Editor’s note: This commentary is by Harris Webster, of Montpelier, who is a retired social studies teacher. He is interim chairperson of the Unitarian Church of Montpelier Climate Action Team.
Recently scientists worldwide have pointed out again another way in which climate change is a substantive danger for our world in that our food supplies are being threatened. Thank god for scientists. They are telling truths about climate change and have been telling truths for many decades, but other than a short flurry of media articles and the growing pessimism so many feel about the future, nothing much has happened or is happening as a result of these truths. We will need more than scientific truths to mitigate our environmental challenges, but I do thank these scientists.
Thank god for authentic religious leaders from all the world’s religions and also non-religious spiritual leaders who teach us to worship and practice following nonmaterial gods such as hope, love and treating fellow creatures and even other forms of life as we would like to be treated. No major world religion makes goods into a god, but unfortunately many religious leaders only deal with individual actions to cut down on their carbon footprint, but not for society to do so. There are only a few leaders following in the footsteps of Martin Luther King Jr., starting social movements to demand that institutions must change and not worship economic growth. In the past prophets have condemned false gods as well as praised the true gods. We need current religious leaders to step up to do so again to save our earth. They can do better. Perhaps doing so might reverse the current decline of religion.
I hesitate to thank god for the majority of our present political leaders. It’s true that some, perhaps most, are truly worried about climate change and thus some are calling for a Green New Deal. They note green growth will hopefully reduce carbon emissions down the road, but don’t note it will increase them in the short run. What these politicians really stress these days at the beginning of this next election cycle is that everyone will be benefiting from more jobs and thus more goods produced and consumed. No politician is calling for people to reduce consumption, the quickest way to reduce emissions. Also no politician is inspiring us to thrive with the benefits of valuing love, justice, and other non-material goals replacing the benefits of mammon. Pessimism does need an antidote. I am glad for many politicians recently condemning the false gods of hate, violence and inequality, but I wonder why they don’t see exponential growth resulting in excessive production and consumption of goods as an underlying cause of the climate crisis. At the beginning of World War II politicians did see that we would have to cut the overall consumption of civilian goods to meet the challenges back then. Let them do so again. Political leaders can do better.
I don’t thank god for the beliefs of the mainstream economist that the amoral god of economic growth should be the goal of all societies. I believe they are blinded by the admitted partial successes of the Industrial Revolution. I also believe economists should adopt an ethics based on more than self interest. I would like to see them adopt a true ethic as doctors did a long time ago. How about let’s work to form an economy that causes the least harm to the earth and the least harm to those with the least access to economic goods.
To mitigate the climate change crisis we need scientists, religious and spiritual leaders, political leaders, economists, business leaders and, yes, all of us to be engaged in saving the earth our home.
