Climate Change Boogeyman

   My family and I were three of the millions of Texas residents impacted by the February 2021 winter storm. We knew that cold weather and even snow were coming. Rolling blackouts did not surprise me. We have had them before. What was different was the amount of time that the power was off compared to the amount of time that the power was on. My family was fortunate compared to a lot of people. One lady that I talked to at HEB had been four days without power. Some people did not even have water.

    Driving home one night, I heard on the radio New York Governor Cuomo blaming the blackouts on Texas not preparing for climate change. But my understanding is that the “green” energy is what failed us, as the wind turbines froze1 – something that we went to at least partially for concerns about climate change.

    Furthermore, Governor Cuomo and all of these others that think man-made climate change is something that we need to be so concerned about are really going to have a hard time convincing me. I have not looked at all of these climate studies; although I do personally know people that have who do not believe man-made climate change is something that we should be concerned about. But I am a person that has been around for quite a while, has a pretty good memory, and can make some common sense observations.

    First I will make mention of the term “climate change.” They know people will not buy that global warming is a problem when we get snow in San Antonio, Texas. So now they use the term “climate change.” This way, they are covered no matter what the weather.

    Now I would like to share some memories. Growing up in Northwest Missouri, I remember in the early 1970s when 4” of snow was a heavy snowfall. But by the later 1970s, we were getting snows of 8”, 10”, and even 14”.  I remember in 1978 when we tied the record for snowfall in December. But the interesting thing was all but about 1” came on the last day of December when we got about 10”. 

    Then in December, 1983, it got down to -28 degrees Fahrenheit. And it was not even officially winter yet! I went outside with a scarf wrapped around my face and the condensation from my breath froze on my glasses, covering my glasses with ice. I can also remember times when it rained so much that it seemed like it would never stop raining. But then there was a time when it was dry for such a long time that the creek behind our house went dry. So ever since I can remember, weather has happened that does not normally happen. That is why it is called “weather.”

    Again, this is also what the Bible teaches us. Elijah declared to King Ahab “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.” – 1 Kings 17:1 NLT.   That drought lasted about three years.

    Before that, in Genesis, there was a drought in Abraham’s time: “At that time a severe famine struck the land of Canaan, forcing Abram to go down to Egypt, where he lived as a foreigner.” – Genesis 12:10 NLT. Later on you read about Joseph and the seven years of plenty and the seven years of famine: “The next seven years will be a period of great prosperity throughout the land of Egypt.  But afterward there will be seven years of famine so great that all the prosperity will be forgotten in Egypt. Famine will destroy the land.”  - Genesis 41:29-30 NLT. Climate change is nothing new. It has always been changing. We have been living in a cursed world ever since the fall as recorded in Genesis 3. 

    As I have stated before, the amazing thing to me is just how stable the climate actually is. For life as we know it to continue here on earth, we have to get just the right amount of solar radiation for water to exist in all three phases. If you believe in a young earth, you believe that this has continued for a few thousand years, without one solar flare frying the planet.  If you believe the earth is 4.57 billion years old and you are an atheist, you believe that this has continued for about 3 billion years, without a divine being watching over this planet. Really?   

    I find it much easier to believe God’s promise: “As long as the earth remains, there will be planting and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night.” – Genesis 8:22 NLT.

Terry Read

Footnotes:     

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GdO6geg4r4