Why we shouldn't wait
The Senate's failure to pass climate legislation this year is of course quite a disappointment to people of faith who worked hard to get a bill passed, and there's much more at stake than political wins and losses. In communities across the world - from East African farms experiencing intensified drought to increasingly inundated coastal areas of Bangladesh - the effects of climate change aren't an abstraction, they're a clear and present danger. According to a study Oxfam America released last summer, hunger, natural disasters, tropical diseases, and water shortages will be exacerbated worldwide, but most significantly in the world's poorest countries, if we don't curb carbon dioxide emissions significantly.
Judging by his New York Times column today, Ross Douthat does not know this. Although he acknowledges that climate change is real and human-caused, Douthat endorses the position that we should not address it through regulation:
Liberalism specializes in such leaps. But you can see why conservatives might lean toward the wisdom of inaction. Not every danger has a regulatory solution, and sometimes it makes sense to wait, get richer, and then try to muddle through.
Absent from this conclusion - and from Douthat's entire column - is acknowledgement of the human costs of inaction on climate change. Although he speculates in the vaguest of terms that "the wretched of the earth" will benefit from not regulating carbon emissions, he ignores the concrete human consequences of this path. I don't know Douthat, but I doubt he would not counsel us to "wait, get richer, and then try to muddle through" if he knew that delay threatens not only glaciers and coastlines, but also livelihoods and lives.
One of the faith community's most important contributions to the climate debate is that they've shined a light on the human consequences of global warming. I hope Douthat gets the memo before his next column on the issue.
Glenn Beck doesn't get to decide what a "real" religious issue is
Since Faithful America unveiled its new radio ad last week challenging Glenn Beck's claims about social justice, Beck has ramped up his attacks. As Media Matters notes, Beck responded to the ad by alleging that issues important to 100,000 Faithful America members had nothing to do with religion, but in fact were the products of "fascism" and "evil."
While dismissing health care reform, immigration reform and ending war and torture, he directed particular attention to Faithful America's commitment to addressing climate change. Beck complained:"If your pastor or priest or whoever is talking about social justice and it is, 'God is telling you that the government needs to solve global warming', run for your life."
Beck may not want to believe climate change is a religious issue, but there's a reason people of faith across the spectrum-- from evangelical leaders and the conservative Christian Coalition to the Pope, numerous mainline protestant churches, and Jewish groups-- have called for action on this issue. Not only is our current energy infrastructure unsustainable, but it disproportionately harms the poor. As climate change continues to worsen, access to clean water and food supplies deteriorate, and extreme changes in weather uproot entire communities--hitting developing countries the hardest. Our faiths call us to care for both creation and those in need, both of which will be devastated if we fail to act.
Beck's attempt to appoint himself arbiter of what is or is not a religious issue may make for good radio, but by ignoring the broad religious concern for the issues he's dismissing, Beck reveals his true ignorance.
Prayers for the people of the Gulf region
Faith group defeats oil companies' effort to dodge accountability
As oil gushing from the Gulf of Mexico sea bed drifts toward the shores of Louisiana, communities are scrambling not only to prepare for cleanup of the massive spill, but also to ensure that people who will bear the brunt of the devastation have the resources to hold BP and other oil and gas companies accountable for their apparent negligence.
Toward this end, the Micah Project -- a grassroots faith coalition in New Orleans affiliated with the PICO Network - made their presence felt at a Louisiana state legislature hearing last week about SB 549 -- a bill that would have limited legal assistance for poor communities who will likely face the disaster's effects. From Micah Project's action alert email today:
While the BP oil spill continues to wreak both environmental and human disaster all along the Gulf coast, oil and gas companies in the region - including BP - were quietly trying to pass a bill through the Louisiana state legislature that would have limited legal assistance for poor residents who are the victims of precisely the sort of environmental disaster currently facing the region.
At the Senate hearing on the legislation, over 65 members of Mary Queen of Viet Nam and others from New Orleans East presented Senator Ann Duplessis - the Senate Commerce Committee Chair - a letter expressing the community's strong opposition to the legislation, SB549.
After more than two hours of presentations and discussions, the committee unanimously passed a motion to defer the legislation.
This victory will allow organizations like the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic (TELC) to continue helping residents protect themselves from environmental assaults from corporations. While we celebrate this win, New Orleans residents continue to suffer from health hazards and increased toxic exposures from landfills, illegal dumpsites and the recent BP oil drilling disaster.
Faith-based community organizing groups across the country like the Micah Project take on crucial state and local issues like this all the time, empowering people to improve their communities and deflating rhetoric that would divide us into "secular socialist" and conservative Christian camps. Their leadership might not make headlines, but it's part of the backbone of the faith community's work for justice and the common good.
We're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat, Ctd.
Looks like Tom Toles had the same idea as Avaaz.org and Faithful America (albeit a few months later).
Keeping the ball moving on climate change
Even though climate change legislation has been relegated to the side stage for the moment, the issue is still receiving some political attention. The Wall Street Journal reported today that the 2011 federal budget holds some promising measures:
Mr. Obama's budget calls for $39 billion in tax increases on fossil-fuel producers over 10 years. It also includes an estimated $1.4 billion to help developing countries address the impacts of climate change, reduce deforestation and shift to low-carbon energy sources. And it proposes tripling federal support for nuclear energy, by adding $36 billion in new loan authority for an Energy Department program aimed at speeding the construction of new reactors. (emphasis added)
Although the challenge of equipping people who are already feeling the effects of climate change requires greater investment than this, it's encouraging to see that it hasn't fallen off the radar, even as legislation stalls. The thousands of Faithful America members who joined the DaySix campaign are watching closely, as are countless other people of faith across the country and around the world.
