A Practical Green New Deal

By now we’ve all have heard the bad news. The world is going to end in 12 years because of air pollution. The only way to stop it is to give all our money to AOC, get rid of all internal combustion engines and fossil fuels along with farting cows, all of which put pollutants into the atmosphere. We must stop having children and turn down our thermostats and crawl under the covers – which may exasperate the previous problem!

But let’s be the adults in the room and see if there is a serious answer to this serious question. Let’s assume that prying a couple of trillion dollars out from under the mattresses of all those greedy billionaires turns out to be feasible without causing World War 3. What would be a effective, practical way to use that pile of cash in the most efficient, highest bang-for-the-buck kind of way?

In America, we have already figured out how to do this. We have had a 70% reduction in air pollution over the past few years and it is mostly attributable to the increased use, not of solar panels, windmills and electric cars, but to natural gas – plentiful volumes of gas accessed with fracking technology. And the source of that nasty, kill-the-planet-in-12-years pollution is not even found in America. It is found in China and India primarily. Recognizing the major sources of the pollution problem makes the solution to reducing it almost fall out of the box! Let’s give those trillions of dollars to China and India along with the fracking technology and let them have a go at cleaning up the world’s skies! Not only would we be putting the work into the hands of people who have a tremendous work ethic (compared to the Americans and Europeans) but when they put their mind to doing something, they get it done! They don’t need to stop and change horses in mid-stream as is always the case in America every 4 years.

Already the switch to natural gas has been noticeable in the Beijing skies. Shuttering the coal burning plants in that country has had a major impact on the PM2.5 pollution indexes in Beijing. Expanding their access and usage of the much lower polluting natural gas will have a large effect on the amount of nasty pollutants entering the atmosphere. Everyone on earth will be able to enjoy life considerable beyond that 12-year dismal deadline that we are told will otherwise be our misfortune. And we could even come out of this crisis looking like the good guys that are truly interested in the greater good of all mankind. As an exceeding wise person once said, “They go low, we go high.” Great! Let’s do that for once. We can possibly save the world by being post-hypocritical. Hmm! Sounds like the name for a new, non-political party!

Of Global Warming and the End of the World

The Bible has been credited with being filled with prophesies and fulfillment of prophecies. Sometimes, it seems that people push the prophetic qualities of the scripture a bit too far - the late Harold Camping is a name that would come to mind - and sometimes people just twist things to make them look prophetic. Get prepared for one of those twisting moments here! Really, it seems that the onset of Global Warming, and even its cause, is predicted in the book of Timothy! In I Timothy 1:1-2 it says that "the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot iron..." There it is! The reason for global warming is the heat coming off the hot iron that has seared the consciences of so many people in these latter days!

Did Jesus Tell an Untruth?

Yes, He did! I know it, you know it! And the people that heard him tell it certainly knew it!

Now before your call the theology cops on me, let me explain. In John 2:19, Jesus was in the temple and was very upset with the commercialism that was taking place there. He took matters into His own hands, made up a whip and chased the moneychangers and their flocks and herds out of the hallowed structure. “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market,” He yelled after them as they high-tailed it down the streets. Some of those closest to Him realized that the fire in his eyes and the zeal in His whip had some predicate in the ancient scriptures where it said of the coming prophet, "Zeal for your house will consume me." But those who had allowed this indecent commerce to take place in the temple demanded to know on what authority He stood to take such action. They demanded that He give them a sign. "What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?"

This is where He uttered the sound-bite that would hit the Jerusalem news that evening. "Destroy this temple and I will raise it up in three days," He predicts. Those who heard Him say it rushed to judgement on what He had said. Well, they finally had Him. There was absolutely no way this could happen! Yea, turn some water into wine -- no problem! Heal the sick, raise the dead? Ok, a bit more difficult, but maybe. But rebuild this structure that had taken 46 long years to build? No way! The headlines would read, "Jesus Confirmed to be a Liar!"

