The Cornwall Alliance at Quarter Century

I’d wish you a Happy Earth Day, but I’d rather point you to the Cornwall Alliance: There’s nothing like it

I don’t sign confessions or statements anymore. But I did 25 years ago. When things were just getting going in one outrageous sector—think of the early science on climate control as about as enduring as the early science on Covid—one small group bravely claimed some unoccupied turf.

The Cornwall Alliance did and is celebrating their 25^th anniversary.

The Declaration began by refuting a few common notions, such as that humans were primarily polluters, plunderers, abusers, or consumers. However, this groundbreaking protest stated: “A clean environment is a costly good; consequently, growing affluence, technological innovation, and the application of human and material capital are integral to environmental improvement. The tendency among some to oppose economic progress in the name of environmental stewardship is often sadly self-defeating.”

The Declaration also affirmed that God was the Creator and Owner of the environment. Human beings were superior to the other creations and were tasked to use the world for their sustenance and the glory of God. Sin and the Fall brought curses into the world. A clear belief enunciated is: “Human beings are called to be fruitful, to bring forth good things from the earth, to join with God in making provision for our temporal well-being, and to enhance the beauty and fruitfulness of the rest of the earth. Our call to fruitfulness, therefore, is not contrary to but mutually complementary with our call to steward God’s gifts. This call implies a serious commitment to fostering the intellectual, moral, and religious habits and practices needed for free economies and genuine care for the environment.”

The following were aspirations of this Alliance:

1. We aspire to a world in which human beings care wisely and humbly for all creatures, first and foremost for their fellow human beings, recognizing their proper place in the created order.

2. We aspire to a world in which objective moral principles—not personal prejudices—guide moral action.

3. We aspire to a world in which right reason (including sound theology and the careful use of scientific methods) guides the stewardship of human and ecological relationships.

4. We aspire to a world in which liberty as a condition of moral action is preferred over government-initiated management of the environment as a means to common goals.

5. We aspire to a world in which the relationships between stewardship and private property are fully appreciated, allowing people’s natural incentive to care for their own property to reduce the need for collective ownership and control of resources and enterprises, and in which collective action, when deemed necessary, takes place at the most local level possible.

6. We aspire to a world in which widespread economic freedom—which is integral to private, market economies—makes sound ecological stewardship available to ever greater numbers.

7. We aspire to a world in which advancements in agriculture, industry, and commerce not only minimize pollution and transform most waste products into efficiently used resources but also improve the material conditions of life for people everywhere.

What I said then was “attaboy.”

What I say now is: “There’s still nothing like it! That was true in 2000 and is still true a quarter century later. The Cornwall Alliance is the best, almost the only, game in town—not only in its early courage to tackle a golden calf which was the fad of the day but also in providing superb and well-researched information on the subject of creation stewardship. Under Cal Beisner’s able leadership, the Cornwall Alliance continues to provide unrivaled resources to help citizens and students plow through the muck and mire, thankfully with an informed and common-sensical perspective. I continue to be most grateful for their work and hope that it spreads in the coming years. We need it desperately, and we can rest easily knowing that the ‘earth is the Lord’s.’”

There is, thus, an inhuman environmentalism to be rejected but a humane environmentalism that honors our Creator.

Inhumane environmentalism is a folly that will hold up under realism and real science as well as Paul Ehrlich’s on the Population Bomb (1968) and Al Gore’s many predictions. At some point, we will need to leave behind Richard Feynman’s description of science as “the belief in the ignorance of experts.”Here’s to better science and better economics and better philosophy.

As we leave Earth Day in the rearview mirror, with a fond ‘good riddance,’ you and yours may wish to review the Cornwall Declaration on Environmental Stewardship? It has aged better than most.