july 26, 2006
Evangelical Scholars Release Paper Challenging Science, Ethics, of Global Warming Policy
Amid mounting controversy among evangelical Christians over global warming and climate policy, the Interfaith Stewardship Alliance presented “A Call to Truth, Prudence and Protection of the Poor: An Evangelical Response to Global Warming” at the National Press Club Tuesday morning. The paper is a refutation of the Evangelical Climate Initiative’s “Climate Change: An Evangelical Call to Action,” released last February, and a call to climate policies that will “better protect the world’s poor and promote their economic development.”
ISA’s 24-page paper has been endorsed by 130 leaders, including 111 evangelical theologians, pastors, climate scientists, environmental and developmental economists, and others, plus non- evangelical experts on climate change.
The paper presents scientific, economic, ethical, and theological evidence that mandatory carbon-emissions reductions to mitigate global warming would “not only fail to achieve that end but would also have the unintended consequence of serious harm to the world's poor, delaying for decades or generations their rise from poverty and its attendant high rates of disease and premature death, and robbing them of the very tools they need to protect themselves from catastrophes.”
It argues that foreseeable warming will “probably be moderate, within the range of natural variation, and may on balance be more beneficial than harmful to humankind.”
July 25’s presenters were Dr. David R. Legates, climatologist and director of the Center for Climatic Studies at the University of Delaware ( introduced by University of Alabama climatologist and “Call to Truth” co-author Dr. Roy Spencer); Dr. Kenneth Chilton, Director of the Institute for the Study of Economics and the Environment, Lindenwood University, Missouri; Rev. Dr. Jim Tonkowich, President, Institute on Religion and Democracy, Washington, D.C.; Rev. Abdul Karim Sesay, Senior Pastor, Kings and Priests Court International Ministries, Silver Spring, Maryland; and Dr. E. Calvin Beisner, associate professor of social ethics at Knox Theological Seminary, national spokesman of the Interfaith Stewardship Alliance, and “Call to Truth” co-author.
ISA is a coalition of religious leaders, clergy, theologians, scientists, academics, and other policy experts committed to bringing a proper and balanced Biblical view of stewardship to critical issues of environment and economic development.
Through its “Cornwall Network” the coalition works with churches, educational institutions, and other entities worldwide to promote principles of the Cornwall Declaration on Environmental Stewardship.
Tell us what you think: What are your thoughts on global warming? Is it a man-made phenomenon, or is it part of the natural warming and cooling cycles of the earth?
Related articles from CBN News:
Global Warming: Serious Threat or Alarmism?
Dispelling the Myths of Global Warming
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