This winter, all sorts of records for coldest temperatures have been broken in Europe and on the East Coast and Midwest of the United States. That has led many people to question what’s up with the idea of global warming. I must admit I don’t really understand the concept of the seas rising and the polar bears’ chunks of ice getting smaller. (After all, I didn’t invent the internet.)
What I do know is that the point really shouldn’t be about global warming. The debate over whether global warming is caused by natural cycles or human beings can obscure the issue. The bottom line is that we need to conserve because, well, why would we want to be wasteful, self-centered users? God gave us all a beautiful world to inhabit, and charged us with the responsibility of keeping it beautiful and making it last.
In the last 100 years or so, since the invention of the horseless carriage, more than half of the known fossil fuel reserves in the world have been depleted. These reserves have been around since the beginning of time, and they will be gone soon (some predict 10-15 years) unless we change our habits. That should be reason enough for us to want to conserve, but in case it isn’t, our reduced energy bills will sweeten the deal.