The first Earth Day began on April 22, 1970 as a response to human caused environmental disasters. That certainly sounds noble. In 1969 there was the Santa Barbara Oil spill in which over 3 million gallons of oil spilled into the ocean, killing many animals. Disasters like this remind us why it’s important to protect the environment from unnecessary disasters and pollution. Further, I believe we should be good stewards of the natural resources God has provided for us on this planet.

But I do have some concerns about the nature of this holiday, and that is mainly the political and religious aspect of it. For instance, Margaret Mead, a cultural anthropologist said in 1978, “Earth Day is the first holy day which transcends all national borders, yet preserves all geographical integrities, spans mountains and oceans and time belts, and yet brings people all over the world into one resonating accord, is devoted to the preservation of the harmony in nature and yet draws upon the triumphs of technology, the measurement of time, and instantaneous communication through space.”

Again, much of her sentiment sounds good and helpful, but what makes this day holy? What god is being worshiped?

The political nature of Earth Day can be seen in the climate change movement, which seeks to stop the climate from changing at any cost, and blames mankind. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration hints at this with their Happy Earth Day article. They remark how, since 1970, “global climate change has had an alarming effect on Earth and its inhabitants.” It’s that call to alarmism that concerns me. They also ask their readers to “honor” our home planet, which, again, shows the religious nature of this day. Are they worshiping the earth as some sort of god? It sure sounds like it.

So I think it’s helpful to understand the agenda behind all this and take a more practical look at the earth and the climate. Doomsday prophets like Al Gore have used computer models to make false predictions about the earth falling into a “true planetary emergency” where the planet must be saved from turning into a frying pan. That was in 2006, and here we are, 17 years later, and life goes on as usual. In fact, fewer people are dying from climate related deaths today than in the 1920’s, and the rate has dropped 99% since then.

It’s also worth noting the climate was much warmer in the past, and it shouldn’t be surprising that animals, plants and humans flourished during those times. In fact people were farming in Greenland between 900 AD and 1300 AD. A warmer climate would be a great benefit to many people around the world.

Nonetheless, politicians use alarmism as a tactic. They seek to cause panic, hoping to gain support and taxpayer money. However, it’s estimated that it would cost $5.6 trillion every year to fight something that’s not a problem, and those efforts would do far more harm than good. The Biden administration has even suggested it’s time to block the sun! Seriously. Even though climate alarmists were opposed to aerosols in the environment because it was destroying the ozone, now they’re considering spraying enough aerosols into the atmosphere to block the sun in order to fight climate change! How ironic. How times have changed.

I just hope there’s enough people who realize how bad an idea that would be. The unintended consequences could be the real disaster.

This Earth Day, consider the Bible’s call to reason: “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease” (Genesis 8:22). This Biblical prediction has been right and should provide reassurance that life on earth isn’t going to vanish due to climate change. So instead of worshiping the creation, we should be worshiping the creator- God (Romans 1:25). The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it (Psalm 24:1).

NASA Earth Day Poster

Courtesy NASA