A milestone for adaptation
Although there's been plenty of tough sledding in Copenhagen this week (with plenty more ahead), a really positive development has emerged:
The Obama administration announced that it would join allies in raising $100 billion by 2020 to help the world's poorest countries adapt to climate change, a number that stunned many environmentalists with its size -- and which appears to meet the top demand of China, whose stalemate with the United States had bogged down the negotiations.
Although the funding would be, according to the LA Times report, "contingent upon nations reaching a broad agreement here that would lay the groundwork for a new treaty to combat global warming," this is a breakthrough, not only because of the amount of money involved, but also because it elevates adaptation to a first-tier priority in climate change policy. When the House of Representatives passed ACES earlier this year, adaptation funding barely registered on the national radar and barely made it into the bill. Now, it's in the headlines. Many faith groups have been working on this issue for a while now, and it's great to see their goals coming closer to being met.
The ark...
We're gonna need a bigger boat...
This Saturday, people of faith and activists all over the world are stepping up the pressure on the world's leaders to come away from the Copenhagen climate talks with a real deal: one that is fair, ambitious and binding.
In Washington DC, Faithful America is teaming up with Avaaz.org's Action Factory DC to show our leaders what "Plan B" looks like, in case Copenhagen fails: an ark. Yep, like Noah's Ark. The ark is in the construction phase right now (if you're in DC, you can stop by and see it -- it's on the National Mall around 13th St. NW). On Saturday, hundreds will gather for a vigil in front of the ark, joining their voices with tens of thousands all over the world to urge the world's leaders to ensure a "real deal" on climate.
While of course we won't be able to save the earth by marching two-by-two into a giant boat, the ark is a great symbol of the extent of the destruction we can expect if we don't do anything to stop climate change.
Aside from the obvious religious significance of the ark, faith communities will be well-represented at Saturday's candelight vigil. Rev. Derrick Harkins and Greater Washington Interfaith Power and Light Director Joelle Novey are scheduled to speak alongside other activists and leaders.
Combined with the faith delegation in Copenhagen itself, and the world-wide coordinated churchbell ringing this Sunday, Saturday's vigil is a real testimate to the leadership many people of faith have shown on this issue.
And with a problem as big as climate change, we're going to need all the leadership we can get!
In the DC area and want to check out the Ark or maybe even help with construction? Check out more details here.
(image courtesy of Action Factory DC)
The climate climate
Louisa, one of our interns here at Faith in Public Life, joked yesterday that we could dedicate the entire news reel to climate change coverage this week. It's definitely true-- there have been tons of stories this week as the United Nations kicks off its climate change conference in Copenhagen.
On the U.S. front, not as much progress has been made as we would've hoped; because of health care reform taking so long in Congress, the Senate hasn't had a chance to take up the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act introduced by Sens. Kerry and Boxer. But there are some reasons for optimism-- the announcement this week from the Environmental Protection Agency that greenhouse gases are a threat to public health and the environment is a good sign that the Administration takes this issue seriously.
But what fills me most with hope is the inspiring leadership of global religious leaders, from the U.S.'s own Rich Cizik to Archbishop Rowan Williams, and many, many more.
Check out this video from Copenhagen, demonstrating some of the religious backing for tackling climate change:
And listen for church bells this Sunday-- they'll be ringing to call for action and progress on climate change.
Corporate Profits vs Developing World Survival?
Unsurprisingly, CitizenLink, a publication of Focus on the Family's political arm, has posted an article critical of the Copenhagen climate talks.
Somewhat unexpected, though, is the article's indifference to the suffering of the world's poorest citizens and Focus's faith-free justification of it.
The article portrays the Copenhagen talks as some kind of handout of fancy green technology to poorer countries: The countries gathered will attempt to form a strategy to fight global warming that includes saying there will be "money sent to 'developing countries' to aid in making them 'eco-friendly'"and "cutting-edge green technology sent to those countries at no charge."
This, scare-quote heavy summary is a misrepresentation of what aid to developing countries really is. It's not what we normally think of "green" here in the US (installing bamboo floors instead of Brazillian hardwood) it's literally about survival for the people scripture calls on us to care for the most. In the developing world, climate change is causing massive floods, crop failure, disease and starvation, but CitizenLink seems to think we shouldn't help.
Most disappointing is that CitizenLink uses sources from the conservative Heritage Foundation and the health insurance, tobacco and oil industry champion Americans for Prosperity to make it's case, but not one reference to scripture or the "Biblical perspective" the site purports to offer.
For those playing at home, that's moneyed corporate interests: 2; Bible: 0.
The changing political climate
The faith community's efforts to stop climate change and protect those affected by it have been gaining steam in recent years, as evangelical groups have followed in the footsteps of Mainline Protestant and Jewish groups' long history of action on the issue. Now even the Christian Coalition is getting into the mix, joining with the National Wildlife Federation to place recent ads urging the Senate to pass climate change legislation.
I think we've reached a point where groups that don't take climate change seriously are becoming marginal themselves, rather than being able to marginalize those leaders who are courageously tacking the issue. Recall that Joel Hunter was elected president of the Christian Coalition in 2006 but didn't take office, in part, because they disagreed with his desire to address climate change. Three years later, the group has come around. My how times change.
