Eco-Tragedy

Interesting article in Salon on the rise of eco-religion. By writers Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger, the article exposes some of the philosophical and theological underpinnings of the ecological movement. Their critique is worth reading with the rise of eco-disaster tomes being published like Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth."

Usually, these sorts of things are criticized in the religious media, but very few critiques seem to find their way into the MSM. This is one of them, and well worth a read.

Of course, with the wisdom of a few miles behind me, I can see some of these alarmist trends in hindsight. I well remember Paul Erlich's "The Population Bomb" from 1968, breathlessly telling us that the world had too many people to sustain life. The population has doubled since then, which may in itself be alarming, but the world has not collapsed into chaos.

On the religious side, there was Hal Lindsay's "The Late, Great Planet Earth" which earnestly predicted the end of the world and the return of Jesus. Many young Christians quit their jobs and eagerly awaited "The End."

I am concerned about the health of the planet, and do my best to live a greener life, from recycling to driving less and using energy efficient bulbs. But I am also concerned with any philosophy that seems to give far too much credit to human beings for momentary blips in the planet's condition.

It was 33 years ago that Time magazine declared that a new Ice Age was beginning, due to planetary cooling. And the trends seemed at least as convincing as today's global warming evangelists.

While concern and vigilance is a must, alarmist panic has never helped anyone.