A Thought on Fossil Fuels

I had a random thought this morning, one I thought I might share with all of you concerning an article I read about NASA finding evidence of widespread Antarctic melting. It’s no mystery that many Global Warming deniers are conservative religious folks in the so-called “heartland”. I have no doubt that a significant portion of these individuals also contend that the earth is not billions of years old, but rather a paltry six thousand (or, roughly speaking, at about the same time that Sumerians had invented glue). Since they reject the notion of fossils, I have to wonder why they haven’t seriously objected to the use of the term “fossil fuels” when referring to oil. With all the headlines saying “Fossil Fuels Increasingly blamed for Global Warming”, it must make their blood boil a little. I mean, if the alternative name for oil was “God’s gooey black gift”, I know I’d be peeved every time it would appear in an article somewhere.

Perhaps a few of them believe that fossil fuels are just another test of faith, as is the vast amount of scientific data pointing to global warming. Considering this is the same contingent of folks that look forward to the End of Days hoping it will usher in the resurrection of their Messiah, perhaps there are some that look forward to a dead and lifeless earth. Either prospect is not very encouraging.

Of course, I don’t want to disparage on religious folks and accuse them all of being insensitive to the concerns of nature. There are religious movements that take great care to include a stewardship of nature. These groups obviously recognize that the problem is man-made, and as such requires both our acknowledgement and action. But in any human endeavor, I have little trust in organizations marred with illogical and supernatural explanations of natural phenomenon to spearhead movements that require a sophisticated scientific understanding.