The Christianity and Climate Change Bible Study series: Session 4
‘Grateful for fossil fuels, but time to move on’.
Fawley oil refinery and the Solent
Katharine Hayhoe, climate scientist and Tearfund supporter responds to the question:
“You are based in Texas, one of the centres the oil industry, how do you engage with Christians who may take a very different view than you do regarding climate change?” Watch the video
The key Bible passages for this session are:
Psalm 24:1
1“The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it;
2 for he founded it on the seas
and established it on the waters”.
Psalm 104:31-34
“May the glory of the Lord endure forever;
may the Lord rejoice in his works—
32 he who looks at the earth, and it trembles,
who touches the mountains, and they smoke.
33 I will sing to the Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
34 May my meditation be pleasing to him,
as I rejoice in the Lord.”
We are so grateful for God’s provision of the fossil fuels. The applications to everyday life of refined oil are so wide-ranging, from the manufacture of the syringes for administering the Covid-19 vaccine to the refridgeration of the vaccines, from polyester clothing to toothpaste. Oil refining takes place at the Fawley refinery , just across the Solent, where there is also a chemical manufacturing plant.
What has Psalm 24:1 got to say to us about using the oil, gas and coal reserves that remain in the earth?
We need to use the last remaining reserves with great care, with future generations in mind.
Beauty for Brokenness written and sung by Graham Kendrick
Find out more about the fuel efficient tractor developed in Swaziland to run on sunflower oil.