Is the mystery unravelling? I have long wondered why our federal government doesn't unduly concern itself with global warming, the greatest threat facing our species. Finally we have a clue. We have a science minister who as much as admits he doesn't believe in evolution. Gary Goodyear, Minster of State for Science and Technology, apparently thinks evolution is a religious matter, not a scientific one, and doesn't care to talk about it.
This certainly explains why the Harper government shows little interest in basic science. Goodyear doesn't agree, of course, saying he is "passionate" about his portfolio and insists that because he experimented with automobile engines in high school, he's "been there on this discovery stuff."
Christian fundamentalists such as Goodyear tend to have trouble with facts about our universe, evolution first among them. If he has trouble with a pillar of science like evolution, is it possible he has doubts about global warming as well? And if Harper's minister of science has doubts, then perhaps others in the cabinet do also? Certainly, Environment Minister Jim Prentice seems more interested in defending the tar sands than in defending the environment. It's hard to believe this could be true, yet there must be some explanation for their cavalier approach.
That Christians had trouble accepting evolution was no great tragedy -- life went on --- but if we don't accept global warming and respond appropriately, life as we know it won't go on. The stakes are very much higher. We can no longer afford scientific ignorance, and that may just mean we can't afford this government.
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