Je pense, donc je suis. LOL. Actually, as far as I can tell, I do exist. And the only reason Spirit Feollowship Ministries doesn’t come up in searches is because I have yet to create a website. (I am something of a Luddite…LOL)

Coupla comments…

First, thanks to all for your kind words re my letter. It is always fun to see one’s name in print – but particularly so when the subject matter is so important.

Second, as Alison notes, the overwhelming majority of evidence – scientific, anecdotal, computer-model, etc. – points to the inclusion of human factors in climate change. Certainly not ALL climate change is caused by humans. But the advent of the industrial age – with all its inherent environmental dangers (pollution of air, water, land, etc.) – has hastened the change. In addition, various factors have combined in unexpected and often catastrophic ways to create gestalts of environmental degradation.

And keep in mind that even some causes of climate change that may not SEEM to be the product of human activity ARE so. For example, cows (and steer) produce 18% of all the methane that occurs in greenhouse gases. That is the largest single percent by far. Yet if humans did not rely so much on meat (which we do not actually “need”), a good deal of that could be mitigated. Note that I am not suggesting that we all become vegans. But there are ways to minimize, if not eliminate, certain factors that contribute to greenhouse gases and climate change.

Finally, it is worth pointing out that the issue of climate change is not actually about whether it is “bad” for the PLANET. Earth has been here for billions of years, and it is actually arrogant for us to think that we can “harm” the planet in any way: any damage we do might take millions of years to correct, but the planet will recover.

Rather, it is about the continuance of sentient life ON the planet, particularly human and animal. (Plant life is likely to be the first to regenerate after any real catastrophe.)

Thus, I am not concerned for the planet: it can take care of itself. I am concerned for the existence of human and animal life – which apparently cannot.

Peace.

Richard: I’d love for AGW to be a false alarm. But all the scientific evidence is to the contrary. Please review the massive body of research done by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Their research is objective, spans many years and continents, and isscrupulously peer-reviewed.

Concerning Mr. Alterman, I don’t know why he is hard to find. I’d ask the New York Times about it, since they find him credible enough to publish.

We cannot forget that it is only computer models–full of estimates and so wrong so far–that point the finger at humans and predict dire consequences. In scientific terms, anthropogenic global warming (AGW) is an unconfirmed hypothesis. What worries me greatly is that so many of the “warmers” seem to want a global crisis so that they can implement their various social agendas. They seem to not want to hear any evidence to the contrary. If AGW turns out to be a false alarm they’ll be disappointed.