Vicki Voldal Rosenau, Valley City
Widespread North Dakota press coverage of congressman-elect Kevin Cramer recently leaves me wondering if every person who voted for him really knew what was in the whole package.
Several media reported that Cramer almost entered the ministry but chose a higher calling in politics, and quoted him as saying, "In my view, it would be immoral to leave it [coal, oil and natural gas] there [in the ground]. God put it there for us to use."
Huh? We must use up all the earth's natural resources now, or God'll get mad?
So, what makes the not-quite-Reverend Cramer think God put the coal, oil and gas there for us to use now and not for future generations? Apparently he doesn't know that the coal, oil and gas were not "put there" when the earth was formed, but are the products of prehistoric forests and animals buried under the sediments of tropical seas 100 million years ago-long before the first humans appeared.
Or maybe he thinks God put those prehistoric forests and animals there and then deliberately flooded the region with topical seas to create coal, oil and gas - but then saved them for 100 million years just for Cramer and the rest of us to use in the 21st century.
It apparently hasn't occurred to the almost-Reverend Cramer that God might also have given us wind and solar energy readily available across the entire surface of the earth so we wouldn't have to burn fossil fuels buried hundreds and thousands of feet underground. Or that He might have given us large brains so we could think rationally and responsibly.
Perhaps God will be able to find another calling for Mr. Cramer.