I tell you something; Pell's a complete nutter, but that quote of his:
>
> "In the past, pagans sacrificed animals and even
> humans in vain attempts to placate capricious and
> cruel gods. Today they demand a reduction in
> carbon dioxide emissions."
>
That's one of the most perceptive things I've heard a nutter say in a long time. Not - of course - in the strict pejorative terms that he meant it. But it's such a compelling (and arguably accurate) image of the steps needed to deal with climate change.
People will need to sacrifice their cars in order to assuage a raging climate that they cannot control and only dimly understand.
Sadly, having read the rest of what Pell had to say, I'm fairly convinced that the man wasn't making a subtle and strangely beautiful analogy but was merely denouncing environmentalism using religious terminology.
Hmmm... I think there may be a blog post in this at some point.