Ecocatastrophes, part 1

Dmitri Medvedev stepped briefly out of Vlad Putin's shadow to make a statement about international environmental protocols that must be implemented or -- GASP! -- "this will have catastrophic consequences."  You couldn't even see his puppetmaster's strings as Medvedev did his eco-dance at the Asia Pacific summit in Singapore, but then we all know Vlad's not going to let his marionette stray far from script.

It's gotten so that you can set your watch by the surfacing of the weekly eco-catastrophe or gymnastics event needed to avert said catastrophe.  The fact that you have 19 nations gathered in one spot, this week has borne bushels lumpy fruit.  The Netherlands wants to impose a per-kilometer tax upon its people to limit driving thereby hoping to limit greenhouse emissions (here).  Great Britain is tinkering with a carbon allowance where if you consume too much carbon, you'll have to pay to get more carbon tokens put on your card (here).  And the biggest threat to the existence of life on our planet, at least in my mind, comes in the form of a dimpled, white orb.  Seems that golf balls, yes, golf balls will bring about man's demise (here).

So it's not terribly shocking to hear a world leader pontificate about how my errant drives could catapult us into oblivion.  "If we don't take joint action, the consequences for the planet may be very distressing to the point that the Arctic and Antarctic ice can melt and change ocean levels," said Dmitri (here).

It's not just Drudge, CNN, and Fox where we get persistently pummeled by this barrage.  Watch movie.  Last night, "The Day After Tomorrow" played for the 10 zillionth time.  Neat special effects.  Some cool storylines.  And enough hot air to resail the Hindenburg.  From kiddie movies (WALL*E...great movie) to not-so-kiddie movies (The Happening...bomb), we're confronted with "look what I did to me" (apologies to my friends whose skin crawls when they hear that phrase).  Even Star Trek IV tossed an enviro-harpoon when the fate of the world hung upon the fact that we'd killed off all the humpback whales.

While many voices toll the doom of our planet, many others chuckle at the antics of global-warming fanatics or they weep over how the prophets of doom and demise have been able to alter our way of living (here).  They can't both be right.  Either we total terra firma with Top Flite and Titleist, or things will go on like they always have (you think the 17th at TPC Sawgrass will fill up?  I'm sure there are pros that hope it will).

Might I suggest an alternative.  It's not really new.  It's been around since the printed word and even before that through the spoken word.  It comes from a voice as welcome in the public sphere as Sarah Palin would be as the keynote speaker for a NARAL convention.  God could turn the tide of an argument as early as the last century.  No, he wouldn't show up, but the testimony of the Bible, His testimony to His creation, would be cited for authority.  Knowing the history, I still don't know why we don't heed him anymore, other than we just don't want to hear what he has to say.

That said, I plan to take the next couple of posts to show a) why we don't need to fear Al Gore and Dmitri Medvedev and their Ouija boards of worldwide environmental disaster and b) why we ought not shrug our shoulders in complacency with regard to our place in this world.  I hope you'll hang with me.