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Environmental Serenity Prayer...

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I am hopeful that the environmental movement will soon be able to accept the Alcoholic's Anonymous Serenity Prayer.

"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

The courage to change the things I can,

And the wisdom to know the difference."

The world wide movement, which used to be called global warming and is now called climate change, is very strident, almost radical jihadist, in its tone. The earth is falling around our ears. Almost daily there is a new warning in the national news noting how the North and South Pole are melting, Greenland is almost green again, and the ocean levels are soon to rise. Some of this hype is probably true, but should the message be strident? Should the nations of the world pass C02 limits and other laws that will kill economic growth and paralyze economies?

Take two examples recently that are interesting in the very liberal Newsweek Magazine, which is dropping news in favor of feature articles. They list 25 things everyone should know, starting with the NASA search for life on other planets.

One of the items, number 21 is very interesting, and is entitled "The environment is healthier than ever". I quote: "Activists are reluctant to crow, since climate change remains a huge threat, but over the past three decades America's rivers, lakes and skies have been transformed. Acid-rain levels have dropped 60 percent since the early 1990's; air quality has improved 91 percent since 1980 in terms of lead content. The Hudson River is much, much cleaner than it's been in 100 years,' says Riverkeeper's Philip Musegaas. Greens can be a little less blue."

There you have the first one, so let's apply the third line of the prayer and change the things we can.

Now for the other. Number 14 is entitled "It's too late to stop global warming." The title says it all. Even if China, India, and other developing nations can be induced to reduce economic growth by ending the use of coal as power, the melting ice caps has stores of C02 that are just waiting to be released into the atmosphere. Even if, a very big if, the nations will agree to C02 reductions and then carry out their agreements, which they have failed to do in the past, C02 emissions will grow anyway.

This is where we get to the first part of the Serenity Prayer. God, grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change.

We need the wisdom to know the difference between what we serenely accept and what we try to change with courage. We need the wisdom to know the difference.

For many of us who believe in God and his control of the universe, global warming is not as frightening as it is to non-believers, who seem to place their trust in mankind. Good luck with that. So I pray for serenity and wisdom and courage for myself, and for all climate change believers. We need to do what we can, but we need to be wise, realistic and reasonable about it all. ...dw



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© 2009 The Times Brownsville, Oregon. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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