I might agree with Thomas Friedman in his July 8, New York Times article "Live Bad, Go Green," when he concludes, "The green revolution today is still a hallucination." This summary leaves readers with a gloomy outlook on the current state of affairs.
He says this because there are precious few resources funding legislative change to protect our environment. However, I don't think that we should stop bailing water on our Titanic of a planet just because Congress isn't providing us with a tax break for doing so.
Doing what is right is often not popular and seldom comes with a tax break.
Friedman hits the nail on the head when he writes, "Everyone wants it [solving climate change] to happen, but without pain or sacrifice." Herein lies our big problem. Let's face it, we are having a fantastic time enjoying our over consumptive lives. Even though we all felt pains of guilt after watching Al Gore's "Inconvenient Truth" they only lasted long enough to convince us to conserve fuel by driving the speed limit on the way home and not long enough to remember to carpool to see the sequel.
There is a Biblical principle that I believe works quite well in this situation.
"The spirit is willing, but the body is weak," Jesus said to Peter when he could not stay awake to pray with him. I'm sure Peter wanted to stay awake and pray with Jesus. He was just, well, he was tired. We are stuck in human bodies that need sleep and want to be comforted and fed. I think our minds have great ideas and our spirits carry with them the best of intentions, but it is our resolve that often fails. We have a hard time delaying gratification to prevent something that might be a bigger problem for our grandchildren than for us. However, just because we can't see the negative effects of our lifestyle, it doesn't mean there aren't any.
I don't see any reason to doubt Stephen Schneider, the Stanford University climatologist, when he says, "We're going to triple or quadruple the CO2 in the atmosphere with no policy." We should fight for national policy change and in the meantime continue with practical steps to reduce our impact on the environment. Live by example.
My favorite podcast, Mars Hill Bible Church, is currently doing a series in July called "God is Green". If you are curious as to how this Green Revolution is being taught in church you can subscribe for free to the podcast by searching 'Mars Hill Bible Church' in iTunes or go directly to the Mars Hill Bible Church website and download the messages for free.
Photo:akeg, Creative Commons, Flickr