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Full-Text Articles in Law
Humility, Climate Change, And The Pursuit Of Scientific Truth, John Copeland Nagle
Humility, Climate Change, And The Pursuit Of Scientific Truth, John Copeland Nagle
Journal Articles
This Essay begins with the understanding that environmental law could not exist without science. The tolerable amount of pollution, the proximity of a species to extinction, and the threats presented by climate change are just some of the questions that environmental law depends on science to answer. Often environmental law insists that science alone is relevant to a particular regulatory action, such as an air pollution standard or an endangered species listing. It is not surprising, therefore, that many disputes about environmental law are really disputes about science.
Science, however, does not always yield the information that environmental law needs …
What Hath Lynn White Wrought?, John C. Nagle
What Hath Lynn White Wrought?, John C. Nagle
Journal Articles
Lynn White’s 1967 article on “The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis” famously blamed Christianity for modern environmental problems. White’s historical analysis viewed Christianity for cultivating a dismissive view toward nature and for embracing technology in a way that resulted in unchecked pollution and extinctions. Since White wrote his article, Christian scholars have accepted the challenge that White’s diagnosis presented. Other nations, perhaps most notably China, have experienced crippling environmental destruction even in the absence of a legacy of Christian thought. More positively, White’s thesis has encouraged a generation of scholars to explore the positive aspects of Christian thought for …
The Evangelical Debate Over Climate Change, John Copeland Nagle
The Evangelical Debate Over Climate Change, John Copeland Nagle
Journal Articles
In 2006, a group of prominent evangelicals issued a statement calling for a greater response to climate change. Soon thereafter, another group of prominent evangelicals responded with their own statement urging caution before taking any action against climate change. This division among evangelicals concerning climate change may be surprising for a community that is usually portrayed as homogenous and as indifferent or hostile toward environmental regulation. Yet there is an ongoing debate among evangelicals regarding the severity of climate change, its causes, and the appropriate response. Why? The answer to this question is important because of the increasing prominence of …
Creation, Liberation, And Property: Virtues And Values Toward A Theocentric Earth Ethic, W. Wade Berryhill
Creation, Liberation, And Property: Virtues And Values Toward A Theocentric Earth Ethic, W. Wade Berryhill
Law Faculty Publications
Religion continues to play a significant role in shaping our attitudes toward nature.2 Time-honored principles of stewardship of the land demand that we owe a duty to future generations to allow them to inherit a healthy environment. Essential to this obligation is spiritual faith, not the trendy brand of secular humanism espoused by ecodogmatists seeking environmental justice through means unmoored from centuries-old principles of creation. What secular humanism ignores-and what religious traditions the world over have recognizedis the reality that we are a "creative expression of the earth's own evolution."3 Thus, in light of our duty to posterity, mere emphasis …