Now you mention it, I've heard that from other Catholics and "recovering Catholics" as well. I guess I should have chosen Pat Robertson's 700 Club; when I've gone channel surfing and landed on a 700 Club broadcast I've heard them refer to non-Christian religion as "devil worship."
Let's keep an open mind about the global warming issue. It is extreamly complex.
I absolutely agree, but I would much rather err on the side of caution than ignore the now-dominant majority scientific opinion that global warming is a threat.
Think about it this way: engineers design systems with a "safety factor" in mind, meaning they design their system so that when the system is built with components where their performance under load is known, it has additional capacity beyond what their final product is rated for. That way if a few less-than-ideal (or worn by use) components slip in, their product can still be operated safely.
Safety factors vary by quite a bit. A vacuum cleaner motor may be rated at one horsepower but actually deliver slightly less on standard household power, and that's not surprising. No one's ever been killed by an under-powered vacuum cleaner (that I know of).
The maximum load capacity on a truck, on the other hand, usually has substantial safety factor built into it. That way they can be sure the product will be safe if a few components are less-than-perfect or experience wear as the product ages. You can see that safety factor in the small SUV market, in the Ford Explorer, which was a safe vehicle when the tires were properly inflated and loaded within stated limits, but when the tires were under-inflated and the vehicle loaded up with family and luggage, exceeding the safe loading factor by 25% or more sometimes it would roll over and kill people.
The point is that, where life and limb is involved, engineers act more conservatively to make sure their product is operated w
Back to the environment. What we don't know is what our planet's carrying capacity is, but there's increasing concern that we've surpassed our are very close to surpassing the planet's ability to process our carbon output.
Doesn't it make sense to take an engineer's approach, use conservative estimates of what our planet's carbon-carrying capacity is, then add a safety factor before we have a planetary roll-over that kills all or many of the passengers?