Anthropogenic (man-made) global warming skeptics have an unusual ally from the land Down Under. Recently, by a vote of 42 to 30, the Australian Senate rejected their version of cap-and-trade.

In a speech opposing the bill, Sen. Nick Minchin stated, "this whole extraordinary scheme, which would do so much damage to Australia, is based on the as yet unproven assertion that anthropogenic emissions of CO2 are the main driver of global warming. ... The Rudd government arrogantly refuses to acknowledge that there remains a very lively scientific debate about the extent of and the main causes of climate change, with thousands of highly reputable scientists around the world of the view that anthropogenic emissions of CO2 are not and cannot be the main driver of the small degree of global warming that occurred in the last 30 years of the 20th century."

Leading Australia’s march away from AGW is its most eminent geologist, Ian Plimer. Plimer is a professor in the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences (University of Adelaide) and Emeritus Professor in the School of Earth Sciences (University of Melbourne). He has authored six books and 60 papers and has twice (1995 and 2002) won Australia’s Eureka Prize, science prizes awarded in the fields of scientific research and innovation, science leadership, science communication and journalism and school science.

His latest book, "Heaven and Earth: Global Warming, the Missing Science," is the product of 40 years’ research containing over 2,300 footnotes. It sheds light on many of the false claims of man-made global warming.

As Robert Tracinski and Tom Minchin recently noted, "The influence of Plimer’s book is particularly interesting because it is not a light introduction to the topic. It is a thick book, chock full of science. ... If the book is comprehensive in its scope, that is because everything science has discovered about ‘history, archaeology, geology, astronomy, ocean sciences, atmospheric sciences, and the life sciences’ — Plimer’s list — refutes the global warming dogma."

Interestingly, Plimer is also an ardent atheist and evolutionist. In other words, he is normally a darling of the political left. Australia’s 1995 Humanist of the Year, Plimer has been arrested and taken to court for disrupting meetings by creationists. One of his books is "Telling Lies for God: Reason vs. Creationism."

As vehemently as Plimer has gone after Christians, especially those who take a literal view of the Bible, he has gone after the AGW crowd. He calls global warming "the new religion of First World urban elites," adding that "Environmentalism has many of the hallmarks of failed European socialism and Western (failed) Christianity. It has a holy book which few have read (IPCC reports), has prophets (Gore) who cannot be challenged, relies on dogma, ignores contrary evidence, has armies of wide-eyed missionaries ... imposes guilt, has a catastrophist view of the planet, and seeks indulgences."

Now of course, I could not disagree with him more when it comes to Christianity, the Bible and Creation. I also find it highly ironic that, even though Plimer possesses a worldview that in almost every way agrees with those who have turned their eyes toward "Mother Earth" — worshipping and serving "created things rather than the Creator" — he remains an "unbeliever."

After all, evolutionary philosophy teaches that since all life sprang from the same single-celled source, all living things are "related." Darwinian evolutionists see humans as a product of nature and natural processes. Therefore, to see humans on equal footing with all other life and owing our very existence to the earth are very logical conclusions for such a philosophy.

This view of the "Church of Environmentalism" is summed up by the monk, Phra Paisal Visalo, who recently stated in the Bangkok Post that, "Humans fail to realize that they’re part of nature. They can survive and maintain their race throughout the passage of time, simply because of nature’s mercy and hospitality. Humans should be grateful to nature."

There you have it. Leave it to an atheist such as Plimer to recognize a religion when he sees one.

This would all be just interesting and sad if we weren’t staring at climate legislation that threatens to cripple our economy further and is based on such nonsense.

However, there is still hope that, just as happened in Australia, the Senate here can stop the legislation. After all, if an atheist can help reveal the light of the truth Down Under, anything is possible.