Talk To Action member Carlos has kept a keen eye on the internal politics of the Christian right. See:

The Evangelical Climate Initiative

by Bruce Wilson on Sat Aug 05, 2006 at 01:00:16 PM EST

Bruce, these are some excellent questions.

by Carlos on Sat Aug 05, 2006 at 01:14:19 PM EST

I'm skeptical that Pat Robertson has really changed his mind about global warming.  In the statement you posted above, Robertson hedges a lot and says that "these blistering hot summers" are "making a convert out of him" (implying he isn't one yet) .  He also says "If we are contributing to the destruction of the planet we need to do manage about it", instead of the stronger claim that "we are".  All in all, it is pretty underwelming.

Besides that, this is just one statement.  If the heat from the Religious Right gets too hot for him, Robertson could just "flip-flop," reverse himself and apologize, just like he did with the Ariel Sharon incident.

Interested in what Robertson's network had to say about global warming/climate change, I searched the CBN website for "Global Warming" and "Climate Change".  Most of the articles written by CBN writers are either skeptical of global warming/climate change or give significant space to global warming/climate change skeptics.  A sampling:

• Dispelling the Myths of Global Warming
  
• Global Warming: Serious Threat or Alarmism?
  
• Al Gore Pushes Global Warming Documentary as Fact
  

All the articles on CBN that treat global warming/climate change as reality were written by the AP wireservice:

• Heat Wave Could Mean Global Warming
  
• 16,000 Species Said to Face Extinction
  
• Study: Polar Bears may Turn to Cannibalism
  
• Earth Hottest it's Been in 2,000 Years
  

Pat Robertson's personal site did not have any information about global warming/climate change on it.

Additionally, I did also find two atricles on CBN that might interest Talk2Action members:

• Christian Environmentalists Are Out to Save the Earth.
  
• Environmentalists Seek to Garner Christian Vote
  

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"Free nations do not have weapons of mass destruction." - George W. Bush
by hardindr on Sat Aug 05, 2006 at 05:34:22 PM EST

Global warming has already taken place. The average temperature of the planet is higher than it has been if thousands of years.

There are two separate issues which need to be dealt with.
First, is amelioration. That is we need to start taking steps to limit the amount of damage that climate change is producing. This includes restricting new construction in at-risk regions bordering the oceans. Rebuilding New Orleans which is already below sea level, is a perfect example of what not to do. The residential parts of the city should be rebuilt further inland. The historic parts that attract the tourists should be protected as best as possible. A good transit link between the two regions would make things run smoothly.
Other similar steps include restricting growth in desert areas like the US southwest. These are already using unsustainable levels of water and suffering from frequent droughts.

Second, is prevention. That is, taking steps so that things won't get even worse in the future. Even if the world was able to eliminate all greenhouse gas emissions tomorrow, it would take close to 50 years for atmospheric concentrations to return to pre-industrial levels. Since this isn't going to happen it is clear that any steps which are being considered are going to take decades to become significant, and then further decades for their effects to be felt.

This shows the importance of starting to adapt now. Unfortunately this is not on any politician's agenda. As Reagan famously said "What has posterity ever done for me?" With people worried about their next paycheck how many are willing to invest in projects which will only affect their grandchildren?

-- Policies not Politics
by rdf on Sun Aug 06, 2006 at 03:58:46 PM EST

Nice article, Bruce.  I believe Jefferey Wismer has an article in the pipe about the history of the Christianist stance (since 2000) against the environment, and the green evangelical insurgency.

by Tom Neely on Tue Aug 08, 2006 at 08:58:49 PM EST