GOP’s Beard wants more coal plants because God will fix global warming
Wednesday, February 16, 2011 at 4:00 pm
- 40 Comments
Rep. Mike Beard (R-Shakopee) is pushing for more new coal-fired power plants in Minnesota, but the Shakopee Republican is undeterred by reports about the effects of carbon-emitting energy production on global warming. His reason: He believes God will prevent the planet from running out of fossil fuels while also eliminating the harms associated with climate change. While Beard speaks from his religious tradition, many others in Minnesota’s faith communities believe it’s dangerous to wait for divine intervention to solve our environmental problems — and they say it’s the duty of people of faith to preserve the planet for future generations.
In an interview with MinnPost’s Don Shelby on Tuesday, Rep. Beard explained his recent push for new coal-burning power plants in Minnesota.
In the Minnesota House, Beard has taken aim at clean air standards — in particular those that curb carbon dioxide emissions by power plants. He introduced HF72, which would lift the ban on new coal plants, and he also introduced HF509 to repeal the 2007 plan — touted by Gov. Tim Pawlenty — to curb greenhouse gasses and build Minnesota’s renewable energy infrastructure.
“A lot of what Beard knows he learned in church,” wrote Shelby. “One Congressman, talking about global warming, recently said that God wouldn’t allow man to do anything to destroy the planet. Beard told me, ‘It is the height of hubris to think we could.’”
That congressman, Rep. John Shimkus of Illinois, made his remarks before the House Energy and Commerce Committee in November. “The Earth will end only when God declares it’s time to be over,” he said. “Man will not destroy this Earth.”
Rep. Mike Beard
Beard also told Shelby that God would prevent the planet from running out of fossil fuels like coal: “God is not capricious. He’s given us a creation that is dynamically stable. We are not going to run out of anything.”
While the view that humans can have negative impacts on the earth is prominent among some conservative evangelical Christians, it’s not the view of the majority of faith traditions in Minnesota.
It’s certainly not for Chuck Dayton, a retired environmental lawyer who has been following the push for more coal-fired power plants in the state. He says there are no pending applications for coal plants in Minnesota and that specific exemptions exist that already allow for new coal plants in some cases.
He pointed out that coal has become expensive “because of the cost of transportation fuel, and that the cost of natural gas had plummeted.”
“Minnesota does not need new coal-fired power,” he said.
Dayton is co-chair of a new coalition of faith groups in Minnesota called Minnesota Interfaith Power and Light. The group works to educate congregations about how they can reduce carbon dioxide emissions, provide educational opportunities for people of faith on the issue of global warming and contribute a faith-based voice to public policy surrounding climate change issues.
He said that many people of faith view the Genesis commandment of “dominion” as a call to exercise stewardship of the earth. “There are a number of devout evangelicals who believe that it is the command of God to protect the earth, and eminent theologians have identified compassion as the the main common element in all religions.”
“We are already beginning to see the devastation that a warming world can bring to human beings,” he told the Minnesota Independent, citing wildfires in Russia and floods in Pakistan as recent examples of human suffering from a changing climate.
“So the question for congregations in America is, ‘How can we Americans, who are more responsible per person than any nation on earth for the growing burden of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere, sit by while our country does nothing to try to solve the problem?’” he asked.
Of the thought that God will prevent humans from negatively impacting the Earth, as Beard and Shimkus have argued, Dayton is not convinced.
“It’s just plain wrong-headed to think that divine intervention will fix everything,” he said pointing to the six great extinctions thus far in the planet’s history. “One could say, ‘Well, life persisted and got better, ’cause here we are, the pinnacle of creation, so that was all a part of God’s plan.’”
He continued, “But suppose that immense human suffering results from global climate change, that tens of millions and perhaps hundreds of millions of human deaths occur because of it, not to mention the loss of a quarter of all species on the planet?”
“Life will continue, of course, but this is a harm that we have the power to prevent,” he said. “Most religions believe that we have free will. We can sin and we can do bad things to the earth; its our choice and we must suffer the consequences.”
Dayton pointed out that many large Christian denominations have already taken a strong stance on the issue of global warming.
The United Methodist Church said, “We, as stewards, have failed to live into our responsibility to care for creation.” The U.S. Catholic Bishops said that the Church’s “response to global climate change should be a sign of our respect for God’s creation.” The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America said, “We see the despoiling of the environment as nothing less than the degradation of God’s gracious gift of creation.”