That analysis would take root in the hearts of the people. Years later, they would trot this statement out at Jesus' trial as proof that he was a deceiver of men. But you say, "He was talking about raising His body up in three days after His crucifixion! He did do that!" And indeed he did! But the people that heard these words did not know the whole story. They only heard the part that they wanted to hear and never got any deeper than that.

And that is the point I am trying to make in working on this narrative. How many unbelievers are unbelievers because they are cleverly hiding behind some Bible story that, in their mind, is obviously untrue, thereby rendering the entirety of the Bible to be untrue? That was the subterfuge for unbelief that a co-worker of mine was adopting when, in a discussion about creation, he said that he really couldn't believe in a book that says that God created the world in six days. How could that be true when the sun, moon, and stars were not even created until the fourth day. Obviously, having days before the sun was around would have been impossible. So, toss the whole book out.

But when I asked him my little routine about periods of time (See Unappreciated Originations Blog) and showed how Genesis 1 really showed how God created the week, he looked at me quite stunned and said that no one had ever taught him that! I had just destroyed something that had been standing between him and his believing the truth of the Gospel. Genesis 1 might not be a scientific explanation of how the world was created, but it certainly is a wonderful explanation of how the week, which enjoys universal acceptance around the world, was created. The Scribes and Pharisees, who firmly rejected Jesus because of his three day prediction, had to reevaluate their understanding of Jesus after He rose from the grave after three days. In a similar fashion, this young man suddenly had to reevaluate his rejection of the overall truth of the Bible just because he saw Genesis 1 as unscientific and untrue.

OOPS!

I awoke the other morning to the alarm at 5:30. Suddenly it flashed into my mind that I was supposed to be at work at 6:00 o'clock this morning. I had forgotten to set my alarm for 5:15 and now as my feet hit the floor I was already running late. I rushed to get dressed, feed the cat and attend to the other small tasks of getting ready to go to work. I realized that there was no bread in the house so that meant that I would need to stop at Wawa and pick up a sandwich; more time wasted. And since it was so late, I would have no time to eat breakfast, so perhaps I could stop at the Café and get a breakfast sandwich. I barely had time to kiss my wife before running out the door. And just as I was about to close the garage door, I heard her calling, "Ken, it's Sunday!" Never have I felt so happy to listen to my wife! Hahaha!

Of all the things I've ever lost, it's my mind I miss the most!

Galapedia Entry: Synergistic Diversity- The Planetoid

"Diversity! That is how I would begin if trying to explain earth to an alien." Those were the words coming from my glazing companion as he maneuvered the truck down the road toward our first window replacement of the day. "You really can't understand the earth if you don't understand diversity."

We had been talking about my blog where I wrote about getting abducted by aliens who were interested in learning all there was to know about earth. Diversity seemed like a rather unlikely starting point to begin such a discussion. But it proved to be a very rich starting point.

Here is the really, really amazing thing! Somehow, the massive flow of energy streaming from the surface of a gravitationally controlled nuclear explosion, the Sun, has been accumulated and modified so that it eventually became -- ME! Or you, or all the other 7.4 billion people that have ended up at the pinnacle of this energy food chain! How is this miracle possible? No one living on this earth will be able to adequately explain it to these quizzical aliens, but the process could be roughly called Synergistic Diversity. Somehow all the vast diversity of earth works together in a remarkable exercise of joint action and mutual support -- synergy.

Now let me give you a little secret. I dreamt up that term in the middle of the night last night. And after I typed it out on my keyboard I thought that perhaps I should do a Google search of that term and see if anyone else had thought of it previously! To my chagrin and delight, I am not the first person to arrive at this idea! Check out https://www.co-intelligence.org/I-SynDivWhol.html Here was a paper that I would swear was plagiarizing my thoughts if it wasn't that it had been published before me. So maybe I am the plagiarist! But truly, the line of thinking and the term came to me completely independently as I was pondering on how I could possibly explain the earth and earthlings to an alien in a Galapedia entry. So now I am conflicted. Do I continue the exploration of the idea of Synergistic Diversity on my own or do I first research the ideas that others have already compiled. It's like following the muddy tracks though a wet field. Does one follow the existing ruts or make their own? I think I will strike out on my own and see if eventually these diverse lines of reasoning will coalesce.

