Cornwall Alliance

Last updated

The Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation is a conservative Christian public policy group that claims that a free-market approach to care for the environment is sufficient, and is critical of much of the current environmental movement. The Alliance is "engaged in a wide range of antienvironmental activities" [1] and denies man-made global warming. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Originally called the "Interfaith Stewardship Alliance", it was founded in 2005 in reaction to the efforts of evangelical leaders, such as Rick Warren, to fight global warming. The name Cornwall came from the 2000 Cornwall Declaration. The organization's views on the environment have been strongly influenced by the wise use movement of the 1980s and 1990s. It is a member of the Atlas Network and also has ties to The Heritage Foundation. [4]

Cornwall Declaration

In 2000, a statement called the Cornwall Declaration on Environmental Stewardship was put forward and has been signed by over 1,500 clergy, theologians and others according to Cornwall Alliance. Signatories include prominent American religious individuals from the Roman Catholic, Jewish, and Evangelical worlds such as Charles Colson, James Dobson, Rabbi Jacob Neusner, R. C. Sproul, Richard John Neuhaus, and D. James Kennedy. [5]

The declaration states that human beings should be regarded as "producers and stewards" rather than "consumers and polluters". It states:

The Cornwall Declaration further sets forth an articulate and Biblically-grounded set of beliefs and aspirations in which God can be glorified through a world in which "human beings care wisely and humbly for all creatures" and "widespread economic freedom…makes sound ecological stewardship available to ever greater numbers."

The declaration expresses concern over what it calls "unfounded or undue concerns" of environmentalists such as "fears of destructive manmade global warming, overpopulation, and rampant species loss". [6]

Evangelical Declaration on Global Warming

In July 2006, the Cornwall Alliance published an open letter in response to Christian leaders of the Evangelical Climate Initiative who had, in February of the same year, expressed concern over man-made global warming, urging legislators to consider a cap-and-trade system, promoting new technology and reducing carbon emissions from the burning of fossil fuels. Advisory board member Wayne Grudem was quoted in reply saying, "It does not seem likely to me that God would set up the world to work in such a way that human beings would eventually destroy the earth by doing such ordinary and morally good and necessary things as breathing, building a fire to cook or keep warm, burning fuel to travel, or using energy for a refrigerator to preserve food." [7]

The missive was accompanied by "Call to Truth, Prudence and the Protection of the Poor", a paper discussing the theology, science and economics of climate change, denying that dangerous anthropogenic global warming was taking place at all, and describing mandatory emission reduction as a "draconian measure" that would deprive people of cheap energy and hurt the poor. [8] [9] The letter was endorsed by over 170 individuals, including atmospheric physicist Richard Lindzen, palaeontologist Robert M. Carter and former Energy & Environment journal editor Sonja Boehmer-Christiansen. [7]

On December 2, 2009, the Cornwall Alliance issued a statement called "An Evangelical Declaration on Global Warming", in which they declare in list form both "What We Believe" and "What We Deny". The first point from each list is;

We believe Earth and its ecosystems – created by God’s intelligent design and infinite power and sustained by His faithful providence – are robust, resilient, self-regulating, and self-correcting, admirably suited for human flourishing, and displaying His glory. Earth’s climate system is no exception. Recent global warming is one of many natural cycles of warming and cooling in geologic history.
We deny that Earth and its ecosystems are the fragile and unstable products of chance, and particularly that Earth’s climate system is vulnerable to dangerous alteration because of minuscule changes in atmospheric chemistry. Recent warming was neither abnormally large nor abnormally rapid. There is no convincing scientific evidence that human contribution to greenhouse gases is causing dangerous global warming. [10] [11]

Prominent signatories of the declaration include climate scientist Roy Spencer, climatologist David Legates, meteorologist Joseph D'Aleo, television meteorologist James Spann, and Neil Frank, former director of the National Hurricane Center. [12]

According to social scientists Riley Dunlap and Aaron McCright the declaration "was laden with denialist claims and designed to counteract progressive Christians’ efforts to generate support for dealing with climate change". [1]

Along with the "Evangelical Declaration", Cornwall Alliance issued "A Renewed Call to Truth, Prudence, and Protection of the Poor". [13] The executive summary of their document states,

The world is in the grip of an idea: that burning fossil fuels to provide affordable, abundant energy is causing global warming that will be so dangerous that we must stop it by reducing our use of fossil fuels, no matter the cost. Is that idea true? We believe not. We believe that idea – we'll call it "global warming alarmism" – fails the tests of theology, science, and economics.

Criticism

The website Skeptical Science has published criticism [14] of the Cornwall Alliance.

