Bob CollinsAs documented here a few years ago, local TV meteorologists historically have been reluctant to take a position on — or even discuss –climate change. Too many viewers were quick to pounce.
Paul Douglas has never been a coward on the subject, however, as he showed again last evening with a single tweet.
It happened after Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., made a remark at a town meeting that God will take care of climate change. A video of the encounter was posted on YouTube and removed today.
“I believe there’s climate change,” Walberg said, according to a video of the exchange obtained by Huffington Post. “I believe there’s been climate change since the beginning of time. I believe there are cycles. Do I think man has some impact? Yeah, of course. Can man change the entire universe? No.”
“Why do I believe that? Well, as a Christian, I believe that there is a creator in God who is much bigger than us. And I’m confident that, if there’s a real problem, he can take care of it.”
Walberg’s comment mirrors that of a legislator in Minnesota who a few years ago dismissed environmental talk by declaring that God would never let natural resources run out.
“God is not capricious. He’s given us a creation that is dynamically stable,” then Rep. Mike Beard told MinnPost in 2011. “We are not going to run out of anything.”
At the time, Beard was drafting legislation to overturn a moratorium on coal-fired power plants.
“It is the height of hubris to think we could [destroy the earth],” Beard said.
The intersection of public policy and religion is always combustible but Douglas has bona fides. He’s a Republican, an evangelical, wrote, “Caring for Creation: the Evangelical’s Guide to Climate Change,” and he’s not afraid of people like Walberg or people in the viewing/reading audience who buy into what Walberg is selling.
God gave us free will: The ability to make wise, inspired decisions – or stupid, short-sighted, greedy choices. And elect idiots to congress https://t.co/oJ5AiJOSgS
— Paul Douglas (@pdouglasweather) June 1, 2017
Douglas also lamented the likely withdrawal of the United States from the Paris climate accord, but said he’s optimistic nonetheless because the falling price of renewable energy makes it a “rare no-brainer.” He also said the younger generation “gets it” and isn’t in denial.
God buried toxic dinosaur juice; put a free, safe fusion reactor overhead. He couldn't have made it any more obvious https://t.co/dOFOvGn0la
— Paul Douglas (@pdouglasweather) May 30, 2017
Bias? I have 2 tech-related companies, and I believe there's a cleaner, cheaper, smarter way to power our economy. And do right by our kids https://t.co/N9bO08OJmX
— Paul Douglas (@pdouglasweather) May 30, 2017
(h/t: Julia Schrenkler)
[Update 3:06 p.m. ] – Douglas reacts to President Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris agreement.
The Resistance just went into overdrive, resistance to a virulent strain of predatory capitalism that puts Polluting Class ahead of our kids https://t.co/OTci26zmKJ
— Paul Douglas (@pdouglasweather) June 1, 2017
