EVOLUTION
The ongoing debate over Intelligent Design and Global Warming overlooks the obvious.
Intelligent Design is a religious theory and ought to be taught in a religious setting such as church.
Darwinian Evolution is a scientific theory and ought to be taught in science class at school.
The conflict between Intelligent Design and Darwinian Evolution is described in a well-written book by Kenneth R. Miller, ONLY A THEORY - EVOLUTION AND THE BATTLE FOR AMERICA'S SOUL.
Intelligent Design folks in Kansas convinced their school system that Intelligent Design must be taught to school students in addition to evolution based on established scientific principles. This was a strong point of contention that eventually became a celebrated court case, which the Intelligent Design faction lost.
The problem with Intelligent Design and similar faith-based philosophies is that they are dead-ends that disallow scientific advancement. It is so, BECAUSE GOD SAYS IT IS SO, and that's the end of discussion.
GOD is the Creator and is ultimately responsible for your health and diseases, so there is no point doing medical research. GOD is responsible for forest fires, so there is no point in managing forests for fire suppression. GOD chooses how and when you will die, so why bother to build safer automobiles and why drive safely? And so on.
When the answer to every question is "God wills it," then every answer is a non-answer, of no practical use to anyone.
As a Geologist and sometimes Teacher, I have no problem with briefly mentioning Intelligent Design as a competing theory of Evolution. But I teach science, not religion.
When students graduate and look for employment, how successful do you think they will be when the potential employer gets "It is God's Will" as the answer to questions of scientific knowledge pertaining to the applicant's academic training? If a graduate actually gets a job, and the medical research he works on kills thousands of people, or the building he helps construct collapses, will the employer, the public, the professional licensing authority, and the courts, let the disaster pass without comment because "God's Will" caused the problem? No. The religious approach to science is a dead end.
GLOBAL WARMING
The Global Warming debate has a similar blind spot.
Global Warming (Global Cooling, Climate Change, Whatever) theory says that Man's burning of Fossil Fuels such as coal and petroleum is creating an enhanced Greenhouse Effect that is causing the atmosphere to warm. Melting glaciers, rising sea level, disease, drought, famine and myriad other problems are said to be the impending legacy of manmade Global Warming caused by all this fuel burning.
But wait a minute. Carbon-based fossil fuel reserves are finite. Petroleum production is somewhere near its peak right now and will soon decline. Maybe 50 years remain of large-scale petroleum production before declining output effectively eliminates this source of atmospheric Carbon Dioxide. Coal reserves are sufficient for about 400 years at the present rate of consumption, provided that additional large-scale users such as China do not appear. When petroleum and coal become scarce and very expensive the use of these fuels will nearly stop.
World population will decrease also. Population growth during the past century was possible because energy derived from burning petroleum and coal allowed large-scale food production and transportation. When fossil fuel energy reserves are nearly gone, about 100 to 150 years from now, starvation and disease will bring world population back into equilibrium with the new lower-energy environment. There will be far fewer people burning petroleum and coal and less petroleum and coal to burn. The theoretical problem of Global Warming caused by burning carbon-based fossil fuels is a self-limiting condition.
Global Warming (Global Cooling, Climate Change, Whatever) is all about extracting wealth from people and destroying freedom. This will continue, regardless of the degree of burning carbon-based fossil fuels. This is a political and economic scam, not a scientific reality.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Finally, as is true of such scams, man-made Global Warming will fade away as a movement and as a (?) phenomenon. So, what will be next?
Whatever it is, the new Bad Boy must reduce personal freedom, amass money for the perpetrators, and damage the Constitutional and Economic fabric of the nation and world.
I vote for attacking Electricity.
When Earth's natural magnetic field undergoes occasional reversal, there is a time when the magnetic field is essentially zero and our space shield is down, allowing charged particles in the solar wind to penetrate deep into Earth's atmosphere. This condition is damaging to life and has happened many times in Earth's long history.
Radicals can exploit this. They can claim that man-made electromagnetic pollution from electrical generating stations and electrical energy distribution wires is destroying Earth's natural magnetic field and our space safety shield, allowing dangerous solar wind components to hammer and batter and fry life on Earth, and to blow our atmosphere away into deep space.
This sorry situation can be avoided, Radicals will claim, only if Earth's entire electrical system is shut down. No more electrical generating stations. No more electrical transmission power lines. No evil electric motors, electric blankets, television, cellular telephones, car batteries, refrigerators or anything else that is powered by electricity. The United States Congress, European Union, and governments worldwide must pass laws restricting, or preferably eliminating, use of electricity. Natural lightning will be called a Device of Satan. Electricity will be considered Racist.
Of course, if you really need any electrically powered items, you can continue using them if you pay a special electricity tax, buy an expensive yearly license, and donate a large yearly sum of money to your local, national, and international Green organizations.
That is my vote for the Next Great Green Scam. What do you think it will be?
William Jud
William Jud's Column at Magic City
