Ethics: Global Warming

E. Calvin Beisner is the founder and national spokesman for the Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation, and I wanted to have him on to discuss his recent articles on global warming with us. He is an expert in the area, and I figure he can help answer some of your questions and explain to us just how much we should be concerned about this issue. Keep in mind that there are six interconnected but different questions in this area.

1. Is the temperature of the Earth increasing, and how far will this continue?
2. What are the likely effects of this increase, good and bad?
3. Is there anything humans have done to substantially cause this situation?
4. Is there anything humans can do to substantially alleviate this situation?
5. How do proposed solutions measure ethically against other important considerations, such as size of government, economic liberty, and private property?
6. Are there any known alternatives for the use of resources which will have a better effect on human lives and well-being than efforts to fight global temperature?

How a person answers one will not necessarily tell you how he will answer another. And when people ask whether you believe in global warming, it’s important to clarify which of these questions is being asked. Lots of links below, be sure to visit the petition project.

Links:
We Get It project
Petition Project
E. Calvin Beisner's home page
Global warming and Evangelicals (PDF) by E. Calvin Beisner
Call to Truth (PDF) by E. Calvin Beisner
CornwallAlliance.org (Browse articles on left)
Climate Change: The Deniers by National Post
Copenhagen Consensus home page
Book: Taken by Storm by Christopher Essex, Ross McKitrick
Book: A Question of Balance by William Nordhaus
Book: Climate Confusion by Roy Spencer
Evangelical Climate Initiative by ChristiansandClimate.org
New sermon: Global warming by Christian Science Monitor
Evangelical call to action by ChristiansandClimate.org