Religious Convictions Flavor Huckabee's Environmental Views

The following piece was produced by HuffPost's OffTheBus.

In March, 1997, a series of deadly storms swept through the South and Midwest, causing destruction from Texas to Pennsylvania. In Arkansas, tornadoes described as the worst in thirty years cut a 260 mile path through the state. Twenty-six people died.

Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, who had risen to his current job less than a year before when Jim Guy Tucker was forced out of office in a cloud of corruption, described the scene as "apocalyptic." It seemed to be a suitable word choice for a former Baptist preacher.

Other words, though, did not suit Governor Huckabee. A few weeks later, when a bill providing protection for storm victims against insurance cancellation came to the governor's desk, he would not sign it. His refusal was based on the bill's use of the words "acts of God" to describe the tornadoes. Huckabee stated:

''I feel that I have indeed witnessed many 'acts of God,' but I see His actions in the miraculous sparing of life, the sacrifice and selfless spirit in which so many responded to the pain of others.''

He said it would, "be violating my own conscience" to sign the bill and suggested "acts of God" be replaced with "natural disasters." Despite some bemusement at the governor's position (one Arkansas legislator said, ''We've used the term 'act of God' in insurance since there has been insurance -- before there was insurance.''), he got his way; after an attempt to include both phrases failed, the bill was signed the way Governor Huckabee wanted it. The tornadoes, according to the bill, were natural disasters. God had been cleared of responsibility.

When it comes to Earth and the environment, Mike Huckabee has never been shy about bringing God into the conversation. In 1998, while speaking to the Arkansas Farm Bureau, Huckabee said:

"God made us, and God made the Earth. . . . He gave us the privilege to use it and enjoy the resources, but never to worship it. We're to worship Him, not the thing He made. To me, environmentalists are those who worship the things that He made rather than He who made them."

This wasn't the first time Huckabee had had harsh words for environmentalists. In 1996, he said:

"Wacko environmentalists, who get out of their concrete towers one weekend a month and go look at a tree, believe they know more about the care of the land than farmers. They want to tell us what deodorant we can use and what kind of gas to put in our car."

As a presidential candidate, though, Huckabee has taken a gentler tack towards human responsibility to the Earth. In his book, From Hope to Higher Ground, Huckabee wrote:

"My own personal faith reminds me that "the earth is the Lord's" and that we are not its owners; merely its caretakers. From the very first pages of Genesis in the Old Testament we are reminded that God is the Creator and we are responsible for tending to that which he created; to preserve it and to protect it. We are indeed given the liberty and in fact the admonition to enjoy and utilize the resources, but use is not abuse and we have no right to pillage the planet unmercifully. We should see to it that our care for the environment enhances not only its aesthetic value but preserves the resources themselves for future generations."

Candidate Huckabee is all for the environment. In From Hope to Higher Ground, he reminded people that "the very word "conservative" means that we are all about conserving things that are valuable and dear. Few things are more valuable to us than the natural resources that God created and gave to us to carefully manage."

He believes that the most pressing issue environmental issue facing this country is the pollution of air, water and soil. He often points to his role in passing Amendment 75 of the Arkansas Constitution, which set aside an eighth of a percent of the state sales tax on all purchased items and used those funds for conserving land, running state parks, and fighting pollution.

Huckabee never identifies himself as an environmentalist; on his campaign website, his list of issues doesn't even include the word "environment." It does, however, present Huckabee's plans for "energy independence." He is for exploring all alternative fuels--nuclear, wind, solar, hydrogen, clean coal, biodiesel, and biomass. He believes people can do things to help reduce the emission of greenhouse gases: "...for example, replace light bulbs with the fluorescent types. We need to shoot for less fossil fuel, go to more energy-efficient and certainly non-carbon-producing methods of energy."

When questioned about whether he believes humans cause global warming, though, Huckabee is evasive. During the May 3 debate, Huckabee was asked whether, considering that "thousands of reputable scientists have concluded with almost certainty that human activity is responsible for the warming of the Earth," he believed in global warming. Huckabee responded:

"The most important thing about global warming is this. Whether humans are responsible for the bulk of climate change is going to be left to the scientists, but it's all of our responsibility to leave this planet in better shape for the future generations than we found it."

When asked a similar question in a Salon.com article, Huckabee again spoke about how the cause of global warming doesn't matter, just that humans try to do something about it.

While discussing his plans for energy independence in the Salon article, Huckabee suggested that new sources of energy could be found by giving grants and subsidies to those who were working on ideas to solve the problem. He compared it to the space program and spoke about assembling the best minds in the country to work on energy issues.

In the 2006 Program for International Student Assessment, US fifteen year olds ranked 16th out of 30 countries; in math they were 24th. A Washington Post article about the test results notes that, "The PISA results underscore concerns that too few U.S. students are prepared to become engineers, scientists and physicians, and that the country might lose ground to competitors." US students may not be able to take on Huckabee's challenge of solving the problem of energy dependence.

