What would I care what the pope thinks? I was brought up a Catholic, and I realised a long time ago I can quite safely ignore him.

He's probably not too concerned SJT!

This announcement lends no credibility one way or another IMO - particularly given the Church's record with scientists ( ancient history of course - much better since the Reformation).

It is interesting to note the tents in the pro-AGW camp though.....

Margaret Thatcher , Enron, big insurance , creationists , religious fundamentalists , financial markets , Greens , Rio Tinto ,social democrats, Scientologists, Rupert Murdoch etc etc.

If nothing else , finding a common cause amongst that lot is a major achievement!

Jeez Jim - now that you mention it that is a real worry.

Are creationists and scientologists AGW-ish? Struth.

I'm a druid and Jedi knight myself.

"Telling people to plant trees is like telling them to drink more water to keep down rising sea levels"

Oliver Rackham.

Look you Luke the Saxon,
Don't be rude about our good Welsh Druids. Remember the capital letter in future, or we'll burn your castle down.

All very confusing, but a neat endorsement for Planktos, the mob that wants to cast iron upon the waters, so now it will be the Holy See, SJT claims to be an ex-Catholic – no such thing (it is part of your identity like a tattoo). The Church is supposed to be faith-based and now they have gone with the evidence on the carbon cycle. Once the Vatican rolls, the entrails must be saying the sceptics are stuffed and plucked. Time for the gamblers hymn for them ‘You got to know when to hold em, know when to fold em, Know when to walk away and know when to run.

Yep Luke - ironic isn't it?

"Creationist" was an epithet once employed liberally by the AGW crowd against the doubters.

"Denier" is probably safer though still worryingly fundamentalist sounding.

Considering your beliefs - " those from the Dark Side" maybe???

What does Obe Wan say?

Does Sheikh Hilaly believe in AGW? This could be important.

I sense a disturbance in the force. Davey is making Jihad on me.

"When man forgets that he is the servant of the earth and becomes its master..."

Servant of the earth? the man is a pagan in drag.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2007/07/15/do1508.xml

This bloke will have to be excommunicated - or decapitated with a light sabre.

Its the ol' "sin all week and be forgiven on Sunday" syndrome.

When the vatican goes carbon neutral GW confirmes its status as a religion, its the holy "C"

Thanks to Dave Allen;

"Bless me Father, for I have sinned. I have been with a loose woman."

The priest asks, "Is that you, Tommy O'Shaughnessy?"

"Yes, Father, it is."

"And, who was the woman you were with?"

"I can't be tellin' you, Father. I don't want to ruin her reputation."

"Well, Tommy, I'm sure to find out sooner or later, so you may as well tell me now. Was it Brenda O'Malley?"

"I cannot say."

"Was it Patricia Kelly?"

"I'll never tell."

"Was it Lizzy Shannon?"

"I'm sorry, but I can't name her."

"Was it Cathy Morgan?"

"My lips are sealed."

"Was it Fiona McDonald, then?"

"Please, Father, I cannot tell you."

The priest sighs in frustration. "You're a steadfast lad,Tommy O'Shaughnessy, and I admire that. But you've sinned, and you must atone. You cannot attend church mass for three months. Be off with you now".

Tommy walks back to his pew. His friend Sean slides over and whispers, "What'd you get?"

"Three month's vacation and five good leads"

It's like somebody said, "the Pope, he's a catholic, believes in God and possibly global warming, foetus' rights but would you do him? Course you wouldn't!"

According to holy prophecy, God has instructed seven angels to pour out seven bowls of his wrath on the earth (Not quite sure how the people appointed as its guardians are supposed to remain subservient), however, the fourth bowl, containing some kind of accelerant of biblical proportions, is to be poured onto the sun, producing intense and scorching heat upon the unreprentent inhabitants of the earth.

Cardinal Poupard from the Vatican would seem to want his cake and eat it, too.

Caving in to global warmers is bad, cashing in on global warming is low and common, but the pagan element is the worst of all.

"God created the world and appointed people as its guardians, telling them to make it fruitful, the cardinal said."

Hmph. Weren't *humans* supposed to be fruitful? I better go back and read that chapter.

""When man forgets that he is the servant of the earth and becomes its master, the earth itself seems to rebel against man, and the place of welcome becomes a desert that threatens the survival of creation," the cardinal said."

Hmpf. That bit in the Bible about mankind having dominion must have been a misprint.

http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0704015.htm?source=cmailer

Maybe that freakin Cardinal wears silk panties and takes bribes from greenpeacers. The Pope ought to kick that bastard to the kerb (curb) and order him to establish an organic farm in Iraq.

Yea well mate this is an evidence based blog so we don't accept biblical bulldust written by early land developers and original sin property rights activists.

Have a look at your Middle East biblical countryside - it's a lesson in bad land management and where the property rights movements and regional governments get you.

That's what you get from tree clearing and overgrazing with a good dose of aggro thrown in.

And I'm really offended about your pagan swipe - it offends my Druid religion.

- maybe you're sitting there in fish-net stockings - wouldn't surprise me.

Luke,

I thought you had thrown your lot in with hypocrites. Now, it appears, you have to side with your own brand of hypocrites.

So if all the angels and saints (Christian) became gorebal warmingers, you'd have a crisis of sanity.

Has anyone pointed out that the Vatican jumping on the bandwagon is actually making the problem worse? The snag is that 'carbon-neutral' does not necessarily equal 'climate-neutral'. Those who want to seize on tree-planting carbon emission offset schemes as a panacea should read
http://www.llnl.gov/pao/news/news_releases/2005/NR-05-12-04.html
and
http://www.agu.org/cgi-bin/SFgate/SFgate?&listenv=table&multiple=1&range=1&directget=1&application=fm05&database=%2Fdata%2Fepubs%2Fwais%2Findexes%2Ffm05%2Ffm05&maxhits=200&=%22B31D-03%22

and if not weep, certainly think very, very carefully. Planting forests in Hungary (or any other mid-latitude) location is not necessarily the best idea.