Civic Scholar

The UN Scientific Conference of June 1972 raised the issue of climate change for the first time. According to the UN’s website, as the decisions of the conference gained traction, international concern for the climate grew. Now, more than 50 years later, climate change remains a highly contested issue in our society.

The UN defines climate change as the “long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns” that are “primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas” and other human activities. However, some disagree with the assertion that climate change exists or, if it does exist, that humans are responsible for it and can stop it.

Tony Cothron, national security professor for the Helms School of Government, countered the idea of the climate change movement by contending that humans don’t have enough of an understanding of the climate to make such claims.

“The climate of the Earth is an extremely complex problem,” Cothron said. “Despite some claims, there is actually no scientific consensus on climate change and there are no good models that take in all the variables, especially that of solar radiation.”

In reaction to climate change, the American government has taken a “carbon-free” approach and strives to adopt green energy, according to Cothron. The Department of Energy’s official websites declares that it aims to “minimize the environmental impacts of fossil fuels while working towards net-zero emissions.” The DOE’s goal is to have “net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.”

“Energy is the foundation of our civilization,” Cothron said. “It has been forever. The energy density of fossil fuels is only eclipsed by that of nuclear energy.”

The DOE continues to invest in alternative energy sources, such as wind and solar power. Cothron noted that wind and solar power only produces half of the energy America produces now and will not be able to fulfill America’s energy needs in the future.

“There are good things about solar; there are good things about wind. Those are additive to the volume (of energy),” Cothron said. “But seeing them as a replacement for fossil fuel and doing away with all our gasoline powered vehicles in the next 10 years is
not realistic.”

Though carbon emissions come from burning fossil fuels, so do various inventions and innovations. Cothron cited the internal combustion engine, which burns fossil fuels to power vehicles like cars and airplanes, and the impact it has made on society. Inventions like the internal combustion engine have helped grow the standard of living and reduce death rates across the globe.

According to Our World in Data, it was common for millions of people to die annually from natural disasters in the 20th century compared with the tens of thousands that die each year today. Cothron attributed this as an example of the positive effect burning fossil fuels has had. He described how hospitals, helicopters, power and other innovations used to rescue lives from disasters would not be possible without fossil fuels.

“We need to be very wary of people who are trying to get us to do away with fossil fuels when it’s created such an abundance of good things here in our economy, in our life and in our science. Doing away with that without some miraculous new discovery, it just doesn’t make any sense.”

Cothron also explained that the measures being taken for climate change contribute to rising prices of groceries, gas and other essential items.   

“We can’t control the Earth’s climate,” Cothron said. “That is a hubristic and not a godly approach. That’s something beyond our comprehension. … We’ve been given tools and capabilities, and we just ought to continue to strive to manage those efficiently and effectively.”

Bear is the editor-in-chief for the Liberty Champion