Two people who are making a difference - both with Texas connections, but two different types of 'grace'.
1) Grace (@KHayhoe)
An evangelical Christian in West Texas? Tell me something I don't know!
Okay. How about an evangelical Christian climate scientist in West Texas? Now you're talking something special! Like Daniel in the lion's den.
That would be Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, a bright, personable (although I've never met her, but after all, she is Canadian) climate scientist at Texas Tech University in Lubbock. I have enjoyed following her on Twitter (@KHayhoe) for some time now and reading her material. She has a great 'Resources' page.
So what prompts this post about her, and why am I invoking her religion? A recent article in the LA Times 'Spreading the global warming gospel' featured her 'global warming evangelical' work among evangelical Christians and other conservative folks in West Texas and elsewhere.
Here are the first few paragraphs from Neela Banerjee's story:
When Katharine Hayhoe was faced with telling a group of petroleum engineers in the heart of the Texas oil patch that the main culprit for climate change is humanity's consumption of fossil fuels, she expected pushback.
"Aren't you scientists just in this for the money?" one older man asked — the latest insult after a string of anonymous emails asserting that she and other climatologists were corrupt liars.
Most climatologists refuse to answer skeptics, preferring to let the research speak for itself. Hayhoe is one of a small but growing number of scientists willing to engage climate change doubters face to face. Unlike most of her colleagues, she is driven as much by the tenets of her faith as the urgency of the science.
A rising star among climatologists, Hayhoe, the daughter of missionaries, is also an evangelical Christian. Though the science supporting climate change grows ever more compelling, fewer Americans now accept the scientific consensus than they did three years ago. No group is more resistant than political conservatives, especially white evangelical Christians, who often say that climate change is a hoax.
Besides teaching at Texas Tech in Lubbock, conducting research and writing, Hayhoe meets with Christian colleges, church groups, senior citizens, professional associations and just about anyone else to explain that Earth's climate is changing and that human beings are behind it.
It's a great story.
By the way, the second paragraph of the above story was brought home to me when Hayhoe recently Tweeted about a foul email she received from stan.lippmann@gmail.com in which he referred to her as a 'slimey-c**ted Nazi Bitch Whore Climatebecile'. Civilized discourse? Gees! If you are so inclined, send Lippmann an email extolling the virtures of civil discourse.
She is married to Dr. Andrew Farley, an evangelical Christian pastor. He was a convert to her global warming viewpoint.
2) GRACE
I recently discovered Dr. James 'Jay' Famiglietti's Water 50/50 blog. He's whom I call the Guru of GRACE for his pioneering work with the GRACE satellite data.
I know, you thought 'Jay and His Satellites' was a rock band, maybe like Jay & the Americans or Jay & the Techniques?
His latest post deals with the Texas drought, and how praying for rain just won't do the trick.
Famiglietti just doesn't post some pretty graphics, but also poses some questions society must answer. LIke what? Oh, simple things like: Just how much freshwater do we have? Could we have seen this drought coming?
And like yours truly, he's concerned about our pumping of nonrenewable groundwater. It's going to be more of a problem as time goes by.
It is an excellent post; read it.
And I love his last few sentences:
"All it takes is the vision and the commitment on the part of our environmental and elected leadership. What are we waiting for? Please tell me it’s not a rainy day." - Dr. Jay Famiglietti
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