctity of life issue! How long will life be able to be sustained on this earth if we continue treating it with neglect. So I am seeking to be more Pro-Life, for the unborn and the born!
Of course WHAT to do is a much more complicated issue. We do things like recycle aluminum, plastic, etc. We are hoping to gradually get some better gas mileage vehicles (although I don’t know that we can afford the new flexfuel Suburban!). There is much debate going on about global warming or global atmospheric cycles and some seems to be just politics as usual. I was excited about the recent rise in ethanol production and use, flex fuel cars, and other carbon reducing measures. But changing one thing causes a ripple effect to other things in the world economy.
Check out the video below to hear an alternate perspective on what we should be doing about global warming. And then share what you do to lessen your carbon footprint.
Hi Brian,
I think it’s great that you are looking for ways to be kinder to the environment, but I encourage you to be very skeptical about what you are being told about it, especially if it comes from any news outlets. There are countless studies, especially recently about ethanol. It’s not the answer. The amount of corn it takes to make ethanol is staggering, which doesnt make it a viable alternative. It will result in the cost of corn for eating to skyrocket. Our society needs oil to survive, and we can lower our fuel costs overnight if we start drilling for oil right here in our country. Fuel efficient cars like the Prius DO save on gas, but according to an independent study, more environmental damage is caused by the production and operation of a Toyota Prius than a Hummer. But they dont tell us that. They just tell us about the fuel savings.
Personally, I believe God is bigger than all of this. I dont believe that God made a planet that we can kill. Our pollution emissions 40-60 years ago were staggering compared to now. There used to be smokestacks billowing charcoal black smoke in every city in this country during the days when we as a country were still producers. Yet even during those times, there were warnings of Global COOLING.
Now there are new studies being released this week talking of global COOLING again. The temperature records do not support global warming, but the agenda scientists will diss it.
Yes, I agree that we should take care of our planet. Recycling is a great thing to do. And of course there are other ways to conserve and behave. But I think God is bigger than all of this and he doesnt build anything fragile. If you talk to radical environmentalists, they all share a common thread: God is not part of their lives. They worship the Earth as a goddess. The radical ones are paying for studies (they pay for a certain result or conclusion as well). When the time is perfect, God will have His day. On that day, there will be measurable global warming. Until that day, let us enjoy times of heat and times of cold. Let us enjoy the children that God gave us, and let’s pay less attention to those who would have us believe that God had no part in all of this.
Until they pry my H3 from my cold, dead hands,
Sean
one of the guys who spoke during mhbc’s green series was matthew sleek. i have his book if you ever want to read it. he provides a lot of examples that his family has implemented to do a better job with stewardship of the planet (and with everything).
Great thoughts Sean!
It is hard to know what is legit news and what is hype and agenda. So I often choose moderation in those situations.
I actually own a corn farm, so I am not too sad about corn prices going up. And it is about time farmers have a little incentive to keep up the good work. But I do agree that we need to do a little more North American oil drilling responsibly to reduce our foreign dependency.
I appreciate your call to trust God’s complete power and transcendence too. I feel my role is to be the best steward while enjoying Him fully in what He has given to me and those around me.
Sometime I gotta get a ride in your H3!
Well, each of us needs to do what we can to reduce our energy uses – whether it affects global warming or not. I certainly want some of the fossil fuel left over for “Da Vowels” and “Da Birds” as in my 6 and soon to be 7 grandchildren. I sometimes think about my childhood growing up in the 50′s and how much fun it was. Our family of 5 probably used 1/4 the energy then, that the average family now consumes. Much of what we now consider “necessities” hasn’t made us any happier. But we have gone overboard with “labor saving devices,” etc. For instance, some now use large powerful lawn mowers so they can finish cutting their grass in a hurry just so they can then go to the gym to work out! And how many of us re-park from one end of a strip mall to the other instead of walking a little extra while we shop?
A friend sent a unique photo of a remote beach hangout in a third world country that was without electricity. The bar had geared up a stationary bicycle to a generator which was then used to power the blender. But they overlooked the waste of turning the rotary motion of the pedaling, into electricity, which was then turned back into the rotary motion to chop up the ice cubes. They could have just geared the bike straight to the blender instead. Go figure.
Also, I rather agree with those who refer to Hummers as “Fuelish” … and I refer to my Saturn sedan as “Sensible” (I got 40.16 MPG on my round trip to Lancaster from Houston.) But BOTH vehicles are made by General Motors. So go figure again.
And here is another idea – instead of harvesting just the corn to make ethanol, we should (re-invent) and use small steam engines in our vehicles which could then burn the stalks, shucks, and cob in addition to the kernels, turning the whole plant into the fuel we need. Plus a steam engine could also be “fired” with almost anything that will burn – not just the firewood and coal of Mark Twain’s time, but heating oil, diesel fuel, gasoline, and even leftover grease.
But we really need to concentrate an all out assault in three directions: #1 Double or triple the efficiency of solar panels. #2 – Double or triple the storage capacity of batteries. #3 – Do both while cutting the costs in half. This would revolutionize energy availability for the entire world! So I hope our next president puts this at the top of our national priority.
As part owner of that corn farm, I too am not all that unhappy with corn prices. At the same time though I am concerned about the ramifications of using corn to produce ethanol. Rising costs of food, diversion of water, etc. Recent presentations I have seen and heard point to using things like switchgrass and sugar beets. These resources don’t require near the amount of water that corn does. Plus their use wouldn’t give farmers an incentive to turn something typically used as food into fuel and thus drive up the price of food.
In my line of work I have seen and heard plenty on the global warming issue. Whehter it is a man-made problem or it is just part of how God made this world to function in cycles, I’m not sure. I tend to lean toward the latter. Either way, I promote trees primarily for the shade and relief they provide. Perhaps the heat and humidity of where we grew up made me appreciate a shady oasis whenever and where ever it could be found.
I’m not sure of the exact verse, but God did tell us to be good stewards of the land. I’m reminded of an animated short we used to see on I think Sesame Street about the fisherman who was fed up with all the grass fish he would catch instead of the big bass, so he went in to the lake and ripped out all the grass. Soon there were no fish to catch. We depend on the earth around us to work properly as much as the earth around us depends on us to work it properly. Recycling and not wasting resources is important to sustain our environment for the next generation.