We are the stewards of planet Earth. Really? Who appointed us? Last time I checked we were subject to all of the same natural laws of this planet that every other species is. Sure, we have thumbs and build some really nifty things like iPhones and XBox 360s. Some of the more talented of humanity create amazing things like music, and paintings and sculpture. Does this elevate us beyond other crtitters scurrying, flying and swimming about? Try as we may we cannot defy the law of gravity. We have to operate within the “rules” established by nature. We are a product of nature. Whether you believe in creation or evolution we breathe air, are subject to gravity and cannot create life from lifelessness.
This being an irrefutable truth we have to accept that we are incapable of producing anything that nature did not intend. Freon, carbon monoxide, internal combustion engines, coal burning, nuclear power plants etc. We do not defy physical laws by creating any of these products. So let that sink in for a moment. Grab a Starbucks half-caff, skinny, venti something or other and wrap your little grey cells around that concept for a minute. What comes next may hurt more.
So, if it isn’t coming from my SUV, where does this pesky global warming come from? In the late 1990s retreating ice in Canada revealed caribou dung, mummified animal remains and tools that had been covered for thousands of years. If you’re interested in reading the paper it can be found here. So what does this mean? It means that thousands of years ago, while humans lived there, there was a completely different climate than the tundra we have known for all of our recorded history. Animals thrived, humans killed and ate them and then eventually the ice came on covered said animals and plants. Something tells me that it had nothing to do with oil, hair spray, air conditioning or refrigerators. In fact if you take the time to ask a geologist about their history of the Earth, you will find that there are global temperature shifts throughout the geologic record. Ice, then no ice, then ice again. The funny thing is that most of those took place without a single human being present, let alone driving SUVs, burning coal or plastering their hair down before the potlatch.
While I’m sure Al Gore has good intentions, or at least a good business plan for tearing up the speaking tour, I can not take his “study” seriously. It is nothing more than a half-baked stab at pseudo science and it only gets attention because many of you are too lazy to crack a book or even a few magazines to learn the truth for yourselves. The truth is that the Earth will do what the Earth has done for millennia, regardless of what car you drive, what treaty you sign or President you vote for.
So I ask you again, are we stewards or merely tenants? I personally believe that we are tenants. I also believe in keeping the house clean, so to speak. I believe in recycling and being as fuel efficient as is affordable. I also believe in controlling pollution. Make no mistake, I do believe that we can screw up our own existence by polluting our water, land and air, but to Mother Earth we haven’t been here long enough warrant her attention. If we ever did catch her ire, she could shrug us off and there’s nothing we could do to stop it.