“There’s one issue that will define the contours of this century more dramatically than any other – the urgent threat of changing climate.”
–   Barack Obama

“The utopian dreams of those who wish to radically reorganize the world to stop climate change are not a plausible global future.”

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– Theodore Nordhaus, co-author, “An Ecomodernist Manifesto”

“Climate change/global warming is the planet’s most pressing problem… Scientists unanimously agree… Extinction of the earth is now 10 to 12 years away… We need to consider not having children in light of this crisis… My children are scared at what they heard at school… I was jolted by what that actor said about the urgency of this issue…Time magazine’s person of the year and the pope and the United Nations are all alarmed… ”

Is this apocalypse now?

Terms like “fracking,” “carbon footprint,” “fossil fuels” and “greenhouse gases” can be intimidating as they increasingly swirl around us in our society but what do they mean? And let’s be real: do we understand what they’re talking about?

I may not be a scholarly scientist but I have been actively involved with environmental concerns and clean up since serving as president of the student government at Cleveland State University in 1971. President Theodore Roosevelt is one of my environmental heroes and I had activist Ralph Nader address our student body to raise awareness.

Recently a young Christian woman hesitantly wondered if current flooding in Venice was a result of global warming. I told her multitudes share similar questions and concerns.

Innocuous inquiries like this are healthy but what about when the overseers of the Doomsday Clock alerted us recently that time is running out for the planet and now we have “100 seconds ’till the apocalypse…”; or 80 year-old retired California governor Jerry Brown’s calling for “a quasi-religious transformation that has not yet occurred but MUST (emphasis mine) occur…”?

Will you allow me 10 minutes to present you 10 points so you, your family, your friends and your church can understand what for many is a confusing topic? It’s really not as complicated as many believe but we need to approach this with a biblically informed worldview and be fact-based avoiding hysteria and fanaticism.

10 Points to Ponder

1. “In the beginning God…” (Gen.1:1) These are the opening words of the most read book in all of human history that go on to reveal that God created and controls the heavens and weather. “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night will not cease” (Gen. 8:22).

2. God gave us a responsibility to be good stewards of creation to “replenish the earth and subdue it” (Gen.1:28). Our duty is not to be wasteful or polluters but careful with water, heat, lighting, food and energy. Littering and dumping waste (plastic and sewage) in water is wrong! I grew up a mile from Cleveland’s once-sickening Lake Erie but engaged with others for the incredible turnaround today.

3. We should be resourceful and innovative in looking for ways to save energy and keep a clean environment that honors God and His creation. Electric cars, solar panels, reasonable emission standards all have merit and every person should take responsibility to curb man-made environmental problems. Few are fooled by hypocritical high-profile actors and politicians scolding us then boarding their private jets and lavish yachts.

4. Scientists present their theories and findings on both sides of this issue and there is no irrefutable, settled conclusion. I encourage every open-minded seeker of truth to watch: 1. The informative video by respected investigative reporter, John Stossel, on climate change myths 2. The highly acclaimed film “Climate Hustle” (now on Amazon Prime) which premiered in Paris and was directed by my 45-year friend Christopher Rogers. Prepare for a “woke” moment!

5. Recognize the reality that warming and cooling trends have been cyclical throughout history. Not long ago there was concern for an approaching Ice Age. Today, with recent warming trends on the planet, now the focus is on fires. Are we acknowledging there have always been devastating natural disasters on our planet and dire doomsday predictions of apocalyptic catastrophes. In the 60s, just 50 years ago, Paul Ehrlich and others stated things that never came to pass!

6. Wisdom dictates objectively analyzing predictions made by so-called “experts” to steer clear of junk science and unsubstantiated claims by unqualified individuals making a fortune from climate change. Environmental crusader, Al Gore, has made hundreds of millions of dollars from his film, “An Inconvenient Truth,” speeches and involvement with boards and initiatives tied to global warming. Read Forbes magazine that did an expose’ on how he made a killing/fortune on climate hype.

