Quoting directly from a post I made in May:
'I am convinced, as I said on a similar thread 3-4 months ago, with very similar arguments being put forward, that global warming is happening. And that we have a moral imperative to change our lifestyles accordingly.
I am also convinced that many people here do not believe that, and so I’m not trying to start that argument.
HOWEVER
There do seem to be plenty of good reasons to adopt a more environmentally responsible lifestyle, even if you are not convinced by global warming:
- The world’s resources are limited. We are consuming them at a faster rate. The waste that we produce is filling more and more landfills. We save green land from becoming landfill if we reduce the waste we produce. We also make ourselves less dependent on limited resources when we use those resources wisely.
- The increased dependency on cars creates many problems. While not knocking SUV for rural dwellers (my uncle, a farmer, has one, with barbed wire and bailing twine in the back!) far too many urban and suburban dwellers drive them, and far too many urban and suburban dwellers are dependent on cars in the first place:
- increased pedestrians and public transport use makes city streets safer - the best way to beat urban crime is to get people using urban space.
- there has been a marked increase in asthma, particularly among children, directly linked to car fumes in urban areas (and other pollutants).
- fewer people walking and cycling has had an impact on our waistlines and our health - less car use and more walking would improve our health.
- the lack of good public transport impacts most on the most vulnerable, and those who cannot afford a car. Declining public transport increases the gap between the haves and the have nots. If more people used it, it would become more financially viable, and therefore better. Public transport can also be a real community builder and reduce social isolation, particularly for older people.
- a child hit by a SUV in a traffic accident has a much higher chance of fatality/serious injury than a child hit by a smaller car. Also, a particular problem of ‘school run’ SUVs is that it is more difficult for the driver to see smaller children. They’re safer for the kids inside the car, but much more dangerous for the kids outside the car.
- I wonder about what an increasingly ‘throw away society’ says to our children? The idea of using something until it’s done, of making most use of our resources, of not having a new everything, does not help them value other parts of life. Fixing a fridge/television/jumper rather than buying a new one helps the environment AND helps us live lives of Christian simplicity.
Now, surely if we take all that (and there are other arguments - loss of biodiversity for example), and then (again, for the sake of argument) concede there’s a 30/40% that global warming is happening too, surely there is less to be lost, and a great deal to be gained by becoming more eco-friendly? And surely, given the odds, we should at least be trying to change our lifestyles, rather than running the risk of being accused in years to come of fiddling while Rome burns? And surely, even above all that, we have this beautiful, magnificent, breathtaking creation that God has gifted us, and shouldn’t we be looking after it, rather than simply using it up as a commodity?
Can anyone honestly say that, even if global warming is propaganda, decreasing our dependency on cars and fossil fuels isn’t at least a good aspiration?