Huckabee has stated that he does not believe in evolution, and is a believer in creationism. Arkansas state standards include the teaching of evolution, and the Arkansas Science Teachers Association includes evolution as one of the theories that science educators should be able to teach. ASTA's site includes a lengthy breakdown of the differences between "scientific knowing" and "religious knowing."

In a 2006 Arkansas Times article, Jason Wiles wrote that although evolution is supposed to be part of the state science curriculum, it was often missing from classrooms. This wasn't part of a statewide initiative; no one was officially being told not to teach it. Instead, according to the article, science teachers were avoiding the subject because they felt they might get cause trouble by discussing it.

Wiles included the following exchange between Governor Huckabee and a student on a July 2004 episode of "Arkansans Ask," a television program where people could ask the governor questions:

Student: Many schools in Arkansas are failing to teach students about evolution according to the educational standards of our state. Since it is against these standards to teach creationism, how would you go about helping our state educate students more sufficiently for this?

Huckabee: Are you saying some students are not getting exposure to the various theories of creation?

Student (stunned): No, of evol ... well, of evolution specifically. It's a biological study that should be educated [taught], but is generally not.

Moderator: Schools are dodging Darwinism? Is that what you ...?

Student: Yes.

Huckabee: I'm not familiar that they're dodging it. Maybe they are. But I think schools also ought to be fair to all views. Because, frankly, Darwinism is not an established scientific fact. It is a theory of evolution, that's why it's called the theory of evolution. And I think that what I'd be concerned with is that it should be taught as one of the views that's held by people. But it's not the only view that's held. And any time you teach one thing as that it's the only thing, then I think that has a real problem to it.

A July 2003 episode included the following:

Student: Goal 2.04 of the Biology Benchmark Goals published by the Arkansas Department of Education in May of 2002 indicates that students should examine the development of the theory of biological evolution. Yet many students in Arkansas that I have met ... have not been exposed to this idea. What do you believe is the appropriate role of the state in mandating the curriculum of a given course?

Huckabee: I think that the state ought to give students exposure to all points of view. And I would hope that that would be all points of view and not only evolution. I think that they also should be given exposure to the theories not only of evolution but to the basis of those who believe in creationism ...

The governor goes on for a bit and finishes his sentiment, but the moderator keeps the conversation going:

Moderator (to student): You've encountered a number of students who have not received evolutionary biology?

Student: Yes, I've found that quite a few people's high schools simply prefer to ignore the topic. I think that they're a bit afraid of the controversy.

Huckabee: I think it's something kids ought to be exposed to. I do not necessarily buy into the traditional Darwinian theory, personally. But that does not mean that I'm afraid that somebody might find out what it is...

Huckabee has said, "I'm not planning on writing the curriculum for an eighth-grade science book. I'm asking for the opportunity to be president." It's virtually impossible that, as president, Huckabee would suddenly mandate the teaching of creationism along with evolution in national science classrooms. It is, however, unclear what he would do for promoting science in general during his administration, or for scientists whose work has pointed towards human activity causing global warming. It's unclear what is the difference between wacko environmentalists who are anti-God and humans who act as caretakers of the Earth, who he believes should preserve and protect it. And it is unclear how, in the mind of Mike Huckabee, tornadoes can be the result of natural causes, without God's involvement, but the evolution of animal and plant species cannot occur naturally without the hand of God.

Comments

[vaporgenie]

Wow. the Republicans have found a candidate even dumber than Bush.

This ignoramus is educated in theology, and he didnt even finish school.

[SILVANUS]

I was raised as a Baptist. They are screwed up. I have been trying to unscrew my mind from all their condemnatory crap ever since. I would sue the church if I could. They are ill.

[edresearcher]

I told you he was nuts. Every Baptist minister I've ever known has been the same.

[tgood]

Of course, God smiled down upon him when he and his wife collected "gifts" while he was governor. God's funny that way--He understands greed when it's a politician doing it.

Is this the best we can do with over 300 million people in this country?

We're in a lot of trouble. A lot of trouble.

[baghdadjoe]

Vote Huckabee.. and we'll party like it's 1599!

[WestLittleRock]

1. Commitment to God
2. Commitment to the White Community
3. Commitment to the White Family
4. Dedication to the Pursuit of Education
5. Dedication to the Pursuit of Excellence
6. Adherence to the White Work Ethic
7. Commitment to Self-Discipline and Self-Respect
8. Disavowal of the Pursuit of "Middleclassness"
9. Pledge to make the fruits of all developing and acquired skills available to the White Community
10. Pledge to Allocate Regularly, a Portion of Personal Resources for Strengthening and Supporting White Institutions
11. Pledge allegiance to all White leadership who espouse and embrace 12. Personal commitment to embracement of the White Value System.

Now, if that actually appeared in anyone’s church, could you imagine the outcry.
The actual creed is below.

