I'm really at odds about the whole debate on global warming. On one hand, I think humans must be having an effect. When you see firsthand the pollution effects at a local level you know that there must be a global response as well. The debate is really in the degree and the uncertainty over how the Earth responds to increased man-caused C02. We obviously do not have the ability to completely model such a huge system with so many inputs and I'm pretty much a believer that we're in the throes of some celestial variances right now as well.

But here's the irony. I had a great discussion last night with an old and dear friend who is moving a bit back towards religion as he ages and approaches old age. His logic is this. You buy a car. You have no intention of crashing it but just in case, you get insurance on the thing. He views Christianity as insurance (loosely of course). His hunch is there's no God or afterlife but just in case the whole judgment day thing turns out to be valid, he'll keep the possibility alive.

What surprises me is the people in this country that rally most against science's fight against global warming (and this isn't directed at any person in particular) are generally the most conservative and more than likely Christian in the sense of buying into the Heaven and Hell thing. My assumption would be that there's that same thinking in them that my friend has, that the whole Bible story seems pretty out there but they'd like to live forever and the rules say they have to play along to get the reward. Of course this is extremely stereotypical but let's just say we do have some fire and brimstone Christians that follow the conservative view that the global warming thing is way overblown. It would seem that on one hand they're building this insurance policy for life eternal but not looking at the scenario where the environmental scientists might just be right. Isn't it the same kind of insurance to at least consider man is contributing to his own demise and do some cursory actions to prevent it?

I'm not an advocate of turning our lives upside down to deal with the potential problem. I'd just like to see us do things that benefit us in many different ways that have as a side effect a lowering of our carbon signatures. It's so strange to me to see this issue be so polarizing. I think it's an easy sell to be uncertain on this. The science has holes but the hunch is pretty compelling. I wouldn't turn to religion to hedge my bets on an afterlife but I'm going to buy a Prius soon and seriously look into putting photovoltaic panels on my roof. If man isn't contributing to global warming in any significant manner what do I lose?

Art