Climate Change: Debated Here, Devastating Elsewhere
Originally posted at the Washington Post's On Faith page, re-posted here as a part of Blog Action Day.
Climate change affects us all, but its impact varies vastly from place to place. In response to ominous reports of global warming, many of us make lifestyle adjustments: we commute via mass transportation, buy local food, conserve energy, help to "green" our congregations, and just generally monitor our carbon footprints. My adaptations are voluntary and low-impact. Climate change pricks my conscience and spurs me to action, but it also leaves my community and my livelihood intact.
The contrast between my experience and that of millions of people around the world could hardly be more stark. Droughts are killing crops and causing famine in East Africa, intensifying storms and floods are damaging and destroying communities worldwide, and tropical diseases are on the rise in places where they'd been in decline for years. These disasters are attributable to human-induced global warming, and they're happening right now to families who contribute far less than I do to climate change.
It's tragic and unjust that people least responsible for climate change are most affected by it, but the situation is far from hopeless. Drought-resistant crops, irrigation projects, infrastructure investments and mosquito nets are saving lives and enabling communities to adapt to the severity of their changing environment. Interfaith, Jewish, Catholic, and Evangelical groups have been working on such programs for years, advocating for government and NGO investment in adaptation, and working on the ground to help poor communities innovate...
DaySix.org -- using social media to alleviate the effects of climate change
With the support of numerous religious groups, Faithful America just launched DaySix -- an innovative initiative that uses social media to ensure that the Senate climate bill includes robust adaptation funding, which helps vulnerable communities around the globe that are already affected by climate change adjust to their increasingly severe environments. Among the web-based features is 60-second web video, "Here vs There:"
In countless communities across the globe, people are adapting to climate change's by making agricultural, land-management and infrastructural innovations that protect their livelihoods. FPL intern Louisa Watkins shares one such story from her experience in a developing rural area:
You probably don't need to read another blog post full of depressing truths about how Climate Change is affecting our globe. If you're anything like me, you probably already find yourself overwhelmed by the sheer vastness of our global situation.
But perhaps you'll allow me to humbly offer a small image of hope - for when I begin thinking in grandiosely helpless terms, I hearken back to my experience with a small community in the southeastern Lempira region of Honduras...
...And we're off!
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will introduce climate change legislation tomorrow. Early reports are focusing on the fact that it contains stronger emissions limits than the House bill, but I think the most important observation is this from the AP report:
As the draft began to circulate Wednesday among environmental organizations, it became clear the legislation is viewed by both supporters and opponents as largely a beginning for what is expected to be intense and difficult discussions and debate among senators in the coming months over climate legislation.
Look for faith leaders to make a moral argument for the bill to place meaningful emissions caps and include provisions to help people around the world who are already impacted by climate change adapt to its effects.
I'm also expecting misleading "cap-and-tax" rhetoric from the religious right any minute now.
(And in case you have abnormally strong reading comprehension skills and a lot of time on your hands, here's the bill text.)
Climate change returns to the stage
Bad science, worse theology
It's always frustrating to hear American political leaders spout misinformation about climate change and undermining the seriousness of this issue, but today Sen. Inhofe added insult to injury by drawing on his religion to support his false claims on global warming.
Watch it:
This is the exchange:
CALLER: Yes, I agree with the Senator on what he says about the climate change. I believe that the world is just changing like it usually does. [...] INHOFE: I think he's right. I think what he's saying is God's still up there. We're going through these cycles. ... I really believe that a lot of people are in denial who want to hang their hat on the fact, that they believe is a fact, that man-made gases, anthropogenic gases, are causing global warming. The science really isn't there.
In fact, the science is there. The effects of climate change are already being felt, especially in the Global South.
Unlike Sen. Inhofe, most Americans know this. They realize that:
a. Climate change is real and caused by human activity (over 6-in-10 Americans, according to our March 2009 poll, conducted by Public Religion Research)b. Climate change is making it harder for people in the developing world to support their families by causing increased drought and crop failure (something nearly 7-in-10 Americans and similar numbers of Catholics and evangelicals believe, according to the same poll)
As the Senate prepares to take up the climate bill in the coming months, it's no time for people of faith to use flimsy theological arguments to shirk our responsibilities to care for our fellow human beings or this planet. I liked this translation of Genesis 1:28 on this point (it's from The Message):
"God blessed them: 'Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge!' Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air, for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth."
Being responsible for God's planet and God's children means taking climate change seriously and working to do all we can to combat it. Here's hoping Sen. Inhofe's colleagues in the Senate know that.
One small step for climate, one giant leap left to go
Following a vigorous debate and a close vote, religious activists applauded the House of Representatives for passing ACES, the landmark climate bill that will soon be taken up by the Senate. The bill wasn't perfect (for example, it allocated a paltry 1% of emissions permit revenues to adaptation funding for poor and vulnerable populations who are already feeling the effects of climate change), but it was an important first step in the effort to mitigate the catastrophic effects of global warming.
Polluting industries and their allies pulled out all the stops to defeat the bill, and they almost succeeded (it passed by 7 votes). Already, House members who voted in favor of it are under attack. The pressure on Senators will be intense. Opponents of the legislation are continuing to peddle the discredited idea that it will soak taxpayers and destroy our economy, and the example of House members subjected to attack ads less than a week after their vote will not be lost on the members of the upper chamber.
