The National Association of Evangelicals is considering a federal lobbying effort promoting government action against global warming. Top officials of the group have decided that the Bible mandates responsible stewardship of the Earth, energy use is causing catastrophic global climate change, and therefore the government should be given more power to control energy use in hopes of cooling the planet. Apparently, some red statists think God has endorsed Pigou’s market failure framework.
Rev. Rich Cizik, an NAE official, compares emitting carbon dioxide (a plant fertilizer) to having an abortion. “We’re not adverse to government-mandated prohibitions on behavioral sin such as abortion,” he said. “We try to restrict it. So why, if we’re social tinkering to protect the sanctity of human life, ought we not be for a little tinkering to protect the environment?” [See the full report in the NYT.]