Auguries of theocracy? - environmental policy

► When the crafting of science-dependent public policy, in an ostensibly non-theistic republic, is influenced by a dominant religious ideology

The reasons we, as the most educated and powerful nation on earth,

• have not signed the Kyoto accords,
• have not accepted the scientific consensus on anthropogenic forcing of climate change,
• allow industry insiders to filter public policy statements,
• have no forward-looking programs or initiatives

must be many and varied. But one is given to wonder how much of the attitude that leads to our reluctance to join the rest of the world on this issue stems from the notion that things will take care of themselves, that it'll all come out in the wash (the Rapture)?

Civilizations have gone down this road before. When Jared Diamond, the author of Collapse, was asked for his speculation on the thoughts of the person who cut down the last tree on Easter Island, he said,

"Probably that God would not let anything happen to his chosen people."