That's why the faith community needs to mobilize and share its moral witness with the Senate, as they did with the House. Even supporters of the legislation need to be reminded by faith leaders and religious constituents that global warming is a moral issue of utmost importance. No less a politician than Franklin Roosevelt once said "I agree with you, I want to do it, make me do it." The House vote was so close that it's fair to say that every call, letter, fax and email to Members made a difference. It'll likely play out the same way in the Senate. So onward! With warming forecasts growing ever more dire, the stakes in Congress could scarcely be higher.
Who will the climate bill serve?
The encouraging climate change polling data and radio ad buys announced last week by faith and military leaders and Members of Congress presented broad support for a climate bill that includes funds to help vulnerable populations at home and abroad adapt to climate change. (A new round of radio ads was introduced today.) But energy companies' lobbying efforts to block such efforts are formidable, well-funded and intensifying. It's a simple case of self-interest -- the money spent on adaptation could go toward allowances for energy companies instead.
The argument for including adaptation funding is a little more compelling. The people who live in the areas most affected by climate change are largely poor and depend on agriculture. They cannot stop the increasingly severe droughts and floods that kill their crops, destroy their homes and endanger their livelihoods, but they can adapt in numerous ways, averting catastrophe. alleviating poverty, and improving security. But it requires investment. As the wealthiest nation in the world, and a disproportionate producer of greenhouse gases, funding international - and domestic -- adaptation is our obligation, plain and simple.
With legislative negotiations winding down, it's more important than ever to let lawmakers know that this is a moral issue that matters to people of faith. Individual calls from constituents do make a difference, and they're more necessary than ever as an army of lobbyists is fighting cap and trade legislation that includes adaptation funding. Please help by:
a) calling 877-88-CLIMATE to connect with your Congressional office and urge your representative to support climate change legislation (before being connected, you will receive helpful information so you'll know just what to say when you get connected);
b) encouraging your friends and family to do the same;
c) keep following the issue -- we are at a critical juncture.
People of faith: US should help poor adapt to climate change
An oft-overlooked question in the climate change debate is what should be done to help the people who are most affected adapt to the destructive environmental changes it's already causing. Droughts in Africa and floods in South Asia are increasing in severity, adding new hardships for already-poor people who are least responsible for climate change and whose survival depends on adapting to these extremes.
Fortunately, majorities of Americans -- including people of faith -- are aware of this and believe the US needs to act now to address it. A new poll, sponsored by FPL and Oxfam America and conducted by Public Religion Research, reveals that:
• Majorities of Americans, including majorities of Catholics, Mainline Protestants and Evangelicals, believe dealing with climate change now will create new jobs and help avoid more serious economic problems in the future.
• Nearly 7-in-10 (69%) Americans and similar numbers of Catholics, Mainliners and Evangelicals agree that climate change is making it harder for the world's poorest people to support their families.
• Approximately three-quarters of the general public and similar numbers of Catholics and Evangelicals favor helping the world's poorest people adapt to food and water shortages caused by rising global temperatures.
Click here for full poll results -- there's plenty more info of interest.
These findings are helping fuel a broad effort to encourage undecided Members of Congress to support climate change legislation that includes significant funding for adaptation efforts and measures that will help low-income Americans with energy costs and energy efficiency. A new media campaign promoting these aims -- including ads in key districts in Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Virginia and Ohio and emails to over 5.3 million evangelicals and Catholics in Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and North Carolina -- is launching this week, as legislative action heats up. (UPDATE: pardon the pun.) As the climate crisis pushes the poor to the brink, the time to act is now.
America's faithful celebrate Earth Day 365x a year
All across the U.S., people of faith are joining (and, in many cases, spearheading) Earth Day celebrations in their communities. Around the country, ecumenical services and gatherings are happening just as they are in Georgia and New Hampshire. The interfaith group EarthKeepers are planting thousands of trees in Michigan while Boston-area Unitarians have accepted the challenge to decrease their carbon footprints. Similar stories abound.
In a report published today, the 39th anniversary of Earth Day, the Center for American Progress looks at the bigger picture:
Religious communities across the country are celebrating Earth Day every day this year by taking long-term, sustainable steps to help reduce global warming. Faith communities are greening their houses of worship and advocating for policies and lifestyles that protect the planet and its most vulnerable inhabitants, joining scientists, policymakers and environmental advocates as good stewards of God's creation.
The CAP report, which details 21 important ways America's faithful are fighting climate change, really gets the point: Americans expressing the principles/values of their faith through caring for the planet is no longer a novelty storyline. Just a few of the examples which have crossed the newswire lately:
A new coalition of Catholic groups has launched the Catholic Climate Covenant, a campaign designed to encourage legislators to "pass prudent legislation that takes into account the needs of the common good, specifically the poor whom they say are affected most by climate change."
FPL and Oxfam are releasing a new poll tomorrow showing religious voters' concern for climate change and its effects on the world's poor. Also, a new Congressional coalition focused on prioritizing the most vulnerable communities affected by climate change will be introduced.
Interfaith Power and Light is conducting lobbying and adaptation efforts in 28 states, from California to North Carolina.
(Many more below the fold.)
Where can we find a moral response to the climate crisis?
Climate change is no joke. In fact, the EPA has said carbon dioxide poses a threat of "likely increase in mortality and morbidity." Scary stuff. But, the thing is, this won't be happening to those of us in the developed world first. The world's most vulnerable--those living off the land in developing nations--are already suffering from effects of global warming. More than a tenth of the world's population is at immediate risk from climate change, from crop failure in Malawi to flooding and malaria in Asia.