So, let's start with this massive flow of energy from the sun and try to keep this as simple as possible. I have already written a blog about how the sun came into being. I will not return to that discussion at this point. Suffice it to say that I believe that at the beginning of time, God imparted energy into the fabric of the universe. I have playfully called this the Spongebob Theory since I have pictured it as God squashing a enormous sponge ball down into a tiny speck and then releasing it so that it could begin the cosmic expansion that you and I find ourselves in the midst of. Matter, as we know it, condensed out of this expansion and eventually that matter got pushed together into dense pockets by the surface tension of the sponge. These dense pockets became the stars that dot the universe. As these stars grew and exploded in supernovas, they seeded the universe with all the elements that we have found to be so helpful in making objects like cars and cellphones. The earth was a conglomerate planetoid of these fragments of exploded stars that got sucked together by gravity into an accretion mass. It got captured in a fortuitous orbit around one of those blazing stars and, as such, continues to receive a very steady flow of energy from this giver of all energy, the Sun.

Even though the earth started as a big, conglomerate mass of these diverse star fragments, several things were present that were destined to make it a very dynamic, changing habitation. First of all, it was big enough and hot enough so it could have a liquid core. Floating on top of this inner liquid core were plates of crustal minerals. These so-called tectonic plates were slipping, sliding and colliding with each other. This kept the planets surface in a constant state of change.  In some areas, crustal plated pushed upward over other plates and materials from the inside of the earth were dredged up and deposited in huge crunched up areas like the Himalayan Mountains. Other plates got thrust downward, and spawned volcanoes on their perimeters. This melting, mixing and crunching brought minerals into reach near the surface of the earth that would be especially useful for the much latter inhabitants of these crustal plates.

Another very important aspect of the nature of the things that had accumulated, is that it contained a lot of water. Water was the grand elixir of what made this planet really special. It is a compound unlike any other found on earth. It has had many roles to play in the genesis of this remarkable planet. A lot of that magic is due to its ability to have a phase change from solid to liquid to gas within the normal temperature boundaries found on earth. And even more startling is that it does something very, very unusual when it changes from liquid to solid. It expands! And the solid floats! This expansion capacity is the active force that cracks the rocks apart. The floating ability means that ice floats on top of the liquid water rather than sinking to the bottom of the oceans and causing the entire ocean to solidify. And the vapor form of the liquid allows it to readily move all over the face of the earth in the form of clouds that produce rain when it again condenses.

But the miracle of water's ability to crack and erode the solid crust and to flow through the oceans warming and cooling the world, and to float through the air, watering and blanketing the earth with rain and snow, would come to a halt if it was not for one more fortunate aspect of the earth's geometry. That is the 23-1/3 degree tilt of the earth's axis. This tilt of the axis means that the planet has seasons, and that the snow and ice and water are kept in constant motion, forever sculpting and changing the face of the planet. The equator region does not fry to a crisp and the polar regions do not freeze into oblivion.

One other noteworthy characteristic of this world must also be mentioned. It has an atmosphere! This thin layer of trapped gases, blankets the earth and shields it from destructive solar rays and causes incoming meteors to burn up before crashing into the ground. And it is within this atmosphere that the water vapor moves across the earth. It is critical for maintaining the temperature balance of the earth. And it is super critical for the advent of the next highly exciting event that would occur on this orbiting clump of diversity. The synergistic interactions of the diverse aspects of this remarkable planet set up an environment for the emergence of its crowning achievement -- the support of life!

But I'm going to stop at this point because this is just a blog, not a textbook. It is meant only to get ones mind in gear to consider these fascinating wonders. Much more could and should be said about how the non-living parts of the earth seem to operated in a grand dance of synergy. I will but include one other item that I have noted when looking closely at God's creation that sets it quite apart from any creation that I have ever attempted. When God does something, it displays a kind of grand beauty at any level of magnification. Look at it with the best electron microscope and one will see a microcosm of miniature wonder. Stare at it through the most powerful telescope and one will see grandeur on a colossal scale. There seems to be no granularity to God's workmanship. There are no places or spaces that His handiwork and presence are not available.

