Climate change, scientific evidence

Editor:

Father Gregorio’s blistering attack on Catholics who dare to differ from him on the proper response to climate change makes me very sad.

The document from the Bishops’ Conference, dated 2001, is critical of those who both “minimize or exaggerate the challenges we face,” yet they assume, in the paragraph he quotes from, that the United Nations scientists are correct that human activity is a significant factor in climate change, and that we, individually and as a nation, have a reasonable chance of moderating that change, and therefore should act immediately.

Nearly 10 years after that document was published much has changed, and much has not. Clearly the controversy continues, and scientists continue to debate the real effects of human activity on the climate.

I went to a talk given by the New Jersey climatologist, who showed us slides demonstrating that, yes, there certainly has been, or had been prior to the past decade, a rise in temperatures globally, yet he himself was not convinced that the science pointed to human activity as a significant factor.

What is clear is that many of the solutions being put forward by people of doubtful partiality would be devastating to already fragile economies around the world, putting many people at risk in the present, with no clear advantage to future generations.

If the science ever gets to the point where it is nearly certain that human activity has had a deleterious effect on the climate, it is now clear that there are much less drastic and dangerous ways to deal with excessive global temperatures (see, for example, how the authors of “Super Freakonomics” deal with this very issue).

In the meantime, a Catholic who looks askance at the current crop of proposals for dealing with climate change that would benefit the few and greatly endanger many should not be chastised as being a person devoid of morality and good faith. Certainly there is no disdain of church leadership here, though there may be no little disdain for globalist politicians (always working, it seems, contrary to the principle of subsidiarity), as well as for a certain class of bought and paid for scientists.

I do not question Father Gregorio’s sincerity, morality, or good intentions. I just wish he would remember the wise saying of St. Augustine: in essentials, unity; in non-essentials, freedom; in all things, charity. Agreement on doctrine, including social teaching, is essential, but certainly he must allow that how we deal with climate change, except that it always be guided by concern for all humanity, and especially the poor, is something where freedom may be exercised by Christ’s faithful.

Dwight Johnson

Cherry Hill