The commandments of Jesus lay out the pathway for a Christian’s life. Jesus asks His followers to love their enemies and care for those who are in need. He calls us to do to others what we would want them to do to us.

This is an important call. The Church must always be equipped with knowledge about the world around it. Policies can influence people’s lives significantly.

A Robust Energy System Under Attack

Economic development across the world has brought people out of poverty. An industrious economy helps the society become prosperous. A key factor to achieve this is a robust energy system. The twentieth-century energy sector harnessed naturally available resources such as coal, oil, and gas. This produced abundant electricity. A copious amount of fuel was produced for transportation.

But in the recent three decades, fossil fuel use has come under severe disruption. This is due to climate change policies. The climate industrial complex has devised policies that inhibit fossil fuel use. It promotes the use of alternative technologies like wind and solar. They claim human greenhouse gas emissions are warming our atmosphere to dangerous levels.

No Evidence to Justify the Elimination of Fossil Fuel

But there is no evidence that sacrificing fossil fuel use will result in temperature reduction. Despite a rapid increase in atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations, temperatures failed to rapidly rise in the past 20 years. This mismatch is not new to geologists and paleoclimatologists. There were many temperatures increases in the past that were not caused by greenhouse gases.

We have no existing mechanism to accurately predict future temperature levels. More than 90 percent of the computer climate models are faulty. They over-exaggerate the impact of greenhouse gases on atmospheric warming. Yet these models are used as the primary reference for making international climate policies.

Climate Alarmism is Life-Threatening

Alternative technologies cannot meet the power demand in our cities. Renewables cannot provide on-demand electricity. Over-reliance on expensive alternative technologies renders our energy system unstable. Besides, it makes power more expensive. It causes complexities in the transmission network. Renewable champions like California face blackouts and a rise in power tariffs.

New climate policies cause immediate and life-threatening problems for millions. The U.S. administration’s war on fossil fuel caused a historic rise in gas prices across all American states. Renewable champion states in Europe activated their coal plants this year.

The situation is worse in the developing parts of the world. A coal shortage caused unprecedented blackouts in 17 Chinese provinces last year. The provinces experienced the loss of jobs, livelihoods, and widespread poverty.

Billions in Africa and Asia do not have electricity. For example, one old refrigerator in the U.S. uses more electricity in a year than what 3 billion people consume in a year. That is the adverse state of energy poverty in our world. Their future is likely to remain the same if the use of fossil fuel is restricted further.

A Doomsday Theory to Drive a Climate Agenda

The political class and media have been exaggerating the nominal warming in our atmosphere. They have inculcated fear in people. They utilized a doomsday theory to drive a climate agenda. The Bible calls us to expose the lies and not partake in them.

The Church Must Stand

The Church’s stance on this matter will be crucial. The Church must stand for the energy rights of the poor. Affordable energy access will enable poor people to become industrious. They will climb up the socio-economic ladder. A strong energy sector is only possible with unrestricted use of abundant, reliable, and inexpensive fossil fuel sources. Hospitals and homes in Africa will have electricity sooner if the current shadow ban on fossil fuel funding is lifted.

Here is an imploration for the Church. Stand for the basic needs of the poor in this world. This call comes at a time when the climate movement has become a religion of its own. More Christians must understand the truth of energy poverty. There will be clarity on their stance. Their love for people will be displayed in their support of life-promoting policies.

Vijay Jayaraj is a Research Associate at the CO2 Coalition, Arlington, VA., and is a contributing author for Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation. He holds a master’s degree in environmental sciences from the University of East Anglia, UK and resides in India.