Ten years after my fellow Tennessean’s  predictions, I examined the accuracy of his 10 prognostications on his way to the bank:

• Rising sea levels: inaccurate and misleading. Al was discovered purchasing a beachfront mansion!
• Increased tornadoes: declining for decades.
• New Ice Age in Europe: they’ve been spared as it never happened.
• South Sahara drying up: completely untrue.
• Massive flooding in China and India: didn’t happen.
• Melting Arctic: false – the largest refreezing in years occurred just years ago.
• Polar bear extinction: actually they are increasing!
• Temperature increases due to CO2: no significant rising for almost 20 years.
•  Katrina, a foreshadow of the future: false – past 10 years, no F3 hurricane; “longest drought ever!”
•  The earth in a “true planetary emergency” within a decade unless drastic action taken to reduce greenhouse gases: never happened.

7. “If pollution on our planet contributes to warming trends, shouldn’t we stop it?” Reality check: the two main polluters in the world, communist China and India with 7.7 billion people and 37% of the world’s population, are not cooperating in any meaningful way. On a personal level we all need to do our part. If I flip some trash into a receptacle and miss my “slam dunk,” I turn around, pick up the trash and deposit it in the can!

8. The root problem in America is irresponsibly and irrationally politicizing this issue instead of approaching it wisely, affirmatively and cooperatively. Angry, far-left global warming fear-mongers, dismissed as “environmental-wackos,” demand two things immediately:

• 1. Eliminate coal, gasoline and fracking rock to release petroleum which demonizes industries employing tens of millions of hard-working Americans when we are finally energy independent from Middle East oil; and
• 2. Take the money from those involved with supplying our gasoline and redistribute the wealth to the poor and lower income minorities under socialistic government control.

Totally realign the economy? Stop all drilling for oil? Redistribute the wealth under socialism?

9. Is it realistic to support the astronomical costs and unrealistic ideas of a Green New Deal as the antidote to the apocalyptic scenario presented? The so-called “climate crisis” may require bold proposals but they need to be rooted in reality not impossibility! Here are some advocated “solutions” to stop the perceived crisis said to “lead to our extinction in 10-12 years.”

• Eliminate all combustible engines and mandate electric cars and hydrogen powered planes.
• End 80% of the current sources of American power.
• Upgrade and restructure `every building and all 136 million homes in America.
• Build a 2500 mile high-speed rail to Hawaii as an alternative to air travel.
• Guarantee a government job for everyone including those “unwilling to work.”

If desired, discover more details by contacting the office of former bartender and avowed socialist, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. At this time, she doesn’t know the exact cost for the initiative but economists on both sides say it is “absurd” and would thrust America and subsequently other nations into a worldwide depression.

10. If a person does not find forgiveness and fulfillment in a  dynamic relationship with Jesus Christ and the adventure of advancing the gospel of His kingdom, they are susceptible to other “causes” to fill the void such as total taxpayer funded abortions up until the moment of birth or the supposed and imminent climate change crisis.

Time magazine’s Person of the Year in 2019 was a teenage girl named Greta Thunberg. Her father told the BBC that her “activism helped his daughter out of depression…activism had changed the outlook of the teenager, who suffered from depression for three or four years before she began her school strike protest outside the Swedish parliament. She was now ‘very happy’ he said… She had previously stopped talking… She stopped going to school he said of her illness.”

Greta, like so many young people seeking meaning and a cause in which to invest their lives, embraced climate crisis activism as an opportunity to literally save the world! She’s actually been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

In her own words, listen how global warming/climate change captivates her life: “The climate crisis is not just about the environment. It is a crisis of human rights, of justice and of political will. Colonial, racist and patriarchal systems of oppression have created and fueled it. We need to dismantle them all!”

Blaise Pascal was a precocious French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer and Christian theologian who told us, “There is a God-shaped vacuum within the heart of every human being that cannot be filled by any human thing but only by God Himself in the Person of Jesus Christ.”

Here’s the deal: Henry David Thoreau famously stated, “The mass of humanity live lives of quiet desperation.” Beyond considering the contents of this commentary, if you have not yet done so, will you accept the challenge to give your life fully to Jesus and then engage in reaching the depressed and desperate ones surrounding us in our generation?

Larry Tomczak is a cultural commentator of 46 yrs, Intercessors for America board member, best-selling author and a public policy advisor with Liberty Counsel. His innovative video/book, BULLSEYE, develops informed influencers in 30 days (see www.bullseyechallenge.com). Hear his weekly podcast here.