A moral response is in order, and this week, there have been a few contenders.
Option A:
Richard Land, the "Southern Baptist Convention's top lobbyist for social and moral concerns," who prefers coal-fired power plants to a cap-and-trade plan to cut greenhouse-gas emissions. Land says, "It's called 'cap and trade,' and it's the tax that dares not speak its name... Politicians love cap and trade, because they can claim to be taxing polluters, not workers. But of course, that is never true."
Option B:
Think Progress blogger Matt Yglesias, who thinks " failure to start reducing carbon emissions in the very near term is a substantive human and ecological catastrophe... Climate change means drought and famine, flood and forest fire, all in new and unprepared places. People will die."
Land relies on the stale argument that any attempt to hold polluters accountable will break the bank and cause "greater economic hardships on every American, especially the poor..." He spouts the Republican talking point that cap-and-trade is an "energy tax." He claims to be speaking in defense of poor Americans, saying "... rushing into environmental policies based on questionable science that will create greater economic hardships on every American, especially the poor, is the wrong approach."
While figuring out how to cut back on emissions won't be easy, there are ways to avoid placing a burden on low-income Americans. (Ezra Klein quotes Dave Roberts from the CBO, who says," "Auctioning permits and rebating the revenue, compared to freely allocating permits, produces the same macroeconomic effect, but auction-and-rebate is vastly more progressive, favoring low-income taxpayers, while freely allocating permits overwhelmingly favors the rich.")
Yglesias, a secular blogger, doesn't purport to lobby for "social and moral concerns." But it seems to me that he does a vastly better job of making the moral case for curbing emissions. After all, people's lives are at stake.
P.S. Thankfully, many religious voices are making the moral case for environmental protections-- like Jonathan Merritt or Rich Cizik, as well as outstanding organizations like Interfaith Power and Light.
Tackling climate change
And it's worse than we realized.
An international team of researchers has concluded that global warming can't be backtracked as easily as we were hoping. Even if we somehow, miraculously figure out how to curb our carbon emissions, the report says global temperatures could remain high for 1,000 years.
To make matters worse, the report goes on to say that if we don't cut down on the CO2 being released into our environment, we should expect dry-season rainfall--- comparable to the 1930s North American Dust Bowl!-- around the world, in southern Europe, northern Africa, southwestern North America, southern Africa and western Australia.
This is serious, and scary, business, and we need to figure out what to do about it. I think it's going to require working together as communities, states, and countries and it's going to require sacrifices.
Keep reading!
The people have spoken... Part II
As promised, more ballot initiative analysis!
Despite some losses on Tuesday for progressive forces, there were definitely some wins as well. In addition to defeating antiabortion initiatives-- which I blogged about yesterday-- voters also defeated several anti-immigrant initiatives, including one in Oregon that would mandated "English immersion" and limited the number of years immigrant students could have English-as-a-Second-Language classes. Ballot initiatives in several states also bolstered health care for children and seniors. Montana voters approved a measure which will establish the Healthy Montana Kids plan to expand and coordinate health coverage for uninsured children under the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), the Montana Medicaid Program, and employer-sponsored health insurance. Voters helped protect low-income Americans against predatory pay-day lenders in both Ohio and Arizona. In Michigan, voters approved an initiative that allows the donation of embryos produced in fertility clinics that would otherwise be discarded and would allow researchers to create embryonic stem cell cultures to study disease, as well as allowing government funding of stem-cell research.
Initiatives on the environment, however, were a mixed bag.
In California, both environmental initiatives-- "Big Wind" (a rebate program for those who buy alternative energy-fueled vehicles) and "Big Solar" (a requirement that utilities companies incrementally increase alternative-energy usage to meet 50% by 2025) failed. I was surprised by this, since California is known as being one of the most progressive states in the country and because Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger, is probably the most outspoken "green" Republican. Schwarzenegger as governor has pledged to prevent off-shore drilling, signed into law legislation which requires cutting greenhouse-gas emissions, and issued an executive order mandating less carbon in transportation fuel.
And yet Californian voters turned down not one, but two, attempts to (at least ostensibly) make California more green.
Cizik and Co.: Sea Change on Climate Change
The enviro-magazine Grist hosted a wonderful dialogue between three leaders at the crossroads of religion and the environment: Richard Cizik of the NAE, LeeAnne Beres of Earth Ministry and Peter Illyn of Restoring Eden.
Cizik said evangelicals have a lot to confess, namely being AWOL on climate change for so long. While acknowledging evangelicals must then earn the right to speak on the environment, he said their urgency is motivated by a desire for justice and the common good. Speaking of moving beyond polarization and tired culture wars, Cizik said: “We’re interested in something else. We’re interested more in, frankly, making a difference than in making a statement."
The conversation is also hopeful, suggesting that climate change can be a bridge-building issue. Illyn says, for example, that some politically conservative Christians are beginning to see concern for the environment as part of a widening definition of being "pro-life." Beres testifies to the sea change on this issue, noting an "organic" interest among mainline Protestants and saying that youth especially understand the need to engage.
Finally, Cizik discusses how far evangelicals' numbers and political capital can help move the dialogue:
Sharing the Earth - A Jewish, Evangelical Conversation
An interview between Rabbi Andrea Cohen-Kiener, the spiritual leader of Congregation Pnai Or of Central Conn, and Dr. Lowell “Rusty” Pritchard, the National Director of Outreach for the Evangelical Environmental Network and the editor of Creation Care magazine, a Christian environmental quarterly.
