You Cannot Repeal the Weather

Recent headlines reported that the Federal EPA has moved to “repeal the science” behind regulations limiting greenhouse gas emissions. The phrase is striking — “repeal the science”.

Laws can be repealed. Regulations can be rewritten. But science is not a statute. It does not yield to a vote.

Science is our ongoing and forever unfinished effort to describe the natural world as it is — through observation, measurement, testing, and correction. When new discoveries are made or better tools refine earlier conclusions, understanding evolves. That is not weakness; it is integrity. But no agency has the authority to repeal the rising concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. No announcement alters the physics of heat-trapping gases or negates the harmful impacts of breathing polluted air. The climate system does not consult our politics.

My parents came of age during what my father called “the Dirty Thirties.” They watched topsoil from the Great Plains darken the skies, the result of drought compounded by human decisions that ignored the fragile balance of prairie and weather. No one repealed the wind. Instead, farmers changed practices. Shelterbelts were planted. Native grasses were restored. The land slowly healed.

The Dust Bowl was not caused by malice. It was fueled by overconfidence and short-term thinking — the belief that the land would indefinitely yield to our machinery and markets. Reality eventually corrected that assumption.

Today, the scale is global, but the principle is the same: actions have consequences. Emissions accumulate. Heat is retained. Patterns shift. We may debate policy responses, and reasonable people will differ on economic tradeoffs. But dismissing careful observation does not change the atmosphere.

As Christians, we confess belief in a Creator who called the world good. That confession invites humility. We are not masters of creation; we are stewards within it. Stewardship begins with honesty about what we observe.

At First Presbyterian, we have tried — in modest but meaningful ways — to live into that calling. Our rooftop solar installation, our exploration of energy efficiency, and our work toward becoming an Earth Care congregation are not political statements. They are expressions of responsibility. They reflect a belief that tending the garden we have been given is part of our discipleship.

In the 1930s, something was done. Practices changed. The land was given space to recover. It was not an act of fear, but of prudence and care.

We cannot repeal the weather. But we can choose whether we will face it with humility, honesty, and a willingness to act responsibly for the sake of those who come after us.

Peace be with you,

Jerry Kahrs