Soliciting Entries for Galapedia

The alien fastened his eyes upon me as he adjusted the microphone in front of my mouth. The atmosphere was accommodating - cozy; almost like Tyler Hunsberger's cigar room. It was hard to believe that I was sitting there on some other planet. I had won the lottery of sorts. I had been selected as the only representative from earth that had ever had the opportunity to visit this lovely civilization. Everything about the place made me feel alive and aware; in intimate touch with my mind and feelings. And that was a good thing. Because the aliens words to me made me realize how important it was to be in touch with myself.

"So, Mr. Rutt … that is how you say it, right?" the being, not quite human-like, asked as he settled back in his easy chair. "You probably wonder why we brought you here. You wonder what the purpose is of having been selected for this task. It is always easier to feel comfortable with something when you know the purpose behind it. What we are doing here, is creating entries in our Galactic Almanac that will give a comprehensive understanding of all of the planets in the universe. They will be compiled into our book of knowledge that we call Galapedia. We currently know nothing about this little speck of rock that you inhabit. We discovered it floating mysteriously through space, and determined that we should select one specimen from the entities that live on this planet to be brought here to give us a thorough and comprehensive understanding of what this planet is all about. You were selected quite by random. We hope that it has been a fortunate selection so that henceforth, everyone in the universe will be able to read this Galapedia entry and readily understand what this planet is all about. Do you have a name for this lovely rock?"

"Oh," I said, squirming in my seat, but slowly becoming more comfortable with this strange creature's soft demeanor. "We call it earth. I'm not sure I know everything about it but I will try my best! What would you like to know?"

"Just start wherever you wish," he said giving me an encouraging smile and a wave of his antennae. "What do you think will be the best way for other beings, that know nothing about this place you call earth, to understand your little planet?"

Wow! Talk about challenges. This was going to outrank any I had encountered so far. Where exactly does one start? I sure was glad for that little Babblefish thingy that they had placed into both of my ears. At least communicating thoughts with this guy was not going to be hampered by the language barrier. This little "fish" was able to quickly and accurately translate any language in the universe they had said. So far it was working swimmingly! I had heard about it in the book "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" but had thought of it as just a figment of Douglas Adam's rather prolific imagination. Now it was my lifeline. 

I grabbed for that lifeline now and tried to plug it into the sum total of my life and experience. I closed my eyes, furrowed my brow and searched through my thoughts for a starting point. "Okay," I said after a moment or two of reflection. "I guess to understand the earth you need to start with this..."

Kidnapped by Aliens

Imagine that you have just won the lottery! You have become the only person out of the 7.53 billion people on earth to be given the privilege of being kidnapped aboard an alien spaceship bound for an interview on Planet Vegas. The Vegans on board are treating you royally and have immediately supplied you with a Babblefish in each ear which allows you to flawlessly converse with them. The interview is something these friendly creatures are conducting to put together a document of everything that there is to know about this particular planet, Earth. And it is up to you to fill them in with all this information. They do not expect you to know everything about the earth, but they do expect that what you tell them is going to be accurate and representative of what this planet is all about. You should not be intimidated by them and there is nothing for you to fear. This is simply an information gathering exercise so that they can make an accurate entry in their Galapedia of the Galaxy. There is nothing for you to win or lose.

Where would you begin your discussion? How will you approach the task of explaining all of everything that you understand about your existence? There are no right or wrong answers but be aware that whatever you set forth is forever going to be recorded there, in that Galactic Almanac, so try to be as accurate as possible! The things you say and the impressions you give may effect the future of the Galaxy! Once the beauty of existence on earth becomes widely known across the heavens, we may have everyone deciding to come here to live or at least visit. We may merit an entry in the Spacebnb directory!