The Southern Baptists, Episcopalians, Quakers, Presbyterians, prominent Muslims and many Jewish traditions have spoken of the urgent need to curb greenhouse gasses.
Dayton’s group is part of a national network of Interfaith Power and Light, and last weekend congregations across the country spoke about the issue during their worship services. “Minnesota’s response was very strong with over 30 churches talking about the subject,” he said.
And some religious leaders are even exploring a return to non-violent civil disobedience over the issue as a sense of urgency has been growing.
“By the time the worst disasters begin to appear, the burden [of greenhouse gasses] in the atmosphere is there and will remain,” said Dayton. “We could not then change it by stopping all carbon emissions. So the need is to act now.”
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Comment posted February 16, 2011 @ 4:53 pm
Religion was in charge for over a thousand years. Historians have it labled as “The Dark Ages.”
Comment posted February 16, 2011 @ 5:06 pm
Divine intervention! Why didnt I think of that.
Comment posted February 16, 2011 @ 7:33 pm
There is nothing more satisfying that listening to a real Republican speak his/her mind. We’ve got this one, there is a woman in Missouri who wants to remove restrictions on child labor, they want the right to kill abortion doctors in So. Dakota, the anti big governement Governor of Wisconsin wants to call out the National guard on his citizens…its getting difficult not to notice the craziness that runs rampant through their party.
Comment posted February 16, 2011 @ 8:25 pm
Why don’t they just get on with it and rename the democrat party the Satanic Party.
Seriously.
Comment posted February 16, 2011 @ 9:14 pm
Wasn’t Gawd supposed to elect McCain / Palin in ’08?? He He He He He He He He He He He He He He!!! This Mythical Creature>>> ( Gawd ) will fix ‘Global Warming’ like He fixed the Dinosaurs…. HE DIDN’T!! The Dinosaurs are DEAD!!!! LOL….If Evolution comes true ( which it ALWAYS does ) WE……(the humans ) are NOT far behind the reality of EXTINCTION …
Comment posted February 16, 2011 @ 9:16 pm
The man is simply a genius!! And then we wonder why this country is like it is today. Both Beard and Shimkus should be removed from office due to stupidity and incompetence. It’s great that they have such faith in their god, but the global climate and the scientific observations are already indicating that the destruction of the planet is already well underway. I am glad that they are not in my state, but while they screw up yours, please don’t let them screw up mine. How did these idiots manage to get into office anyway?
Comment posted February 16, 2011 @ 10:00 pm
This story isn’t about Democrats, Dennis. Again, please keep comments relevant to the posts, per our comment policy.
Comment posted February 17, 2011 @ 12:59 am
Why are these idiots so opposed to wind and solar? The same God that provided coal and oil also provides the wind and the sun. Oh, right. They get a lot of money from the coal and oil industries — their God is made of gold.
Comment posted February 17, 2011 @ 2:20 am
“The time has come to destroy those who destroy the earth!” (Good News Translation; Rev 11:18)
This has real meaning with respect to global warming starting in 2010:
The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, the most reputable body of science on the planet, published in 2010 a refereed research paper in their peer-reviewed journal, its title being:
“An adaptability limit to climate change due to heat
stress”
Here’s the title of a report on this reputably peer-reviewed science:
“The Health Effects of Hotter Days and Nights”
“The wet-bulb temperatures we are talking about would have a feels-like, or heat-index, temperature of between 170 to 196 degrees Fahrenheit.”
Finding of the research:
IF the global temperature average increases 7-12 degrees Celsius FROM ANY SET OF CAUSES (possible over the next couple or so centuries), THEN global humidity is driven so high that much of Earth experiences daytime heat-index temperatures during the hot months of almost 200 degrees Fahrenheit, not seen on Earth for tens of million of years. (The research’s map shows the affected areas including most of the Americas and all of Africa and southern Asia including India and much of China.)
Note: Global humidity already increased 4 percent just since 1970.
Life like mammals (including humans) requiring evaporation to survive heat evolved in these areas only after it cooled enough since then. Such life experiences heat distress within minutes and death within a few hours when exposed to such super-high heat indexes.
Heat-indexes moving from 100 to almost 200 degrees Fahrenheit over the next couple or so centuries kills off all such life (and almost all wildlife via food-chain destruction) over much of Earth including potentially billions of humans (Russia will let in all those many billions in southern Asia including India and China?).”
Comment posted February 17, 2011 @ 9:21 am
I am always dumbfounded with the idea that God will save the earth when it comes to Global warming, but Why hasn’t God struck down every single Gay person, and every single person who trys to have an abortion, why hasn’t he stepped in then? and save the fetus?
