Pope condemns climate change prophets of doom

Pope Benedict XVI acknowledged today that some environmental concerns are legitimate and should be addressed but warned that the ideologically driven hasty conclusions propagated by the environmentalist movement is nothing more than "scaremongering".

The German-born Pontiff said that while some concerns may be valid it was vital that the international community based its policies on science rather than the dogma of the environmentalist movement.

His remarks will be made in his annual message for World Peace Day on January 1, but they were released as delegates from all over the world convened on the Indonesian holiday island of Bali for UN climate change talks.

The 80-year-old Pope said the world needed to care for the environment but not to the point where the welfare of animals and plants was given a greater priority than that of mankind.

"Humanity today is rightly concerned about the ecological balance of tomorrow," he said in the message entitled "The Human Family, A Community of Peace".

"It is important for assessments in this regard to be carried out prudently, in dialogue with experts and people of wisdom, uninhibited by ideological pressure to draw hasty conclusions, and above all with the aim of reaching agreement on a model of sustainable development capable of ensuring the well-being of all while respecting environmental balances.

"If the protection of the environment involves costs, they should be justly distributed, taking due account of the different levels of development of various countries and the need for solidarity with future generations.

The Pope's words show his wisdom. Any solutions that are imposed must be based on sound science and not on emotional, ideological rush to conclusions. Computer models may help to explain systems, but they are only as good as the inputs and assumptions used to formulate them. The atmosphere is too complex to model accurately. The measured data does not show that catastrophic warming even exists. Yes the temperatures have been generally trending upward, but catastrophic warming, I think not.

Finally, the evidence is showing more and more that the warming that we have been seeing is caused by the sun's cycles and not by human activity with the temperature having peaked in 1998 at a value lower than that seen in 1934.

Any proposals to address climate issues need to be based on sound science and rational discussion. We cannot use climate issues as an excuse to redistribute wealth and repress societies. The proposals suggested by the global warming crowd are all designed to make the average western guy poor and the poor 3rd world citizen destitute. It is time for the science to be discussed in a legitimate forum, evaluated in total with solutions that benefit all mankind and not just a few elite who stand to benefit by pushing half truths and mis-leading proposals.

BTW - In case you hadn't heard: the polar bear picture (above) was taken of the bears playing in the summer. The caption at the time said that this was the loss of ice in the winter forcing the polar bears to starve to death. Polar bears have been thriving and their population has been growing yet the enviros use these lies to justify laws to raise taxes and remove personal liberties.