Comments on: Global Warming: More Than a Hoax

By: BarryP

BarryP — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 15:58:08 +0000

Michael, why suggest that we are the ones responsible? Government bureaucracy, oil company mismanagement and the continued bureaucratic posturing continues to allow the oil to spill. I'm not going to feel a false guilt as if I am responsible. I am ALL for drilling for oil safely. Let's get back to drilling on land and in shallow waters where spills/leaks like this can be better managed when they occur.

While I never said it was "just" an opportunity for the Gospel, it certainly is an opportunity for the Gospel. There are plenty of things to understand from this: 1) We are to hope in God, not our own selves. 2) A "doomsday" perspective fails to understand that this is an opportunity to be holy. These are things ALSO addressed above.

You mention that the Bible provides a deeper insight… Would you mind sharing your thoughts since I have already done so?

By: Michael

Michael — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 05:03:58 +0000

Your article states: "It was predicted that we would run out of fossil fuels. This spiked an unnecessary fuel crisis." Yes, technically you are correct, a crisis was unnecessary, in a strict legalistic sense. And today, 30 years later, we obtain 30% of our oil from wells deep in the Gulf of Mexico. Yet, simple changes like insulated windows during winter would cut total U.S. energy use by 10%. Neither Obama or BP is responsible, the finger-pointing really should point at ourselves. These photographs tell a much stronger story than I can ever say with words:
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/06/caught_i...

It is fair to ask what role can religion and the Bible play during these man-made disasters? Is this disaster just another opportunity to spread the Gospel, as your article suggests? Or does the Bible provide a deeper insight and guidance into our own actions and relationship with God's creation?

By: BarryP

BarryP — Sun, 30 May 2010 20:22:29 +0000

I agree… the oil spill is catastrophic! It is devastating the marshes of Louisiana. Too bad there is more finger-pointing going on on both sides (oil company and Obama administration).

By: Michael

Michael — Fri, 28 May 2010 16:00:54 +0000

Today on CNN, BP's chief executive Tony Hayward discussing the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, stated "This is clearly an environmental catastrophe, there is no two ways about it."

By: BarryP

BarryP — Sun, 23 May 2010 16:20:22 +0000

Why pay more for our oil by importing it? Why pay countries like Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Mexico who have shown disdain for America? I am not against clean, better and safer technology. Along with those technologies come the demand for infrastructure that we currently do not have. If our cars could be hydro-powered, that would be awesome! However, attempts to do so have been difficult because the infrastructure is simply not in place.

We can drill safely. Especially if we are allowed to do so inland.

By: Michael

Michael — Sun, 23 May 2010 13:35:05 +0000

Why do we have to drill for oil today, right now, immediately? The oil will still be there twenty years from now, when the technology is cleaner, better and safer. Why are we in such a hurry?

By: BarryP

BarryP — Mon, 10 May 2010 01:52:37 +0000

http://alaska.fws.gov/media/unalaska/Oil%20Spill%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf

Is a good article on the varied effects of oil spills. This article shows that oil spills certainly do not compare to the presumed doomsday scenarios suggested by the global warming pundits.

By: Michael

Michael — Fri, 07 May 2010 22:09:23 +0000

Barry authoritatively claims that after a major oil spill, the Gulf will just "bounce back". When was the last time you went scuba diving?

I hope a biologists can provide some realistic comments here.

By: BarryP

BarryP — Fri, 07 May 2010 06:52:48 +0000

I understand what you are saying about worry and taking precautions. That is an entirely different ethical level than what has been discussed in the article. The level of worry demonstrated by the quotes is one that causes our focus to man instead of a confidence in God's sovereignty. The Bible speaks of worry in Matthew in terms of one's life expiring by starvation and exposure. That is on the same level of doomsday theories.

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, while a tragedy, is not at the same level and is not a doomsday situation. Therefore, I view this as a nonsequitor to the argument. It is not the first time a rig toppled and gushed for months. The environment is hardy and will bounce back as it already did in 1980. That oil spill gushed for nearly a year.

By: Michael

Michael — Wed, 05 May 2010 12:20:20 +0000

Barry, I appreciate your article's ABC News "correction". It is a small, but honorable step in the right direction.

Your article concludes that "worry is sin". You say, "We cannot know the future with any degree of certainty. Only God knows the future." I'm wondering if you still feel the same after the ongoing Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The executives of BP and Transocean took numerous precautions, but claimed the accident was inconceivable, even though their deep sea drilling technology is compared to space exploration.

Of course nobody can predict accidents. An accident is unknowable. But shouldn't we worry just a little bit and take better precautions? Is it really such a terrible sin that climate scientists worry about the future? Does God really want us to zoom along, and just not worry about how our actions might affect things?