You can’t have it both ways, God, can’t provide all, and then you play God and try to control.
Free will is only accepted when it suits the pocketbook, and visa versa. This has nothing to do with God, but with trying to make money, and using the God card to have backers back you up.
Comment posted February 17, 2011 @ 9:49 am
Hey this is a great idea. We can just dump our untreated sewage into our lakes and rivers and God will clean it up for us. Never thought of that. Think of he money saved on processing.
Comment posted February 17, 2011 @ 9:58 am
Rep. Mike Beard (R-Shakopee)
I think Mike should report to his office today and immediately fire himself from his position.
If gawd takes care of everything then why is there a need to do anything including building new coal plants?
Comment posted February 17, 2011 @ 10:41 am
Talk about arrogant. Ids this guy some how saying he knows everything that God is going to do? I thought that you were not supposed to tell God what to do, nor expect Him to do something, but rather beseech and implore… praying is not giving orders. Or at least that is what I was taught as a child… this guy is a real piece of work even for a Fundamentalist.
Comment posted February 17, 2011 @ 11:25 am
This article points to a whole raft of problems facing this country, the combination of which is seriously harming our ability to solve problems like climate change:
-mass scientific ignorance
-mass levels of ignorance-enshrining religious superstition
-profound ignorance about the environmental and human health harms of coal and fossil fuel use
-mass media that fails to educate the public about climate change and science
From the article:
“A lot of what Beard knows he learned in church,” wrote Shelby. “One Congressman, talking about global warming, recently said that God wouldn’t allow man to do anything to destroy the planet. Beard told me, ‘It is the height of hubris to think we could.’”
Actually, it’s the height of ignorance and stupidity to take your view, Mr. Beard.
Comment posted February 17, 2011 @ 11:44 am
Marie, I am always dumbfounded with the idea that Man will save the earth when it comes to Global warming, through taxation, no less.
If you leftists want to tythe to the climate goddess be my guest, but don’t ask me to contribute to your bogus religion with my tax money.
Comment posted February 17, 2011 @ 11:45 am
Hey – I gotta call this guy – maybe I can stop wearing my seat belt and be safe with the knowledge that if my car slams into something the forward momentum of my body will be stopped by a Holy Air Bag! Sweet!
Comment posted February 17, 2011 @ 12:51 pm
Christian inquisitors in the 15-17th century would call torture “auto-da-fe” – an “act of faith” that God would not permit them to do anything that was against his will. What we are seeing now is a modern auto-da-fe – the willful destruction of this precious, finite Earth, our only home, with nothing more than faith that God would not allow his creation to become fouled.
It is an act that will cost us all our lives.
Comment posted February 17, 2011 @ 1:02 pm
Dennis, you’re posting from the wrong sockpuppet account. Tim’s supposed to be the one who rants about everything that he’s against being a religious issue.
Comment posted February 17, 2011 @ 3:06 pm
Katie B. I agree with your statement posted @12:51 p.m.
I think the “Code name Dennis” purposefully posts just to stir the pot…best not to feed the gremlin.
Comment posted February 17, 2011 @ 3:50 pm
God will fix Mike Beard long before turning divine attention to global warming.
Comment posted February 17, 2011 @ 3:51 pm
Lets all pollute, lets all destroy the land we live on, it doesn’t matter God will clean it up.
GOP=zero self responsibility.
Comment posted February 17, 2011 @ 4:26 pm
I realize this is futile, but here goes anyway…
Dennis,
Were you aware of information like this?:
“U.S. National Academy of Sciences labels as “settled facts” that “the Earth system is warming and that much of this warming is very likely due to human activities”
Do you think this prestigious scientific body is engaging in some kind of liberal conspiracy? If so, what’s your evidence?
Do you have a disagreement with a specific finding of climate science?
Comment posted February 17, 2011 @ 5:16 pm
Hey Eric? Who pays the salaries at the U.S. National Academy of Sciences? Don’t you think that government “scientists” have a financial incentive to claim that this “dire situation” needs more government spending?
Maybe if the leftist billionaires (Soros et al) funded the global warming/climate change religion from their own pockets they might get some credibility from the non-Kool aid drinkers. Maybe if these “scientists” believed it was such a problem that they’d be willing to work for free, they might attract the attention of the smart people in this society who roll their eyes at another scam being perpetuated against the great unwashed and easily indoctrinated.
