The perverse skills of climate change deniers

by Charles Rue

In April 2007 Cardinal Renato Martino, President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, held a meeting at the Vatican 'to gather data' on climate change. The 80 invited participants were evenly divided between climate change sceptics and those looking for a credible church response. It was a mixed group of politicians, scientists, Catholic bishops, lobbyists, lay and church agency people, missionaries and leaders of other churches.

It turned out to be an unhappy squabbling event. US based Baptist minister Dr Calvin Beisner interpreted Scripture to say that the world is evil and that burning fossil fuels is a way to purge it. Catholic Archbishop Patrick Kelly and Anglican Bishop James Jones from the UK were aghast at this interpretation.

At the same meeting, former US lobbyist for the tobacco industry Professor Fred Singer made several interventions on the present and future benefits brought by the oil industry. He was supported by US Catholic layman Dr Craig Idso of the Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change, partially funded by Exxon Mobil. Both of them state publicly that they work to influence the energy and agricultural policies of governments.

Beisner, Singer and Idso are part of a cluster of names which keep popping up in the literature of climate change denying scientists and religious leaders. Their primary concern is to attack the proposition that human activity is a major cause of climate change. They work to maintain current fossil fuel based economic systems, and promise that the world will not have to change its patterns of using fossil fuels.

These US sources are often quoted in Australia along with local names like Bill Kininmonth, Bob Carter, Ian Plimer, David Archibald, Don Aitkin and David Evans.

It is crucial to recognise that climate change sceptics have placed themselves outside the normal scientific community. They pile up so called 'evidence' with which to browbeat people.

For example, they misuse temperature trends and conflate readings from different spheres surrounding the earth. They focus on minor contributors to climate change, such as the earth's 100,000-year-long orbit of the sun, or cry 'sun spots'. They deride models of climate change as inaccurate because the models cannot predict short term weather patterns, or are refined as more data is gathered.

But the basic physics of climate change is simple — a rising percentage of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere warms the planet. These percentages have risen during 200 years of industrial expansion and industrial agriculture as humanity has used increasing amounts of fossil fuels.

The Christians among climate change deniers have developed tenuous ties with the teaching of the Christian communion. Concern about climate change was the theme of the Australian Catholic Bishops' Position Paper in 2005. That Cardinal George Pell allows himself to be aligned with climate change deniers is very sad. The credibility of church mission to serve humanity is compromised. What is more, many of the faithful are scandalised and their following of church leaders sorely tested.

Climate sceptics use tried and proven lobbying techniques to propagate distractions. These are designed to confuse people and delay political action. Jesus praised the unjust steward; so also must the perverse skills of climate change deniers be recognised as effective. They have honed their slogans, stayed on target with their message and achieved their desired end — paralysis on urgent action to mitigate the impacts of climate change and to defend carbon intensive industries.

A well orchestrated campaign by the fossil fuel industry has fed denial of climate change. Its PR machine has dozens of lobbyists employed full time even in Australia. The Marshal Institute and Heartland Foundation in the United States are two think tanks used by Australian carbon lobby groups such as the Lavoisier Society.

Magazines like AD2000 pass on the pre-packaged denial messages, often with a semi-religious tone supplied by the US based Acton Institute. An introduction to its website describes it as 'an ecumenical think-tank dedicated to the study of free-market economics informed by religious faith and moral absolutes'.

Climate change denying organisations need to be exposed. Whether from ignorance or malevolence, they are hindering constructive debate and blocking urgent action. Informed public debate is needed on the comparative effectiveness of a direct carbon tax or carbon trading, as well as on the comparative speed with which they can reduce greenhouse gases.

Our Murray-Darling experience of water trading has salutory lessons. Banks and corporations were the major beneficiaries of moving around make-believe water. They hope to do very well by moving around carbon credits.

Making a Catholic Response to Climate Change is opening a new chapter in the Christian story. This will emerge in dialogue with the scientific, business and political communities, and the lived experience of people. It will draw on Catholic teachings about the structures of sin, and compassion for this and future generations.

In this story, humanity will relearn its intimate connection with earth systems and experience God the Creator in new ways. Our positive responses could become an exciting chapter.

Recalling Cardinal Henry Newman's writings on the development of dogma, Cardinal Martino at the end of the Climate Change Meeting in Rome said the 'Gospel is always new and changes as it is applied within historical changes'. Pope Benedict recently returned to his theses on history to ponder on how human history might be entering a new stage. He also called for a re-integration of the theologies of Creation and Redemption.

These calls give urgency to our task of identifying the best sources to help that re-integration. These good sources will not come from the climate change deniers.

Source: Eureka Street