“IT AIN’T EASY BEING GREEN”
- Kermit the Frog -
The world community had to be convinced that something catastrophic was happening before it arrived at where we are today, going “green.” The terrible turn of events, i.e. global warming, was presented as being fatal to mankind’s future, mankind was the primary culprit, and a significant number of people accepted that premise. Now global warming has become a “cause célèbre” with politicians and the media mongers of the entertainment world riding their spurt of “newsworthiness” for all it is worth.
We learn a lot of lessons about the future from the past. I am not yet fully convinced that global warming is as dangerous as is being presented. I believe that we have a neglected responsibility toward the environment and that the present “panic” could bring needed changes and attention. I cannot separate from my mind the cycles of history any more than I can change the cycles of the seasons. Summer is always followed by fall and then winter and then spring and back to summer. Is it possible that we are in a warming trend, a part of a cycle that will soon peak and then the earth will cool again? Does anyone remember that in 1975 Newsweek magazine ran a major article entitled “The Cooling World”? One of the assertions in the article was “the evidence in support of these predictions (of global cooling) has now begun to accumulate so massively that meteorologists are hard pressed to keep up with it.” Also in 1975, the New York Times published an article, “A Major Cooling Widely Considered Inevitable.” My, how times, or perhaps the cycles, have changed.
In 1517 Martin Luther wrote his famous “95 Theses” and launched the Protestant Reformation. What tipped Luther over the edge was the “selling” of indulgences. The Holy Roman Church had empowered a man by the name of Johann Tetzel to raise money for a new cathedral by “selling” indulgences. A person could buy an indulgence for himself or for a family member or friend that had died. Indulgences, which were granted by the pope, forgave individual sinners not for their sins but for the punishment applied to those sins. The sale of indulgences became very big business. Imagine, sin with no consequences! What a sales pitch that would make! Luther especially objected to a saying attributed to Tetzel, “As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs.”
The church had taught their congregants to be fearful of the eternal results of unpardoned sin. Someone saw in that resident fear a wonderful opportunity to fund an ambitious building program. The pope signed off on the idea and Johann Tetzel was empowered to take the message to the masses. When Tetzel arrived with his scheme in Germany, the already cantankerous Luther saw this for what it was: a heretical money-raising scam—and the revolution was on.
A few weeks ago my wife and I were watching a news magazine program (I don’t remember which one). A couple with two children was being interviewed about the reason for their purchasing “carbon offsets.” I listened intently as the husband explained that they were taking a vacation trip flying from Chicago to London. Being very concerned about their “carbon imprint,” they found out how much carbon would be deposited into the atmosphere by a flight of that distance for a family of four and then they purchased “offsets” from a carbon offset supplier. I later found out that “offset” money goes toward the planting of trees or is invested in alternative energy supply. A growing point of concern is how much of that money actually ends up being used in preserving the environment.
I have a question for the “green” crowd. If you are that concerned about the environment and the “impact” of your activities, then why take the trip at all? Why have a car? Why have air-conditioning? Why take trips on airplanes? Why not stay home and go to one of the great lakes in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Oklahoma or Arkansas? Of course, that won’t happen because that would be inconvenient!
The global warming congregation has finally succeeded in scaring a lot of highly impressionable people. If you cry, “The sky is falling” long enough, some will get on the bandwagon with you, and we have watched that happen. We have watched the Gore momentum rise dramatically in the last couple of years.
I believe we have a responsibility to be good stewards of the world we live in. Is there room for improvement?—absolutely! Am I going to wipe my nose on my sleeve or use one square of toilet tissue per bathroom visit?—absolutely not! Are there charlatans and scam artists riding the “fear” of environmental disaster?—absolutely!
I am not convinced that global warming is “fait accompli.” This is not the first time the earth has warmed only to be followed by a cooling trend or an Ice Age. Let’s be the best stewards we can be of our world. But if the “green” crowd is really going to be “green,” they need to shut up with the rhetoric and start being “green”—and stop buying offsets to release them from the guilt of hypocrisy.
