FORT WORTH, Texas (BP)--Two professors from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary have weighed in on the debate surrounding the U.S. Senate's consideration of cap-and-trade legislation and the United Nations' Dec. 7-18 summit on climate change in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Professors Craig Mitchell and Benjamin Phillips contributed to a document criticizing global warming alarmism. The document, titled "A Renewed Call to Truth, Prudence, and Protection of the Poor," was published by the Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation and released during a Dec. 3 meeting of evangelical scholars at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C.

Mitchell, an assistant professor of ethics at Southwestern and lead author of the theology, worldview and ethics portion of the document, participated in the panel discussion at the Heritage Foundation. He insisted that worldviews inform the alarmists' stance on climate change by determining what data they accept as valid, as well as their interpretation of that data.

According to the worldview of many global warming alarmists, the earth stands in a delicate balance that humans can easily upset, Mitchell said. They often consider humans to be parasites on the earth. On the contrary, the Christian worldview teaches that the earth's climate and ecosystems are "robust."

"God created the earth to support life in general and human life in particular," and God endowed humankind with "authority over this earth," Mitchell said. This "robust creation" is not "some weak, delicate thing that man can destroy, because this earth is going to be here as long as God wants it to be here, not one second less. It is going to serve His purposes."

GLOBAL WARMING, ENERGY & MORALITY

Church-going voters within the United States "are going to unleash disastrous economic forces upon themselves and upon others" if they heed global warming alarmists and support cap-and-trade legislation, said Mitchell, who is currently adding a master's degree in economics to three other master's degrees and a Ph.D. in Christians ethics.

This legislation is an attempt to decrease carbon-based forms of energy, such as coal and natural gas. According to Mitchell, "carbon is the cheapest, most efficient way to produce energy," and the United States has an abundant supply of coal and natural gas, alongside its reservoirs of oil. Some scholars suggest that this supply of fossil fuel could last hundreds of years. While global warming alarmists attempt to decrease the use of carbon-based energy sources, the energy needs in the nation increase on an annual basis.