Climate change and embracing complexity (with Dr. Nathan Howell)
b"What is climate change? How should climate issues shape the way we live\\u2013if at all? We\\u2019re back with environmental engineer Dr. Nathan Howell to explore this complex topic.Check out The Concurrently Companion (https://gwnews.com/?attachment_id=6363) for this week's downloadable episode guide including discussion questions and scripture for further study.We would love to hear from you. You can send us a message at newscoach@wng.org (mailto:newscoach@wng.org). What current events or cultural issues are you wrestling through with your kids and teens? Let us know. We want to work through it with you.See more from the News Coach (https://gwnews.com/newscoach/), including episode transcripts.Further Resources:* Listen to our previous episode with Dr. Nathan Howell (https://gwnews.com/concurrently/26-exploring-environmental-stewardship-with-dr-nathan-howell/), where we explore the broader topic of Christian environmental stewardship.* For another deep dive into this complex topic, watch the Gospel Coalition\\u2019s Good Faith Debate, \\u201cHow Should Christians Care About the Environment?\\u201d (https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/video/good-faith-debate-christians-care-environment/)* Below, find follow-up thoughts on climate change from Dr. Howell:On climate change specifically, I wanted to offer a little more information to I hope help give some context on my opinions. One is that I think it helps to know the basics of climate change science as we understand outside of any particular policy concerns. People might feel that climate change is too complex to understand. I think this short report form the Royal Society and the National Academies (https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/25733/climate-change-evidence-and-causes-update-2020) is pretty good at summarizing the evidence for the existence of climate change and all of the common questions and objections that people raise. The short report is free to read.\\xa0All of the questions about climate in the past, sun cycles, volcanoes, seeming irrelevance of CO2, etc. are addressed there.These things answer the question, \\u201cWhy are Christians sometimes skeptical about the existence of climate change?\\u201d(1) Conflation of science and policy - There is a correct concern that acceding to the existence of human-caused climate change suddenly will force you to agree with all of the agenda of the Green Left. This would be to say that all uses of fossil\\xa0fuels are bad, we need to turn over all aspects of energy policy to the federal government, we have to agree to ESG principals in publicly held companies, and we have to start taxing ourselves for carbon pollution. To me, all of these ideas are ways of possibly reducing carbon emissions. But Christians don\\u2019t have to agree with them all. One problem with the Green Left is that they do not fully consider the complexity of their solutions. If you make climate THE thing, then you can end up hurting many people through your policies. If climate becomes the focus rather than the people and their lives who depend on climate, it is easy to turn a blind eye to hardships you create on others. It is also easy to be paternalistic to those who disagree with you. \\u201cWe know better as the climate elites. You should just do what we say.\\u201d\\xa0I really do think it is hard to deny the existence of man-made climate change in light of the evidence. I know that people talk about having doubts. They certainly can have them. It is not wrong to question the evidence.\\xa0But I think that many doubt without actually looking at the evidence."