A Need To Believe

I was in the middle of reading another hysterical Global Warming article by Sharon Begley in Newsweek when I began to wonder...why does she feel so certain, so sure, that we are all doomed. She assures us with each new effort that the seas will rise and engulf our coastal cities and crops will wither and turn to dust in the coming droughts in the midwest.

I understand that she is a Yale educated science writer and that she surely knows more than I regarding Climatology. But I thought the whole point of science was to question common wisdom. Even I am aware, that according to a recent U.S. Senate report, 400 prominent scientists "voiced significant objections to major aspects of the so-called ‘consensus' on man-made global warming."

I have taken a look at some of the credentials of those who signed the letter. They are an impressive and distinguished group to say the least. Why would Sharon Begley completely ignore these and many other "deniers". It doesn't make any sense until you look at the question from a faith perspective. Let me say that I am an atheist, and I have no problem with anyones belief system, no matter what it may be.

It occurs to me that some on the left side of this issue need to believe in something. They desire passion in their lives. Global Warming fills that void quite neatly. It allows them to fight the good fight, expose the bad guys and also be a little condescending for a good cause. It is the ultimate Liberal Issue. With Global Warming you can enlarge the government because of course we'll need several dozen committees, myriad agencies and legions of inspectors to combat the ultimate evil. It will allow you to tax things you don't like so much, like SUVs and the timber industry. Even better, you can point the finger of blame at corporations. No wonder they ignore any evidence that contradicts The Great Belief.

The next big question that pops in my head is, what happens in 15 years when none of the apocalyptic predictions come to be? I mentioned this to my wife and she answered it quite eloquently. She said, " They'll say it didn't happen because of all of their interventions and efforts". She's right, they'll never admit they were wrong.

That's when I realized that this really was the perfect political issue for the left. They can't lose and they can't be proven wrong. They also get to write hysterical articles about it.
A few links for support:
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2008/01/06/br_r_r_where_did_global_warming_go/

http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Minority.Blogs&ContentRecord_id=f80a6386-802a-23ad-40c8-3c63dc2d02cb