As for political systems , is it not true that we have moved away from the old, classical idea of ‘virtue’ -the republican ideal-to one of the market? In many ways, the exapnasion of the market has meant the decline of the public realm-and part of that decline can be seen in the inability to see beyond one’s own private interests.

But I think the most important thing here-andI’m only repaeating what th great jewish philosopher Hans Jonas said, is that our very ‘concept’ of nature is impoverished. We live in a gnostic age and do not see any intrinsic relation between nature and ourselves. In such circumstances, it is questionable why we should care for her future.

I think that the major problem is with our “current” political situation that concentrates on short-term gain. I say “current” with many reservations because I highly doubt there has ever been a political situation that does actually concentrate on long-term goals. I use environmentalism as an example in this post, but the same could be said for education, social programs, or anything else that has tangible short-term costs with ambiguous long-term gains.

Also, the stage of capitalism we’re in doesn’t favour thinking about the future and so i think Brad is on to something here..i.e do we think fo the future per se?

so, either the costs of changing our lifestyles are thought to be too much or we don’t have an accurate idea of future benefits/costs . But for me , irrespective of the scientific evidence, i think one of the key points is that we have-for some time now-thought of nature ONLY as a resource. We , too, have become ‘human capital’.

You are right somewhat about Christians who “fear” science, but I for one believe that science is wonderful tool that we can use to scratch the surface of understaning the universe God created. The developments of science don’t refute, they only further solidify the Truths of the Bible, as far as I can see. The only thing that always bothers me about secular scientists is how they expect Christians to explain it all using the Bible when they still haven’t explained it all with science. We don’t know how God did everything EXACTLY, but neither does science!

PS - No offense taken. =)

Your enthusiasm is admirable, but you have to realize that we’ve only been measuring temperature for a few hundred years, so we have no idea how the planet (or the solar system) goes through cycles on their own. The thought that WE are warming the planet flies in the face of thousands (or hundreds of thousands, who knows?)of volcanic eruptions since we came around the scene. And that’s just one example.

I just don’t think we’re as powerful as you think we are.

PS: That “10-Year Window” article? Doesn’t it logically assume that if we are in fact causing the warming that we can stop it? Then how come at some point we won’t be able to? To me that means we’re NOT causing it.