The religious nature of environmentalism is once again in the spotlight thanks to Al Gore's Oscar win. This year's Oscars were the first "green Oscars". It was undoubtedly a farce themed around sin and search for redemption. How else can we describe the spectacle of Gargantuan consumers of energy with their Hollywood mansions, limousines and private jets basking in the warm glow of Al's green halo and feeling superior to the great unwashed for being driven a couple of meters to the red carpet in Priuses (or is it Priusae?). The theme of environmental redemption was further highlighted by every guest receiving one years worth of carbon offsets in their Oscar goody bag. How easy, they can now sin for the whole year guilt free! After the Oscars Al Gore became a centre of big controversy after it was revealed that his electricity consumption was 20 times higher than the national average. But the Big Man explained it was OK because he purchased carbon credits, as it turned out, from himself. See, there is no need for painful lifestyles adjustments and personal sacrifices as long as you buy a carbon offset. Ergo in the church of environmentalism the energy consumption is a sin and the carbon offsets are the modern form of green indulgence. Michael Crichton once called environmentalism "the religion of choice for urban atheists a perfect 21st Century re-mapping of traditional Judeo-Christian beliefs and myths". While a lot of environmentalists would find this insulting, Rachel Carson, the mother of modern environmentalism, once wrote that "by destroying pagan animism, Christianity made it possible to exploit nature in a mood of indifference to the feelings of natural objects. Since the roots of our trouble are so largely religious, the remedy must also be essentially religious, whether we call it that or not". Bruce Crofts of the East Toronto Climate Action Group compared Al Gore to Jesus Christ and said categorically "From my perspective, it is a form of religion. --- The religion for this group is doing something for the environment." While there is nothing wrong with having religious thoughts and believes, religion must be seen by both believers and non-believers for what it ultimately is - a religion. The problem with so many in the environmental movement is their insistence that environmentalism is not religion but science.