Quote Originally Posted by Trinity View Post
I agree with the ***essment of the Pope about the environmental issue, with his predecessor also. The Church acknowledged the urgency.

Same thing about the abortion. Remember? Any issue cannot be win without the number. I expect that my fellow citizens can do something.

An issue cannot be won without a very large consensus favoring this issue. The war is with the mentality first. By changing the mentality the ballots will express the new mentality. The problem is that there is to much quarrelers and so less workers into the field. In brief, with all the religious scandals, disputes, and foolishness among the believers, everywhere, the credibility of religious people is not very high.



1) Why are we doing a preventive war if the Lord will come anyway (Iraq, Afghanistan)?
2) I am not a member from any of those private organizations. However, I followed the works of a scientific team in the South Pole (live).
3) There is a worldwide consensus on this issue, a consensus from the world scientific community, composed from scientists from all countries.
4) The problem is that we are living in a world with a short vision and with the laziest mentality. We only react when we are in a deep trouble.
5) I think americans should take the reports of the NASA very seriously. This is not Greenpeace.



When people will be sick into a large scale, the wars for the natural resources and the catastrophic weather on each continent, this will take care of our economy.

Anyway, if the Pope is worried by this threat, I am also worried.

Concerning my ap***ude to address all the complexity of many problems and without losing my attention on the essential, and because I do not polarize my mind, I am still a free thinker, even like a catholic.

Trinity
What is great about Benedict's quote you gave earlier is that it is cautious. The urgency from which you are approaching the problem is the impediment. That is why I think "slow is smooth, smooth is fast" holds true. Nobody here is saying we should not use alternative energy, nobody is here saying we should not conserve, nobody is here saying we should not recycle, or any other particular method that makes our environment better. I personally think the best approach would be an adaptation of Dave Ramsey's "debt snowball" applied to the goals of the environmental concern. The problem is that the environmentalists are pouring money into education to try to make people sick of the problem. That is a waste of money and resources. Everyone understands the benefits of cleaner air, cleaner water, and a cleaner environment. It is a waste therefore to funnel money into education where it seems clear most people are already in agreement. If we make a environmental snowball, we are more likely to curb the effects or concern of global warming (even if the science is true or not).

There is one thing to be concerned for the environment and do what one can, there is another to forcefully manipulate people to the point of harming their livelyhood. People that work in plants for 12 hours a day, trying to feed their family, and also not being a leech on the government en***lements don't really care about what they can do for the environment because they haven't the time. If a city government doesn't mandate a recycling program, for whatever the reason... its no fault of that worker. If that worker is driving a junker because it gets him to work on time and it is the cheapest form of transportation due to a blue book value of living within his means... then don't be mad at him and the rest of the everyday folk. There must be realistic expectation from the ground up and not from the top down. Now what about the plants, whose about to go bankrupt? They all produce pollution, are you going to penalize them more and create more unemployment faster? If the alternatives are cheaper as you say, then obviously there is a buck to be made. I just don't see you harping more on the concern of global warming is going to change the market place unless you encourage, stimulate, free up restrictions to make the alternatives cost effective and profitable. As is, it is too costly to get enough solar panels on your roof installed. The cost of buying a new hybrid car to the cheapest new car on the lot is most costly for the average working cl***. The incentive to get them to buy a new car is not there, not now. You expect too much too fast. "Slow is smooth; smooth is fast."

Just remember, for those without God, environmentalism is their savation. We should not put our trust in their religious behavioral concern. Step back, breathe a little bit, rethink if you have too... but God is soveriegn and the world will end and our concern for the environment should be put into its proper perspective. Mainly, short term goals will turn into the longer term objective we seek. Just don't jump on the bandwagon of environmentalism because they believe the world is going to end... believe me... God said it--it will!