...I've been watching the progress of climate science for most of my professional life. My first real science job (as a post-undergrad in 1985) was at a climate research institution. Since then, I've seen the scientific case for a warming planet grow inexorably from "maybe" to "yes" — and then to "absolutely."

In other words, the science has been settled for a long time. To make this point, I only need link to statements from the nation's leading scientific organizations (NASA, the National Academies of Science, the American Association for the Advancement of Science).

This should be enough.

To my — and most other scientists' surprise — however, the public discussion on the science has continued to occupy a weird alternate reality.

In this bizarro realm, the answers on human-driven climate change remain stuck in "maybe" or "not at all." The reasons why such a chasm has opened between reality and perception are manifold, and we need not explore them here. For today, we only need recognize that dealing with the science as science is now hopelessly mired in politics and ideology.

It's no longer really about the science — and that is why Pope Francis' encyclical matters.

By taking on climate change, the leader of one of the world's major religions is injecting something into the debate that has mostly been missing: the question of values. Pope Francis appears ready to argue that since the science is long settled, it's now time to turn the discussion about climate change in a much different direction. Now we must ask ourselves what — based on our deepest values — are we obliged to do about it?...

http://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2015/06/16/414927699/why-the-pope-s-stand-on-climate-change-matters

[font face=Serif][font size=5]Evangelical Leaders Join Global Warming Initiative[/font]

By LAURIE GOODSTEIN
Published: February 8, 2006

[font size=3]Despite opposition from some of their colleagues, 86 evangelical Christian leaders have decided to back a major initiative to fight global warming, saying "millions of people could die in this century because of climate change, most of them our poorest global neighbors."

Among signers of the statement, which will be released in Washington on Wednesday, are the presidents of 39 evangelical colleges, leaders of aid groups and churches, like the Salvation Army, and pastors of megachurches, including Rick Warren, author of the best seller "The Purpose-Driven Life."

"For most of us, until recently this has not been treated as a pressing issue or major priority," the statement said. "Indeed, many of us have required considerable convincing before becoming persuaded that climate change is a real problem and that it ought to matter to us as Christians. But now we have seen and heard enough."

The statement calls for federal legislation that would require reductions in carbon dioxide emissions through "cost-effective, market-based mechanisms" — a phrase lifted from a Senate resolution last year and one that could appeal to evangelicals, who tend to be pro-business. The statement, to be announced in Washington, is only the first stage of an "Evangelical Climate Initiative" including television and radio spots in states with influential legislators, informational campaigns in churches, and educational events at Christian colleges.

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