Andrea Cohen-Kiener: Does your mandate for climate change come from Genesis?Rusty Pritchard: Yes, but as an Evangelical Christian, I often go to John 3:16 which starts off, “for God so loved the world.” Most Evangelicals hear that word “world” and think it means all the people in the world. But the word is cosmos. And it fits with the story of creation in Genesis that God loves his whole creation.
Cohen-Kiener: We need to acknowledge our grandeur and our smallness simultaneously. I've experienced a resistance in the Jewish community to environmental efforts; I've heard often over the past ten years, “we have more important issues to address.” Have you experienced similar speed bumps?Pritchard: The biggest speed bump is a limited conception of God, and a comfortable conservatism that is scared of change. I ask people, “what is it that conservatives should be conserving?” Of course we need to conserve natural resources, families and the ability of families to make a living. We need also to conserve beautiful places, including small towns and farms, all that makes human civilization good and beautiful and diverse. We can respect diversity because it's a blessing from God. That takes us past the shallow conservatism of fearing new ideas and deeper to a conservatism that says we ought to do our best to take care of the natural world.
Cohen-Kiener: In my community, there are primarily two speed bumps. First, my people are a minority and there's a natural tendency toward particularism — taking care first of oneself, one's people, one's family. The universalism of environmental makes some Jews feel it's not an essentially Jewish issue.Pritchard: Even though it's not demographically true, Evangelicals also feel like an embattled minority culture. Our dominant myth is that we're a faithful remnant that acknowledges the truth even though the world has gone another direction. Until recently, our community viewed environmentalism as a liberal issue, or as a popular fad. But because our theology says that God's character can be seen in the created world, many conservative Christians are beginning to be concerned about creation care. In that view, destroying creation and permitting ecological degradation are like ripping pages out of scripture.
The rest is on the flip. . .
Wall Street Panjandrums vs. People of Faith
In today's Wall Street Journal piece, "Global Warming as Mass Neurosis," editorial board member Bret Stephens rips into the faithful:
A second explanation is theological. Surely it is no accident that the principal catastrophe predicted by global warming alarmists is diluvian in nature. Surely it is not a coincidence that modern-day environmentalists are awfully biblical in their critique of the depredations of modern society: "And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart." That's Genesis, but it sounds like Jim Hansen. And surely it is in keeping with this essentially religious outlook that the "solutions" chiefly offered to global warming involve radical changes to personal behavior, all of them with an ascetic, virtue-centric bent: drive less, buy less, walk lightly upon the earth and so on.So radical, that idea to consume less and walk more. I guess that would baffle the car service elite.
If Mr. Stephens wants to attack folks who care for creation as being "awfully biblical in their critique of the depredations of modern society," I can think of tens of million Americans who would accept that critique.
Furthermore, this op-ed shows that the men who wield the most control on the market are more than happy to pay lip service to our religious values, except when, as during the fights over abolition or now over climate change, the results would mean a few less million in their pockets.
The heads of the Wall Street Journal call Americans "Biblical" and "radical" if they drive less, buy less, and walk more. Talk about sophistry. The deniers are not only content to dismiss science, now they attack Americans for their religious values and private decisions over consumption. That's not even good faith in markets, that's panjandrum presumption.
"Greening" the faith: an ordinary revolution
Last week, I spotlighted my pastor after he advocated for creation care in a newspaper article. I felt proud to be part of a faith community seeking to understand how its beliefs interact with all areas of life.
Today, I feel the same pride but to a much greater degree. I just finished reading Faith in Action, the Sierra Club’s first national report on how people of faith are confronting environmental issues with courage and grace. The report highlights the work of one group from each state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The simple fact that the Sierra Club, viewed as a "secular" group (the report states almost half of Sierra Club members attend church monthly), released the report is reflective of just how valuable the faith community is becoming in combating environmental problems. Multiple faiths are represented, each group has found a unique, and ultimately prophetic, way to live responsibly within their community.
Creation care begins at home
There was good news from my hometown of Columbia, Missouri this weekend: My church was well-represented in the public square by a friend crying out that God cares how we care for creation.
In “Environment of contention,” Columbia Tribune writer Annie Nelson approached the intersection of faith and the issue of climate change from the perspective of several evangelical leaders. I was proud that my pastor was one of them:
Pastor Kevin Larson of Karis Community Church, an interdenominational congregation with Baptist ties, said global warming is absolutely a Christian issue because of God’s cultural mandate to be good stewards of creation. Larson said evangelicals accept that murder is a sin but have a hard time thinking of pouring motor oil in a storm drain as something they need to repent. "I see both as sins," he said.
Later, he rebutted some Christians’ use of end-times theology to excuse a lack of environmental concern:
"Since God is going to restore all things, we should work with him and not against him by destroying everything," Larson said.
What’s most gratifying is knowing Kevin and knowing he really believes this. His words aren’t for publicity or attention. I know it because, as a church, we’re humbly struggling together to live these words out. We realize this is uncharted territory for our faith tradition and we’re doing our best, knowing we’ll make mistakes.
This year, we’ve been besieged by stories about the Wrights and Hagees and Parsleys (oh my!) of the faith world. Amid this noise, it's almost surprising to find a story with a pastor making reasoned, articulate statements about a controversial topic -- but it shouldn't be.