It ain’t easy being green!
- Kermit the Frog -
The world community had to be convinced that something catastrophic was happening before it arrived at where we are today, going “green.” The terrible turn of events, i.e. global warming, was presented as being fatal to mankind’s future, mankind was the primary culprit, and a significant number of people accepted that premise. Now global warming has become a “cause célèbre” with politicians and the media mongers of the entertainment world riding their spurt of “newsworthiness” for all it is worth.
We learn a lot of lessons about the future from the past. I am not yet fully convinced that global warming is as dangerous as is being presented. I believe that we have a neglected responsibility toward the environment and that the present “panic” could bring needed changes and attention. I cannot separate from my mind the cycles of history any more than I can change the cycles of the seasons. Summer is always followed by fall and then winter and then spring and back to summer. Is it possible that we are in a warming trend, a part of a cycle that will soon peak and then the earth will cool again? Does anyone remember that in 1975 Newsweek magazine ran a major article entitled “The Cooling World”? One of the assertions in the article was “the evidence in support of these predictions (of global cooling) has now begun to accumulate so massively that meteorologists are hard pressed to keep up with it.” Also in 1975, the New York Times published an article, “A Major Cooling Widely Considered Inevitable.” My, how times, or perhaps the cycles, have changed.
In 1517 Martin Luther wrote his famous “95 Theses” and launched the Protestant Reformation. What tipped Luther over the edge was the “selling” of indulgences. The Holy Roman Church had empowered a man by the name of Johann Tetzel to raise money for a new cathedral by “selling” indulgences. A person could buy an indulgence for himself or for a family member or friend that had died. Indulgences, which were granted by the pope, forgave individual sinners not for their sins but for the punishment applied to those sins. The sale of indulgences became very big business. Imagine, sin with no consequences! What a sales pitch that would make! Luther especially objected to a saying attributed to Tetzel, “As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs.”
The church had taught their congregants to be fearful of the eternal results of unpardoned sin. Someone saw in that resident fear a wonderful opportunity to fund an ambitious building program. The pope signed off on the idea and Johann Tetzel was empowered to take the message to the masses. When Tetzel arrived with his scheme in Germany, the already cantankerous Luther saw this for what it was: a heretical money-raising scam—and the revolution was on.
A few weeks ago my wife and I were watching a news magazine program (I don’t remember which one). A couple with two children was being interviewed about the reason for their purchasing “carbon offsets.” I listened intently as the husband explained that they were taking a vacation trip flying from Chicago to London. Being very concerned about their “carbon imprint,” they found out how much carbon would be deposited into the atmosphere by a flight of that distance for a family of four and then they purchased “offsets” from a carbon offset supplier. I later found out that “offset” money goes toward the planting of trees or is invested in alternative energy supply. A growing point of concern is how much of that money actually ends up being used in preserving the environment.
I have a question for the “green” crowd. If you are that concerned about the environment and the “impact” of your activities, then why take the trip at all? Why have a car? Why have air-conditioning? Why take trips on airplanes? Why not stay home and go to one of the great lakes in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Oklahoma or Arkansas? Of course, that won’t happen because that would be inconvenient!
The global warming congregation has finally succeeded in scaring a lot of highly impressionable people. If you cry, “The sky is falling” long enough, some will get on the bandwagon with you, and we have watched that happen. We have watched the Gore momentum rise dramatically in the last couple of years.
I believe we have a responsibility to be good stewards of the world we live in. Is there room for improvement?—absolutely! Am I going to wipe my nose on my sleeve or use one square of toilet tissue per bathroom visit?—absolutely not! Are there charlatans and scam artists riding the “fear” of environmental disaster?—absolutely!
I am not convinced that global warming is “fait accompli.” This is not the first time the earth has warmed only to be followed by a cooling trend or an Ice Age. Let’s be the best stewards we can be of our world. But if the “green” crowd is really going to be “green,” they need to shut up with the rhetoric and start being “green”—and stop buying offsets to release them from the guilt of hypocrisy.
It ain’t easy being green!
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