Barak Obama’s Trinity United Church of Christ of Chicago
1.Commitment to God
2. Commitment to the Black Community
3. Commitment to the Black Family
4. Dedication to the Pursuit of Education
5. Dedication to the Pursuit of Excellence
6. Adherence to the Black Work Ethic
7. Commitment to Self-Discipline and Self-Respect
8. Disavowal of the Pursuit of "Middleclassness"
9. Pledge to make the fruits of all developing and acquired skills available to the Black Community
10. Pledge to Allocate Regularly, a Portion of Personal Resources for Strengthening and Supporting Black Institutions
11. Pledge allegiance to all Black leadership who espouse and embrace 12. Personal commitment to embracement of the Black Value System.

[DRaymond]

Huckabees evolution(!) of his environmental stance is not just a matter of changing to be a presidential candidate. It also reflects a broad change that has been occuring in the evangelical movement.

The old guard televangelists (Robertson, Dobson, Fallwell, etc.) used the airwaves to broadcast their message to mostly rural audiences who mailed or phoned in their donations. The newer style is more likely to be in front of a megachurch the size of a basketball arena (in many cases actually being a former basketball arena) and raking in the cash directly and in book sales at suburban malls. In other words is is a much more urban and professional crowd. The implicit anti-city, anti-intellecutal, anti-elite stance isn't going to fill an arena in southern orange county.

So the newer evangelicals are more likely to sound like candidate Huckabee.

[MajorKong]

"Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee ... described the scene as 'apocalyptic.'"

The term "Apocalyptic" would also most closely describe a Huckabee presidency.

[Maxbyte]

The word "Flavor" in the title is a generous glass-half-full observation.

Many Americans, as well as citizens of other nations have been somewhat obsessed with "Reality TV" for the past few years. In contrast, Carter, Reagan, and the current president were/are obsessed with their own "fictional reality" during their respective tenures.

And now Huckabee, who will hopefully not make it to the primaries, is making the same senseless mistake. He wants to be president in spite of the fact that he cannot differentiate between reality and fiction.

Huckabee's positions and executive style are like those of the current president. That is, they are closely related to clouds: no visible means of support.

I was raised in a household in which one parent was a lifelong follower of a religion that had its own reality, literally. It caused all kinds of problems for each of us (four children). It would have been much worse had the other parent not recognized it for the snake oil it was and is, and there is an above average chance that two of us would not have survived had it not been for the reality-based parent.

It is that kind of ignorance, based on faith not fact, that should scare even those who appreciate religion... for whatever reason or reasons.

[FirstBlowupDollLaura]

"only a theory" My God, not this again! Over and over you have to explain to fundamentalist that the word "theory" has more than one meaning and when scientists speak of the Theory of Evolution or the Theory of Gravity it is meaning 5!!!!!

5: a plausible or scientifically acceptable general principle or body of principles offered to explain phenomena

Main Entry:
the·o·ry Listen to the pronunciation of theory
Pronunciation:
ˈthē-ə-rē, ˈthir-ē
Function:
noun
Inflected Form(s):
plural the·o·ries
Etymology:
Late Latin theoria, from Greek theōria, from theōrein
Date:
1592

1: the analysis of a set of facts in their relation to one another
2: abstract thought : speculation
3: the general or abstract principles of a body of fact, a science, or an art
4 a: a belief, policy, or procedure proposed or followed as the basis of action b: an ideal or hypothetical set of facts, principles, or circumstances —often used in the phrase in theory
5: a plausible or scientifically acceptable general principle or body of principles offered to explain phenomena
6 a: a hypothesis assumed for the sake of argument or investigation b: an unproved assumption : conjecture c: a body of theorems presenting a concise systematic view of a subject

These fundamentalists reveal their extreme ignorance when the talk about evolution, so let them keep talking!

[Galvestonians for Dr. Ron Paul]

I think you have given this waste of life too much time..
He has NO MONEY.

He is hyped by the media ONLY.

Kirsten sets up the hoops and the SHEEPLE jump through.

[Birdman]

No surprize here, White is black, black is white, evil is good, good is evil, kind of mentatlity of the republican party, actually most politicians. I just wish one day people in this country will realize that being secular is the only way to run the government, if you inject religion into governemt, well look at the middle east for what can and does happen.

[UncleBen]

Imagine:
An energy policy that depends on 6000 year old coal.
A NIH that doesn't worry about adaptive germs.
A NSF that defunds all research that mentions biological evolution.
A NASA that thinks the universe is only 6000 years old.

The public must be under some mass hypnosis for this guy to be anything but a joke.

[1differentdrummer]

Well, I think all opinions should be heard so kids should study the Hopi take on the subject, and the Hawaiian. I guess it would be too bad to leave out the Australian aboriginal ides, too. Perhaps we should teach all creation stories and call it Comparative Religions, while not mucking about with science.

[jimimosey]

The huckster is the perfect candidate to run against any of the godless liberals on the opposing ticket. I for one wait for him to get the nomination and have the harsh light of media scrutiny is cast upon him. The "ideals" set forth in the article are enough to make anyone with an ounce of integrity run from this bigoted backwards thinking tool. The christian right espouse the "right" thinking candidate in complete disregard of the rights of others who may not share their fanatic views. I wonder how long christian tolerance would last if the Kuran was being foisted on the masses and Islam was pushed as the official religion of the US. Not long I suspect...