Comment posted February 17, 2011 @ 6:40 pm
Dennis
The rest of the world’s scientists that agree are from different levels of politics and are not amongst the “paid” by anyone in the US.
The millions and or Billion plus Christians that agree with it are not all liberal paid by liberals are in any way in cahooots to pull the wool over your eyes.
The small extremely small interest group of fundies that are thinking this is the only group.
Just cause its here, on this screen, in this article and or written by Andy Birkey is the only reason I can really see your constant failure to connect to the articles.
this particular article points out the Christians that do support it. The bible even instructs to take care of the earth.
enough of that.
We need to continue to fight for progressive fuel that makes evolutionary sense. We are in a Technology stage that is showing the face pace of deterioration that the world is taking. We need to lean towards our Scientists harder than ever. Good sustainable resources are the only ways we are going to “save” ourselves in this case. Its a very simple Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day, teach a man to fish and he will eat for life”
Pingback posted February 17, 2011 @ 6:47 pm
[...] retired environmental lawyer Chuck Dayton sees it another way. This from Minyanville.com: He explains that the United Methodist Church said, “We, as stewards, have failed to live into our [...]
Comment posted February 17, 2011 @ 6:58 pm
I’ve presented at The National Academy of Science, though not on climate change. The people who present there are not government employees, period. The only government people involved are conference coordinators. Most all presenters are from academia and/or industry — I was from industry. So, rein it in there D-man. Once again you are ill-informed.
Comment posted February 17, 2011 @ 7:11 pm
Dennis,
You wrote,
“Hey Eric? Who pays the salaries at the U.S. National Academy of Sciences? Don’t you think that government “scientists” have a financial incentive to claim that this “dire situation” needs more government spending?”
This question could be quickly answered by actually understanding the climate change research. You seem to have an antipathy to actually having evidence to back up your claims. I’ll ask again, What in the latest climate change research do you find problematic?
Then, you also wrote,
“Maybe if these “scientists” believed it was such a problem that they’d be willing to work for free, they might attract the attention of the smart people in this society who roll their eyes at another scam being perpetuated against the great unwashed and easily indoctrinated.”
You put scientists in scare quotes, as if to suggest that they are sham scientists, mere political propagandists dressing up their political agenda in the respectable clothing of science.
I have to ask–do you know anything at all about the US National Academy of Science? Do you know anything about how science works? The peer review system?
Are you capable of understanding that it’s a fallacy to conclude that just because you disagree with a policy, it doesn’t follow that that science upon which that policy is based is false?
The thrust of your “argument” is the following: The omnipotent George Soros (and other alleged radicals) are colluding with the world’s scientists to concoct a giant lie to the public for the purpose of advancing socialism. Do I have that right?
If this is even an approximation of your view, it’s sheer insanity.
I’ve also heard this same claim of a vast conspiracy among scientists from other conservatives I know. It’s a dire indication of just how far the conservative movement and our culture in general has sunk into the mire of anti-science and anti-intellectualism. (Not that it had that far to go in the first place…)
Dennis–put your money where your mouth is. Mail a letter to the National Academy of Science detailing your criticisms of climate science research, making sure to include citations of all up-to-date findings and eschewing outdated references. I’m sure they’d love to hear your take on the matter, and should your critique prove sufficient to overturn the work of thousands of scientists worldwide, I might dare that a Nobel Prize would be waiting for you.
Comment posted February 18, 2011 @ 9:00 am
Eric – Please stop stepping on Dennis’s brainpan.
Comment posted February 18, 2011 @ 10:41 am
Dear Charles,
When the teabagger right represents (paraphrasing) “a boot stepping on the human brain forever”, I’ll never stop challenging its questionable claims.
Eric
Comment posted February 18, 2011 @ 11:25 am
Dennis,
Few people can afford to work for free. (Although most scientists are smart enough that they could have made far more money by going into medicine or working on Wall Street – they chose science because they are motivated more by intellectual curiosity than by cash). What does that have to do with the facts of atmospheric chemistry? Do you distrust every expert who is not a volunteer? “Gee, doc, I know you say I should stop smoking, but if you REALLY believed that you’d stop accepting your salary.” “You think we can land a rocket on the moon? A likely story – we all know NASA pays you.” “You’ve found a cure for cancer? Oh, well, your research was government funded, obviously it’s a fraud.” WTF?
Comment posted February 18, 2011 @ 11:48 am
Nascar death threats, breast pump, and bong water headlines, combined with with Rep. Beard’s wisdom, you have now replaced the Onion and the Daily Show as my favorite source for outragious political humor.