We can't let people get away with using this election cycle as justification to divorce faith from social engagement. There are pastors and faith leaders who make their stand based on strong beliefs, rather than the shifting winds of public opinion or the directives of faith bosses from the fundamentalist fringe. We need to hear more about them. That my pastor gave me the chance to make that argument is reason enough to be proud.
Faith on the Senate Floor | Global Warming
Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) lists diverse faith groups that support aggressive legislation to mandate carbon reductions to stop global warming.
My Day on Capitol Hill: A Religious Response to Global Warming
Last week, about forty lay and clergy members of Interfaith Power and Light met with Senators, Representatives and their environmental legislative directors to call for rapid and equitable action on climate change.
In the House, we asked that members sign onto a global warming principles letter circulated by Reps. Waxman (D-CA), Markey (D-MA) and Inslee (D-WA).
The principles include the following elements:
Compassion Forum Focus: Climate Change
As you may know, Faith in Public Life is hosting presidential candidates Sen. Clinton and Sen. Obama on April 13 for the Compassion Forum.
The Compassion Forum is focused on just five important issues to folks of faith: domestic and international poverty, global AIDS, climate change, genocide in Darfur, and human rights and torture.
Each day this week, this blog will highlight one of those five issues. See the flip side for Climate Change.
A State Debate Over Faith in Civic Life
On Friday, in its editorial "Wise Choice," The Richmond Times-Dispatch opines: The University of Virginia's Miller Center for Public Affairs recently organized a debate -- sponsored in part by this newspaper -- on the role of religion in civic life. The two sides debated whether there should be any.
Several days later, 60 area religious leaders and scholars sent a letter to Gov. Tim Kaine opposing a coal-fired power plant in Wise. The letter does not come right out and say the plant would be a mortal sin, but it strongly hints in that direction: "Our rich religious traditions tell us that 'the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof,' (Psalm 24:1) and call us to live out our moral responsibility to protect the earth for our children and future generations. We also are called to serve and protect the poor and the helpless and to 'love our neighbor as we love ourselves.' (Leviticus 19:18)."
Religion has played a key role in many great causes (e.g., abolition), and some less so (e.g., the nuclear-freeze movement). It forms the basis for much opposition to abortion and gay marriage -- which frequently provokes complaints that fundamentalists are trying to "impose their values" on others.
Kaine, a former missionary, opposes capital punishment for religious reasons (he nevertheless has allowed executions to proceed). He supports the proposed plant in Wise. Is the letter from religious leaders an attempt to inject religion into a realm many liberals say ought to remain entirely secular -- or a shrewd political ploy aimed at exploiting the governor's piety? And would it seem as seemly if the governor were named, say, Mike Huckabee?On Sunday, the paper published a rebuttal by one of the Virginia religious leaders. Read it on the flip. . .
EXCLUSIVE: Interview with the Man Behind the Southern Baptist Climate Initiative
Many of you caught the recent news of a growing number of Southern Baptist leaders signing onto a global warming declaration. They say their church's official stance is "too timid" and call for more action on climate change. They write:
We realize that simply affirming our God-given responsibility to care for the earth will likely produce no tangible or effective results. Therefore, we pledge to find ways to curb ecological degradation through promoting biblical stewardship habits and increasing awareness in our homes, businesses where we find influence, relationships with others and in our local churches. Many of our churches do not actively preach, promote or practice biblical creation care. We urge churches to begin doing so.This statement was pioneered by Jonathan Merritt, a graduate of Liberty University. He is currently a seminarian at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, in North Carolina. Over the weekend I wrote to Jonathan asking for an interview, and he graciously agreed to share his thoughts with the Interfaith Power and Light community.
The Interview:
Interfaith Power and Light: You've mentioned an epiphany "that broke you" and changed your perspective on the environment. What triggered it?
Jonathan Merritt: I was in a theology class at Southeastern learning about the general revelation of God. My professor likened destroying creation to tearing a page out of the bible. Obviously, these two forms are not equally important, but they are equally revelation.
IPL: What process did you go through in deciding to translate your personal conviction into a public, furthermore a community, statement of belief?
JM: I first began to examine my life, but I felt an inner nudge to do more. Then I sort of tore a page out of the SBC playbook. As Southern Baptists, we have learned that we can accomplish more when we cooperate together rather than blaze a trail individually.
Video | Catholics and Southern Baptists Get Greener
The Environment and Sin
ABC News | Churches Giving Up Carbon for Lent
The Washington Post writes:
. . .the idea is catching on: A blog, Green Lent, is devoted to the concept, and locally, Greater Washington Interfaith Power and Light, a nonprofit organization that works with area congregations to spread the sustainability gospel, is promoting a Lenten carbon fast in the D.C. area, offering pledges and tip sheets for distribution at worship services and church events.The Post also notes how evangelicals are joining in giving up carbon for lent.
SEED Film | E. O. Wilson on The Creation
Harvard naturalist, theorist, and humanist E.O. Wilson discusses his work with ants, his book The Creation, and why he writes with pen and paper. It's hard to picture, if you know him only by his scientific reputation, but E.O. Wilson confesses it freely: He loves watching preachers on television," writes the WaPo.
"Wilson is an internationally renowned biologist who has based his extraordinarily productive five-decade career at that great bastion of secular humanism, Harvard University. At 77, his work and his worldview are so thoroughly entwined with Darwinian theory that they're impossible to imagine without it. His reverence is for the wondrous creatures and intricate interconnections of the natural world, not for any supreme being."
