You Should Stop Caring About Global Warming

Posted by Joshua White on 04.11.2007

While it still isn't clear whether or not global warming is man-made, I explain to you why you shouldn't care either way.



Not to sound hyperbolic, but it really does seem like every other day we get a headline about how man-made global warming (specifically man-made) is destroying everything that we love about the world. Apparently, we humans have, through our love of ourselves and callous nature towards nature, started the downfall of our planet! I'm waiting for the headline that just puts it simply and honestly: "WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!!!"

The global warming debate is a tough issue for me. Despite what Al Gore would have us believe, there are scientists on both sides of the aisle on the topic. There are those who believe that man-made global warming is not a threat to our society, life, or earth. In the propaganda war that is the global warming debate those who think that man has doomed us all is winning. They are issuing more reports. They grab the media spotlight. And they have made it virtually immoral to even question their conclusions. However, I don't think that the scientists issuing these reports are lying. Why would they risk their reputation? I truly believe that both sides actually believe their science.

But a different and equally interesting question than whether or not global warming is man-made is the question of why we're trying to save the earth in the first place. (Typically, those who are members of Judeo-Christian religions believe that we should take care of the earth because it is not ours. For these people, this discussion won't really concern you, but you can analyze the column for what it is.)

If our generation were to be the last, then global warming would be a non-issue. Who would care about pollution, rising temperatures or any of the consequences thereof if we're the last people to inhabit this planet. The reason that we care about the planet is because we want the world to survive for the future people that will eventually live here. My question is why should we care about the future generations?

Let me ask a rhetorical question:

Would there be anything morally wrong if I decided that I wanted to destroy my 10 year old, beaten up sofa?

I think that it is clear that there is nothing wrong with me destroying this sofa. Even if I did so with hate in my heart the worst that I would be doing is exhibiting a minor character defect. The reason for this is that the couch doesn't have any rights. The couch isn't a moral agent, nor does it feel any pain or happiness. You can do nothing morally right or wrong to the couch itself. Getting it steam cleaned when it is dirty isn't a morally good action, and destroying it because you don't like the fabric isn't morally bad.

I believe that this principle holds for all non-moral agents. That is to say, anything that is an inanimate object has no rights, and anything can be done to it. (However, we cannot take the couch that we hate and drop it on someone. This is not because we can't hurt the couch, but because we can't hurt the person beneath the couch.)

The same is true of corpses. While people might not like the idea of desecrating the body of someone we once loved, I would claim that there is nothing immoral in doing so. They feel no pain, they have no rights. They are not persons any longer. Now, we may not want to do damage the body of a dead person, we may feel revulsion to someone who does so, but there shouldn't be anything wrong with the act. Much like the sofa, you can't do anything immoral to something that is a non-moral being.

Now ask yourself: Are those who live in the future moral agents? Do they have any rights?

Admittedly the first answer that comes to mind is "yes." But why? And how? How can the future generations have any rights when they don't yet exist? Much like those who are long dead (and therefore have no rights) the people that will live don't now have any moral status. You can't hurt them and you can't violate any of their rights.

As the future people of this planet do not now exist, they do not now have any rights. If that is true, then nothing that we do now can violate any of their rights. Even if global warming is man-made (and I'm not saying it is), so what? We are not now doing anything immoral. As China belches non-stop smoke into the air they are not hurting those who will live 100 years from now. They may be affected those living in China now however.

How we act now will definitely affect the world to come. I'm not claiming that the world will not be different if we act life global warming is just a myth. Many things about our planet could very well be unlike it might have been. But I don't necessarily think that is a bad thing either. As I have argued in another column, actions have consequences that affect who is born in the coming years. Different people will live on the planet if we ignore Al Gore. And these people would not have existed had we gone the enviro-wacko route. For these people, the fact that we didn't conserve and that we continued to use coal was a very good thing.

It looks as if we don't have any obligation to end global warming even if it is man-made. Further, even if I'm wrong, and we are destroying our planet, the people who are born should be grateful for our actions (as they wouldn't have existed had we not acted as we did).

Now, I expect to get me some very long emails from Crow and Church telling me how selfish, illogical, and just plain wrong I am. But what I would like more than that is to hear what you, my loyal and gas loving followers, think.

Looking for more to read?

If you would like to read two articles that object to my last column after they completely misunderstand the subtleties that I presented, then I suggest reading Greg Allen's column and Joe Rivett's column. Both have some good things to say about their views of censorship. Neither correctly argue against mine.

What? You want more Joshua White? I'm flattered. Read 411's latest Fact or Fiction where Jason and I agree so much that it damn near made me sick!

Until next time…don't call anyone a "nappy headed ho" and certainly don't believe nothing unless you read it here.