Critics of the Cornwall Alliance have accused the organization of being a "front group for fossil fuel special interests," citing its strong ties to the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow, which in the past was funded by oil industry giants such as Exxon-Mobil and Chevron. [15] [16]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Global Climate Coalition</span> Lobbyist group against reduction of greenhouse gas emissions

The Global Climate Coalition (GCC) (1989–2001) was an international lobbyist group of businesses that opposed action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and engaged in climate change denial, publicly challenging the science behind global warming. The GCC was the largest industry group active in climate policy and the most prominent industry advocate in international climate negotiations. The GCC was involved in opposition to the Kyoto Protocol, and played a role in blocking ratification by the United States. The coalition knew it could not deny the scientific consensus, but sought to sow doubt over the scientific consensus on climate change and create manufactured controversy.

The Leipzig Declaration on Global Climate Change is a statement made in 1995, seeking to refute the fact that there is a scientific consensus on the global warming issue. It was issued in an updated form in 1997 and revised again in 2005, claiming to have been signed by 80 scientists and 25 television news meteorologists while the posting of 33 additional signatories was pending verification that those 33 additional scientists still agreed with the statement. All versions of the declaration, which asserts that there is no scientific consensus about the importance of global warming and opposes the recommendations of the Kyoto Protocol, were penned by Fred Singer's Science and Environmental Policy Project (SEPP).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Information Council for the Environment</span>

The Information Council for the Environment (ICE) was an American climate change denial organization created by the National Coal Association, the Western Fuels Association, and Edison Electrical Institute.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Hansen</span> American physicist (born 1941)

James Edward Hansen is an American adjunct professor directing the Program on Climate Science, Awareness and Solutions of the Earth Institute at Columbia University. He is best known for his research in climatology, his 1988 Congressional testimony on climate change that helped raise broad awareness of global warming, and his advocacy of action to avoid dangerous climate change. In recent years, he has become a climate activist to mitigate the effects of global warming, on a few occasions leading to his arrest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George C. Marshall Institute</span> Former American nonprofit conservative think tank

The George C. Marshall Institute (GMI) was a nonprofit conservative think tank in the United States. It was established in 1984 with a focus on science and public policy issues and had an initial focus in defense policy. Starting in the late 1980s, the institute advocated for views in line with environmental skepticism, most notably climate change denial. The think tank received extensive financial support from the fossil fuel industry.

The "World Scientists' Warning to Humanity" was a document written in 1992 by Henry W. Kendall and signed by about 1,700 leading scientists. Twenty-five years later, in November 2017, 15,364 scientists signed "World Scientists' Warning to Humanity: A Second Notice" written by William J. Ripple and seven co-authors calling for, among other things, human population planning, and drastically diminishing per capita consumption of fossil fuels, meat, and other resources. The second notice has more scientist cosigners and formal supporters than any other journal article ever published.

The Evangelical Climate Initiative (ECI) is a campaign by US-American church leaders and organizations to promote market based mechanisms to mitigate global warming.

Richard Cizik is the president of the New Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good. He was the Vice President for Governmental Affairs of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) and one of the most prominent Evangelical lobbyists in the United States. In his position with the NAE, Cizik's primary responsibilities were setting the organization's policy on issues and lobbying the White House, Congress, and the Supreme Court. Cizik also served as NAE's national spokesman and edited a monthly magazine, NAE Washington Insight. Since 2003, Cizik has been active in a type of environmentalism known as "creation care"; his stance on global warming has drawn both support and criticism from fellow Evangelicals. He serves on the board of advisors of the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions.

Evangelical environmentalism is an environmental movement in which some Evangelical Christian organizations have emphasized biblical mandates concerning humanity's role as steward and subsequent responsibility for the care taking of Creation. While the movement has focused on different environmental issues, it is best known for its focus of addressing climate action from a biblically-grounded theological perspective.

Christian views on environmentalism vary among different Christians and Christian denominations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Climate change denial</span> Denial of the scientific consensus on climate change

Climate change denial is pseudoscientific dismissal or unwarranted doubt that contradicts the scientific consensus on climate change. Those promoting denial commonly use rhetorical tactics to give the appearance of a scientific controversy where there is none. Climate change denial includes doubts to the extent of how much climate change is caused by humans, its effects on nature and human society, and the potential of adaptation to global warming by human actions. To a lesser extent, climate change denial can also be implicit when people accept the science but fail to reconcile it with their belief or action. Several social science studies have analyzed these positions as forms of denialism, pseudoscience, or propaganda.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthony Watts (blogger)</span> American blogger (born 1958)

Willard Anthony Watts is an American blogger who runs Watts Up With That?, a climate change denial blog that opposes the scientific consensus on climate change. A former television meteorologist and current radio meteorologist, he is also founder of the Surface Stations project, a volunteer initiative to document the condition of U.S. weather stations. The Heartland Institute helped fund some of Watts' projects, including publishing a report on the Surface Stations project, and invited him to be a paid speaker at its International Conference on Climate Change from 2008 to 2014.

