Holy Rosary Cemetery in Taft, Louisiana.
What’s a new year without retrograde behavior?
Just in time to ring in 2012, on Dec. 30, judges on a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington agreed with some power companies to stop, at least temporarily, the Cross State Air Pollution Rule. This delay could cost Americans a year of cleaner air. It blocks pollution reductions that would save as many as 6,600 lives in 2012 alone, to say nothing of billions of dollars in health protections.
(MORE: Browning: Who Speaks for the Trees?)
The year also closed out with the news that global warming, a problem of world-shattering proportions, didn’t merit much news: an analysis by DailyClimate.org found that media coverage declined 20% from 2010 levels and nearly 42% from 2009’s peak. And the tsunami of GOP presidential hopeful debates brought to shore not one single meaningful (or even absurd) discussion; all the candidates, with the exception of the one candidate who barely seems to be making an effort, Jon Huntsman, have denied the reality of global warming and claimed not to “believe” the science that is measuring its growing impacts. Mitt Romney, who understands perfectly well the science behind climate change, has added that subject to the growing heap labeled: Changed My Mind. Conveniently.
Meanwhile, Rick Santorum, GOP hopeful, rang in a new year by ripping into the Environmental Protection Agency’s new Mercury and Air Toxics Standards; they were 21 years in the making and thoroughly vetted in peer-reviewed studies. Santorum claims that the regulation of mercury was “absolutely ridiculous” and “not based on any kind of science.”
What’s most galling about Santorum’s position is its hypocrisy. This is the candidate who claims to be pro-family and pro-life. Just a week earlier, with true Christmas spirit, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops declared that the new national mercury standard was “an important step forward.” The bishops understand what scientists have proven: “Children, inside and outside the womb, are uniquely vulnerable to environmental hazards and exposure to toxic pollutants in the environment,” said Bishop Blaire, the chair of the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human development of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
(MORE: Browning: Stop Political Pandering on Pollution)
How about a few New Year resolutions to clarify matters?
1. Science is not a matter of belief. That’s what faith is for. And we can’t cherry-pick the science when it suits us. Any educated candidate for president should have a grasp of the basic science of air pollution, the greenhouse effect and humankind’s contribution to it.
2. Faith is not a matter of evidence; that’s what science is for. And we can’t cherry-pick faith when it suits us. Any person of faith who claims to believe in the sanctity of human life as God-given should pay attention when humankind jeopardizes that life. If you’re going to protect fetal rights, then by all means pay attention not only to abortion, but to pollution and other poisonous actions.
Happy New Year, everyone. Back to business as usual.