Another Climate Change Rant

A commentary written by Garrett Humbertson appearing in the August 5, 2009 edition of the Cumberland Times-News criticizes the American Clean Energy and Security (ACES) Act as limiting American freedoms and being based on faulty climate science. Sadly, Humbertson's message is both inaccurate and dangerous.

Humbertson claims ACES, also known as the cap-and-trade bill, will increase consumer costs as corporations are forced to invest in capping carbon emissions, passing the bill on to consumers. This, he said, "invade(s) every part of our lives" thus limiting our freedoms. This, however, is part of the economics of the environment. As history has proven, corporations can maximize profit by polluting. It's much cheaper to dump waste into rivers and the sky than it is to clean or limit this waste. The corporation is thus able to spread the economic cost of environmental damage over all of those who live in that environment rather than bearing it themselves. When forced to deal with their waste, corporations inevitably pass the costs on to their consumers.

This is similar to the pollution crackdown of the 1970's after the formation of the Environmental Protection Agency where corporations were held liable for polluting the environment. Companies were forced to pay for clean up and limit pollution. The cost of this then, was passed on to consumers in one way or another. In this case, just like cap-and-trade, it could be said using Humbertson's logic, that the government infringed on a company's freedom to pollute. The government has a responsibility, however, to protect all citizens' freedoms and not just those of corporations and their price-conscious consumers. When a company's freedom to pollute violates a person's freedom to live in a clean environment, the government and law must step in.

Luckily, in the cap-and-trade bill, the government has recognized that the cost of providing cleaner energy initially will be passed on to the consumer and has designated 60 percent of the revenue generated from carbon trade toward lowering consumer energy costs. Regardless, the cost of protecting the environment is one that must be paid at some point. As consumers, we must be responsible for our actions and not expect a free ride when it comes to protecting and preserving the environment for future generations. We can't expect to consume in excess our natural resources without consequence.

Humbertson also claims global climate change is not caused by humans, citing Dr. Arthur Robinson of the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine (OISM). This rather official sounding institute is far from a reliable source on any matter. According to Source Watch, OISM is located on a rural farm in Oregon. The report on climate change Humbertson cited, was written by Robinson in 1998 and mass-mailed to thousands of scientists for their approval. It is said that Robinson made the report look like a National Academy of Sciences report, perhaps to entice recipients to agree with his research. Dr. Arthur Robinson, the founder of the institute, is not a climate scientist, nor are any of the coauthors of this report on climate change, one of whom was Robinson's 22-year-old son.

Robinson, a political conservative, is perhaps more famous though for his research on surviving a nuclear holocaust, claiming "the dangers from nuclear weapons have been distorted and exaggerated." It is obvious that Robinson is not a reliable source whose research is only used by political conservatives trying to dispel human-caused climate change as a myth.

The National Academy of Sciences, however, is one of the most respected scientific institutes in the world and recognizes that it is critical for the world to combat climate change by reducing carbon emissions.

Humbertson also cites the Heritage Foundation and their view that the cap-and-trade legislation would have little impact on CO2 emissions. While the Heritage Foundation is more reputable than OISM, they still are an overtly conservative policy think tank whose primary goal is promote a conservative political agenda and they are not experts on the environment. There is research from more reliable institutions than the Heritage Foundation that claims the cap-and-trade bill will reduce U.S. carbon emissions by more than 83 percent by 2050.

All of this, however, is largely irrelevant when you remove the politics involved in the climate change dispute. Conservatives have generally argued against legislation like the cap-and-trade bill not because they don't believe in global warming but instead because any effort to regulate carbon emissions in the U.S. cuts into the profit margins of some of the largest corporations in this country. They do this by citing junk science like Robinson's report.

When you look at both sides of climate change without politics involved, however, you see that there really is only one logical answer. You can answer this by asking "What happens if I'm wrong?" If you buy into the political conservative argument that global warming is a myth and if you continue to consume in excess without thought for the consequences, what happens if you're wrong and you really are having an adverse effect on the planet? By the time we realize our mistake, it will be too late.

However, what happens if you do take steps to reduce your carbon emissions, pay a little extra now for cheaper and cleaner power in the future, drive less and consume less to offset the price, and in the end you're wrong about global warming? You may or may not have paid a little more out of pocket but the country would no longer be dependent on foreign oil and the environment would be a little cleaner.

One principle worthy of following that sets politics aside is one familiar to campers. Leave no trace. If you are out in the woods camping, you wouldn't leave your trash behind out of respect for campers to come. Why not use this same principal, living lightly on the Earth, in our daily lives? This is not an entirely new concept, in fact many Christians are familiar with this idea.

“The disciples of Jesus are called upon to live lightly on the earth –‘take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not have two tunics’ (Luke 9:1-6).