If representatives of the nearly 200 nations gathered in Paris for the UN Conference on Climate Change had instead formed a coalition to fight a real threat — Islamic terrorism — they might have accomplished something useful. Instead, what they came up with is a document that even Secretary of State John Kerry, in a rare moment of candor, confessed is pointless.

Here’s Kerry: “…The fact is that even if every American citizen biked to work, carpooled to school, used only solar panels to power their homes, if we each planted a dozen trees, if we somehow eliminated all of our domestic greenhouse gas emissions, guess what — that still wouldn’t be enough to offset the carbon pollution coming from the rest of the world.”

Kerry added, “If all the industrial nations went down to zero emissions — remember what I just said, all the industrial emissions went down to zero emissions — it wouldn’t be enough, not when more than 65 percent of the world’s carbon pollution comes from the developing world.”

Liberalism, it appears, has always been about intentions and feelings, not results. Fighting “climate change” makes liberals feel good. There has been a near complete media blackout and intimidation of anyone presenting contrary scientific evidence disproving the theory that Earth is warming and humans are responsible. Quentin Letts, a BBC presenter, had his radio program pulled from the BBC’s iPlayer playback facility for, according to him, showing “disrespect for climate change,” after protests from global warming adherents.

This phony doctrine is being shoved down our throats by people who continue to fly in private jets and ride in gas-guzzling SUVs while telling the rest of us to walk or ride bikes.

Not that facts matter to the major media and others who have embraced the doctrines of this new religion, but here are some anyway. Remote Sensing Systems (RSS) is a scientific research company located in Northern California, specializing in satellite microwave remote sensing of the Earth. According to RSS, the Earth’s temperature has not increased in the last 18 years and nine months, a record.

Predictions of global warming have been based on imperfect computer models. That those models do not reflect reality has not affected the minds or policies of people who worship at the altar of government and wish to impose additional regulations on already overburdened corporations and individuals.

As The Daily Caller website reported last June, “Data from America’s most advanced climate monitoring system shows the U.S. has undergone a cooling trend over the last decade, despite recent claims by government scientists that warming has accelerated worldwide during that time.”

This reflects a pattern we have seen throughout history. In the 1970s, scientists and the media were promoting “global cooling” to advance their “chicken little” fantasy that life as we know it on Earth was about to end. They were wrong then and they are wrong now. But there is money and political power associated with climate change orthodoxy and next to sex, humans lust after these more than anything else.

If you are a climate change disciple, or confused, do yourself a favor. Visit climatedepot.org and see the film “Climate Hustle,” which premiered in Paris during the UN gathering. The film attracted protestors largely because global warming cultists want to suppress any information that runs counter to their beliefs.

There is nothing wrong and much right about the goal of reducing pollution, especially in China, the world’s worst polluter, but “global warming” shouldn’t be the reason.

If John Kerry is right — and the evidence suggests he is — why would the U.S. and other developed countries stifle their growth potential by embracing a false doctrine that could lead to predictable and even unforeseen economic consequences?

You will have to ask a climate change disciple.

Cal Thomas is a syndicated columnist. Readers may email him at: tcaeditors@tribpub.com.