A Climate Of Hypocrisy

Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma warns that the US Senate will probably vote to raise prices at the gas pumps even further this week:

“The Senate is debating a global warming bill that will create the largest expansion of the federal government since FDR’s New Deal, complete with a brand new, unelected bureaucracy. The Lieberman-Warner bill (America’s Climate Security Act) represents the largest tax increase in U.S. history and the biggest pork bill ever contemplated with trillions of dollars in giveaways. Well-heeled lobbyists are already plotting how to divide up the federal largesse. The handouts offered by the sponsors of this bill come straight from the pockets of families and workers in the form of lost jobs, higher gas, power and heating bills, and more expensive consumer goods.”

The federal Energy Information Administration says the Lieberman-Warner bill would result in a 9.5% drop in manufacturing output and higher energy costs. A Congressional Budget Office report confirms that: “Most of the cost of meeting a cap on CO2 emissions would be borne by consumers, who would face persistently higher prices for products such as electricity and gasoline. Those price increases would be regressive in that poorer households would bear a larger burden relative to their income than wealthier households.”

The Lieberman-Warner climate bill will also hinder U.S. competitiveness, transferring more American jobs overseas to places where environmental regulations are fewer. The bill also imposes a “green,” tariff-style tax on imported goods that will lead to the higher prices of more consumer products. This is the most massive bureaucratic intrusion into the lives of Americans since the creation of the Internal Revenue Service.

If Lieberman and Warner want to destroy the US economy, put thousands of people out of work, and reduce our standard of living to that of an almost-third-world country, then this legislation will certainly achieve that goal. It will not achieve the goal, however, of reducing global warming by reducing CO2, because that is simply silly. The Earth goes through natural cycles of warming and cooling. One primary cause of this is our sun. The sun goes through cycles of warming and cooling. Why do you think there is global warming on the other planets in our solar system at the same time we experience it here on Earth? Is man-made carbon responsible for the warming on other planets? Obviously not. Just like us, the other planets are affected by the current temperature of the sun. As the sun goes through a cycle of warming, the geological record shows that CO2 increases independent of man.

The Lieberman-Warner bill will not have a detectable impact on our climate. Why are our representatives in Washington so eager to pass this bill? Because they are in the pockets of environmental lobbies run by radical tree-huggers who want your wealth redistributed so that they may continue to practice their pseudo-science on a much grander scale. Our lawmakers want to be able to brag that they did something about global warming even though you will be paying a high price for this nonsense.

Certainly we should seek to use new sources of energy. Our nation’s security rests in becoming independent of foreign energy sources. But I remind you that it is the environmental lobbies that support Lieberman-Warner who have been responsible for litigating our country into dependence. While other nations have developed safe nuclear energy for power, we have been blocked by the environmentalists. While other countries are drilling for oil and natural gas freely, we have been blocked from developing our own resources by the environmentalists. While other nations build dams to control flooding and produce power, we have been blocked by the environmentalists. Oil refineries, coal to oil plants, etc. have all been blocked by the environmentalists.

The global warming scam has also created a new means of getting something for nothing through the trade of so-called carbon credits. The major players in global warming also happen to be major investors in this new business scheme. The Lieberman-Warner bill will mean windfall profits for the participants as you watch your savings shrink. Call your US Senators now and let them know your opposition to this bill before it is too late.

Humility

Humility is a characteristic that is often earned at a very high cost. The more pride you possess; the higher the cost will be. I ought to know because I am one proud individual who has been humbled (not by choice) on more than one occasion. It is truly better to be humble than to be humbled.

James, the brother of Jesus, wrote “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up.” (4:10) Grace produces humility. We cannot learn of the Lord and grow in the Spirit until we have first acquired humility. Puritan preacher Richard Baxter declared, “It is a contradiction to be a true Christian and not humble.”

I have found that bad attitudes, bitterness, and anger are rarely seen in those people with true humility. A godly person seems to be instinctively humble. Peter writes that, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (1Peter 5:5) The foundation of Christian virtue is surely humility. It is as if pure humility can keep us just beyond the reach of sin.

I am certain that the deeper the knowledge of grace we have acquired; the greater the depth of humility produced in the Christian life. I pray that I might live my life in agreement with this observation of Jonathan Edwards: “Pure Christian humility disposes a person to take notice of every thing that is good in others, and to make the best of it, and to diminish their failings.” Lord, let it be so in my life.