This is a list of climate change topics.

The climate change policy of the United States has major impacts on global climate change and global climate change mitigation. This is because the United States is the second largest emitter of greenhouse gasses in the world after China, and is among the countries with the highest greenhouse gas emissions per person in the world. In total, the United States has emitted over a trillion metric tons of greenhouse gasses, more than any country in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference</span> Diplomatic summit resulting in the Paris Agreement

The 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP 21 or CMP 11 was held in Paris, France, from 30 November to 12 December 2015. It was the 21st yearly session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 11th session of the Meeting of the Parties (CMP) to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Climate movement</span> Nongovernmental organizations engaged in climate activism

The climate movement is a global social movement focused on pressuring governments and industry to take action addressing the causes and impacts of climate change. Environmental non-profit organizations have engaged in significant climate activism since the late 1980s and early 1990s, as they sought to influence the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Climate activism has become increasingly prominent over time, gaining significant momentum during the 2009 Copenhagen Summit and particularly following the signing of the Paris Agreement in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex Epstein (American writer)</span> American writer and energy policy commentator

Alexander Joseph Epstein is an American author who advocates for the expansion of fossil fuels and who rejects the scientific consensus on climate change. Epstein is the author of The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels (2014) and Fossil Future (2022), in which he argues for the expanded use of fossil fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas.

Ernest Calvin Beisner is an American Christian interdisciplinary scholar and writer in the fields of theology, Christian apologetics, church history, political philosophy, and environmental ethics and stewardship. He is the founder and national spokesman of the Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation.

Laudato si' is the second encyclical of Pope Francis. The encyclical has the subtitle "on care for our common home". In it, the pope critiques consumerism and irresponsible development, laments environmental degradation and global warming, and calls all people of the world to take "swift and unified global action."

The Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative is a civil society campaign to create a treaty to stop fossil fuel exploration and expansion and phase-out existing production in line with the targets of the Paris Climate Agreement, while supporting a just transition to renewable energy.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Riley Dunlap, Aaron M. McCright: Challenging Climate Change. The Denial Countermovement. In: Riley Dunlap, Robert J. Brulle (Eds.): Climate Change and Society. Sociological Perspectives. Report of the American Sociological Association’s Task Force on Sociology and Global Climate Change. Oxford University Press, 2015, 300–332, p. 315.
  2. Dennis Hiebert: Climate Change and Christian Anthropocentrism . Journal of Sociology and Christianity 7, No. 2, 2017, 57-63.
  3. Karin Edvardson Björnberg et al.: ‘Cornwallism’ and Arguments against Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reductions. Environmental Values 2020, doi : 10.3197/096327119X15579936382554
  4. Westervelt, Amy; Dembicki, Geoff (2023-09-12). "Meet the Shadowy Global Network Vilifying Climate Protesters". The New Republic. ISSN   0028-6583 . Retrieved 2023-09-16.
  5. About the Cornwall Alliance, cornwallalliance.org
  6. About the Cornwall Alliance Dominion. Stewardship. Conservation.
  7. 1 2 An Open Letter, cornwallalliance.org
  8. "Launch of 'Call to Truth ...'". The Heritage Foundation. 25 July 2006. Archived from the original on 6 March 2012.
  9. Call to Truth, Prudence and the Protection of the Poor: An Evangelical Response to Global Warming, E. Calvin Beisner, Paul K. Driessen, Ross McKitrick, and Roy W. Spencer, Interfaith Stewardship Alliance, 2006
  10. "Leading Evangelical Scholars Warn That Global Warming Alarmism Will Hurt The Poor (event announcement)". The Heritage Foundation. 3 December 2009. Archived from the original on 13 May 2016.
  11. An Evangelical Declaration on Global Warming, cornwallalliance.org
  12. Prominent Signers of An Evangelical Declaration on Global Warming cornwallalliance.org, May 1, 2009, archived April 12, 2015
  13. A Renewed Call to Truth, Prudence, and Protection of the Poor cornwallalliance.org
  14. Global warming: a battle for evangelical Christian hearts and minds skepticalscience.com, October 2, 2014.
  15. "The oily operators behind the religious climate change disinformation front group, Cornwall Alliance". ThinkProgress. 19 June 2010. Retrieved 2018-02-14.
  16. Hickman, Leo (5 May 2011). "The US Evangelicals who believe environmentalism is a native evil". The Guardian. Retrieved 2018-02-17.

35°2′44.0″N89°41′31.7″W / 35.045556°N 89.692139°W / 35.045556; -89.692139