Comment posted February 18, 2011 @ 11:52 am
@Erica
Smoking can be used as an example in all of this.
Why would anyone stop smoking, God wouldn’t grow a substance that would poison someone would they?
We can not have free will, and consequences in life and have God intervention at every turn. You can’t proclaim both.
This is one of those cases where the bible is obviously wrong then as well. You can’t use the bible for one thing and then ignore its calls at the same time…..
Psalms 104: 25-30 – There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number— living things both large and small. There the ships go to and fro, and the leviathan, which you formed to frolic there. These all look to you to give them their food at the proper time. When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things. When you hide your face, they are terrified; when you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust. When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth. (NIV)
John 1:3 – Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. (NIV)
Colossians 1:16-17 – For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (NIV)
Nehemiah 9:6 – You alone are the LORD. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you. (NIV)
Every Creature, Everything, is Part of God’s Creation
Psalm 96:10-13 – Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns.” The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity. Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it; let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy; they will sing before the LORD, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his truth. (NIV)
Isaiah 43:20-21 – The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen, the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise. (NIV)
Job 37:14-18 – Listen to this, Job; stop and consider God’s wonders. Do you know how God controls the clouds and makes his lightning flash? Do you know how the clouds hang poised, those wonders of him who is perfect in knowledge? You who swelter in your clothes when the land lies hushed under the south wind,can you join him in spreading out the skies, hard as a mirror of cast bronze? (NIV)
Matthew 6:26 – Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? (NIV)
How God Uses the Earth to Teach Us
Job 12:7-10 – But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds of the air, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish of the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this? In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind. (NIV)
Romans 1:19-20 – since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. (NIV)
Isaiah 11:9 – They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. (NIV)
God Asks Us to Take Care of His Creation
Genesis 1:26 – Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’ (NIV)
Leviticus 25:23-24 – The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants. Throughout the country that you hold as a possession, you must provide for the redemption of the land. (NIV)
Ezekial 34:2-4 – Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. (NIV)
Isaiah 24:4-6 – The earth dries up and withers, the world languishes and withers, the exalted of the earth languish. The earth is defiled by its people; they have disobeyed the laws, violated the statutes and broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore a curse consumes the earth; its people must bear their guilt. Therefore earth’s inhabitants are burned up, and very few are left. (NIV)
Jeremiah 2:7 – I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and rich produce. But you came and defiled my land and made my inheritance detestable. (NIV)
Revelation 11:18 – The nations were angry; and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your saints and those who reverence your name, both small and great — and for destroying those who destroy the earth. (NIV)
Suggested Reading
Comment posted February 18, 2011 @ 2:41 pm
Uh, Dennis, it appears you don’t even understand what the National Academy of Sciences are? The scientists that contribute to Academy reports DO “work for free” for the NAS.
The Academies are made up of nominated and elected researchers. They volunteer their time preparing reports requested by the government to provide technical and scientific background for policy discussions occurring in the government.
Not all Academy members are “government employees.” As you so derisively dismiss them. In addition to those that work for public research institutions, many of them come from private universities, some even come from industry.
Comment posted February 19, 2011 @ 9:44 am
Mr Beard needs to familiarize himself with the 10 Commandments, particularly those dealing with cavalierly invoking GOD’s name! This guy has the makings of another hero to the Know-Nothing wing of the GOP.
“You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.”
Comment posted February 19, 2011 @ 8:43 pm
Rev Greg Trask…great post, is there anyway that would apply to crazy pants Michele Bachmann or Glen Beck as well :)
Pingback posted February 20, 2011 @ 3:38 pm
[...] House of Representative member Mike Beard thinks God will provide unlimited natural resources and prevent global warming from destroying the planet. All this to lift the carbon emission curbs [...]
Comment posted February 22, 2011 @ 4:55 pm
I think we all understand that God is actually the Koch brothers who are trying to buy up the utilities in Wisconsin. The plan is for God to leave Wisconsin and head for Minnesota and all points in between
Comment posted February 23, 2011 @ 3:11 pm
Global Warming is a religion. It started out as a weak but plausible scientific theory but now it’s responsible for rain and drought and hotter weather and colder weather and floods and snow and lack of slow and the death of the polar bear and the next ice age… and anything else you’re afraid of.
Al Gore, a failed divinity student who couldn’t even run a restaurant, has made over a hundred million dollars from the scam.
Pingback posted February 25, 2011 @ 8:46 am
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