This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Thinking about climate change is basically a moral issue. For those who are climate change deniers the issue is simple: climate change does not exist, or if it does it is not severe and does not affect them. There are narcissistic and self-serving elements to this attitude.
The current generation of naysayers do not look to the future. They do not consider what the current course of climatologic recklessness will mean for their children and grandchildren.
This selfish perspective is immoral. For a state steeped in religious morality it is ironic that the LDS Church has not taken a stronger position on climate change. For example, in 1981 the LDS Church came out against the deployment of the MX missile in Utah's west desert and the issue was dead in the water.
Obviously political leadership in Utah can be fostered by a religious coalition. It would be appropriate for the LDS Church, which theologically looks to the future, to try to understand the consequences of climate change as a threat to future generations. It is the moral thing to do.
Louis Borgenicht
Salt Lake City