Friends of Earth

Mark Pillsbury, Editor Cruising World Magazine,

I applaud your efforts to encourage conservation with your new feature "Green Wakes." However I would like to take issue with your introduction of this new effort on two fronts.

First, you bemoan the lack of agreement on whether we have a problem. I assume by this you mean to imply that humans bear responsibility for the increase in global temperatures. There is no scientific consensus supporting that theory. Careful, open-minded investigation reveals that only a tiny minority of the scientists involved in United Nations IPCC climate research believed that human activity is responsible for rising temperatures. Many hundreds of the scientists who participated in the broader research refused to sign the summary report because it indicted human behavior inappropriately.

An elementary historical look at temperature trends in your "endangered" Greenland should make my point. When the Vikings settled there thousands of years ago, they named it Green Land because of its lush vegetation. I seriously doubt that their carbon footprint was responsible for the warm climate. Honest climatologists will report that the earth has been going through cycles of significant temperature change spanning many thousands of years as far back as we can measure. The only people lobbying for drastic changes in human behavior are those duped by disingenuous presentations by the likes of Al Gore, or those who stand to profit from the bandwagon effect such misinformation fosters.

Second, your reference to Mother Earth will be offensive to many of your readers. If you are a follower of the Gaia Hypothesis or some other pagan religion, that is your privilege; you are still free to practice whatever religion you prefer in this country. However, if it is the editorial policy of Cruising World to promote a pagan religion, you will bruise the hearts of many of your readers who remain faithful to the traditional view that earth was created by a Heavenly Father, not evolved by a Mother Earth and ruled by some pagan goddess.

A more inclusive view on your part would be appreciated. Those of us who hold to Biblical truth understand that we humans bear responsibility for maintaining the ecosystems our Father has provided. I am sure that a large percentage of your readers have been taught since childhood that, "The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof," and as such we are called to treat it with respect. Your casual reference to Mother Earth degrades your journalistic integrity by resigning earth's care to pagan sensibilities. If you intend to continue as a secular publication, you should refrain from making religious statements which will alienate a large portion of your readership.

Finally, you are correct to conclude that we must all do our part to conserve and maintain our precious resources. The handle on the ecological system of which climate is a part lies far beyond the reach of any one person or group. Thank you for encouraging your readers to take what initiative they can. Please refrain in future from injecting your misguided scientific opinions and pagan religious views into an otherwise laudable effort.