The Pope and global warming

The Guardian has an article telling of the Pope's message that failing to protect the world's ecosystem and halt global warming goes against God's will. This is interesting. Growing up, I was told again and again that we are all called to be stewards of God's creation. The emphasis was not on subduing but rather more on fostering and protecting. It's all a matter of hermeneutics, of interpretation. To a certain extent, we carry with us our desires and values when we evaluate what we should do or where we fit within creation or God's plan, or a god-free world, or whatever. I tend to try to take a pragmatic approach going in, looking at the fact that humans are spreading over the face of the earth, burning, paving, cutting, slaughtering, and generally acting as one big Freudian Id, avarice without bounds. With these observations I cannot support a belief that we are to be dominators, beings driven to "prosper". My observations tend to push me towards profound agreement with those who don't believe in God but do believe that the world is a beautiful and compelling place, needful of protection, at least from the blunderings of people.

Emissions

The Conservatives have come out with a new plan for emissions that have to do with pollution and global warming. It's not agressive, but it's more than the Liberals were doing. The fact that they're doing something will get the Conservatives points. I think, though, that the public wants more than the Conservatives realize. Stéphane Dion, if he wants to be credible, needs to come up with a very very clear plan with real numbers. This is, of course, all posturing. As we all bicker and position ourselves in our minds the world outside our minds, the very real world, goes on. In this real world looms the seemingly very real threat that if we don't do anything significant, crops will fail, glaciers providing drinking water for hundreds of millions of people will be gone, coastal regions will flood, coral reefs ecosystems will die off, crustaceans will have more difficulty making shells, and who knows what else. If even some of this comes to pass, near-term job loss concerns will seem stunningly trivial and stupid to our kids and grand-kids.