Scientists say Pope Francis is misguided on ‘climate change’ as environmental ‘sin’
Jan Bentz
October 12, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) —
Extract:
Pope Francis calls the destruction of the environment sinful, but is he getting his facts straight on climate change?
Science suggests otherwise.
Even before the publication of his encyclical on the environment Laudato Si, Pope Francis commented on the potentially destructive influence of man on the environment on numerous occasions. But he has taken it one step further, calling destroying the environment a “sin” during his message during the World Day of Prayer for Creation in early September.
One of the central arguments Pope Francis takes up within the debate over the protection of the environment is the idea of “climate change,” in the past simply called “global warming” — a topic pushed by the UN in order to change legislation on an international scale.
“Global warming continues. 2015 was the warmest year on record, and 2016 will likely be warmer still. This is leading to ever more severe droughts, floods, fires, and extreme weather events,” the Pope explained.
But the destruction of the planet is not the Pope’s only worry. He connects climate change to a human dimension, saying “climate change also contributes to the heart-rending refugee crisis. The world’s poor, though least responsible for climate change, are the most vulnerable and already suffering its impact.” Here, climate change becomes a moral issue.
By claiming that the “destruction” of the environment is “sinful,” the Pope emphasizes an “integral ecology” in which “human beings are deeply connected with all of creation.” While the call for the care and stewardship of creation is certainly in the heart of the Christian message from Genesis onward, Pope Francis might not be receiving accurate information — from a purely scientific perspective — and there are questions that his advisers could only be interested in “saving” the planet.
LifeSiteNews spoke with Tomas Sheahen and Hal Doiron, independent scientists involved in climate change research. Both scientists were invited to give their input in a workshop on global warming held by the Heartland Institute on April 28, 2015, in the Vatican, where it was demonstrated that global warming is not a crisis.
In the center of the argument against global warming is, on one hand, a scientific basis of evidence and, on another hand, the fact that “global warming alarmists invariably support population control to reduce human consumption of energy and natural resources. They want to make energy more expensive to discourage its use, even though this punishes the poor, women, and children who benefit most from affordable energy.”
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