Mountaintop Removal: A Coal Crime Against Creation
Mountaintop removal / valley fill coal mining (MTR) has been called strip mining on steroids. One author says the process should be more accurately named: mountain range removal. Mountaintop removal /valley fill mining annihilates ecosystems, transforming some of the most biologically diverse temperate forests in the world into biologically barren moonscapes.
Get the facts and scriptural justification from Christians for the Mountains.
A Nun Blogs from Bali
Yesterday (Wednesday) was the opening of the high-level negotiations. This means it is the time when the heads of governments arrive and speak on the issue, and work towards decisions that will move us toward a more sustainable EARTH community. Each speaker yesterday from around the world spoke of the absolute necessity of ALL countries cooperating in the decision making process. Many spoke of being motivated by our responsibility to care for creation, the most vulnerable and future generations. It was clear, without mentioning the United States directly, that each speaker was indeed saying to the United States: you need to be a cooperative party in the negotiations.
More on the flipCNN: The genesis of Interfaith Power and Light
Throughout the weekend, CNN and Headline News will be playing this footage of the Rev. Sally Bingham's environmental activism. Her Interfaith Power and Light campaign is mobilizing a national religious response to global warming while promoting renewable energy, resource efficiency and conservation.
Recently Interfaith Power and Light has:
+Screened An Inconvenient Truth in 4000 congregations.
+Works with national church and environmental groups to pressure Congress and the President to pass strong legislation to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
+25 local state offices that provide speakers, energy audits, informational resources to all members of the faith community.
+Created the ShopIPL online strore where individuals and congregations can purchase low cost, high quality energy saving products.
The club for green grows
The polluting industry is losing is exploitative grip on the American religious landscape. Now it's almost impossible to fail to find an article each week on the greening of God. In fact, the dog bites man story is becoming "evangelicals care for creation."
For example, from the Associated Press:The tall, tan pastor stood at the pulpit of his Baptist church on a recent Sunday morning, cleared his throat, and nervously proclaimed the following: "We can embrace God and Scripture and science together. And it's enough to say when they agree - and sometimes they do - we should embrace it. And they agree that our Earth cannot last forever. And that we are charged with the responsibility of taking care of it." With that, there was another rustle in the crowd. And Peachtree Baptist Church had opened its two-month Sunday sermon series on the environment.
But this growing club of the Godly greens reveals more than a local church shift.
This is evident in "true conservative" Bob Novak's recent column attacking GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee.Huckabee clearly departs from the mainstream of the conservative movement in his confusion of "growth" with "greed." Such ad hominem attacks are part of his intuitive response to criticism from the Club for Growth. . . . On "Fox News Sunday" on Nov. 18, he called the "tactics" of the Club for Growth "some of the most despicable in politics today. It's why I love to call them the Club for Greed. . ."
Never one to shed light basic human morality, Novak continues to split "economic conservative" from scripture:
But Huckabee simply does not fit within normal boundaries of economic conservatism, such as when he criticized President Bush's veto of a Democratic expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program. Calling global warming a "moral issue" mandating "a biblical duty" to prevent climate change, he has endorsed a cap-and-trade system that is anathema to the free market.
It's becoming clear that a split is coming, with the godly moving away from the greedy "conservatives" and joining the growing club for a green future.
Thousands drown in Bangladesh cyclone with "Katrina-like storm surge"
Barguna, Bangladesh - The death toll from Thursday's cyclone in Bangladesh is now more than 3,100, and officials say that number could reach 10,000 once rescuers get to outlying islands. Rescuers are struggling to reach thousands of survivors, and relief items have been slow to reach many.CNN:
VIDEO: God is getting greener
NOW | God and Global Warming | PBS
In August, NOW traveled with an unlikely alliance of Evangelical Christians and leading scientists to witness the breathtaking effects of global warming on Alaska's rapidly changing environment. Though many in the evangelical community feel recognition of global warming is in opposition to their mission, the week-long trip inspired new thinking on the relationship between science and religion, and on our moral responsibility to protect the planet. A breathtaking and surprising journey to find common ground between earth and sky.
This web-exclusive special footage is related to the NOW on PBS program "God and Global Warming" airing Friday, October 26. Watch the episode here.
Faith and the California fires
Here are some videos on how the Southern California wildfires are affecting congregations and how faith groups are responding.
And of course Fox News find a radical Islamic link:
Nuns go green
Growing faith in global warming
For those who care about real ethical engagement between the faith community and the larger culture, the moral and scientific issue of global warming stands as a growing success. That said, we haven't solved the problem yet and Congress continues to stall. (Help by supporting the Boxer/Sanders bill.) Adding to the climate change on climate change, Yale Divinity School's journal Reflections -- a magazine of theological and ethical inquiry -- has devoted the current to God's Green Earth and the current meanings of Creation, Faith and Crisis.
The lead authors, Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim, write:"A many-faceted alliance of religion and ecology along with a new global ethics is awakening around the planet...This is a new moment for the world's religions, and they have a vital role to play in the emergence of a more comprehensive environmental ethics. The urgency cannot be underestimated. Indeed, the flourishing of the Earth community may depend on it."
Other contributers include ethicist Larry Rasmussen, evangelical thinker Richard Cizik, activist the Rev. Sally Bingham and 2004 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Wangari Maathai.
Oh yeah, and you can order the journal online for free.At Aspen, E.O. Wilson seeks common ground with evangelical pastors
American biologist (Myrmecology, a branch of entomology), researcher (sociobiology, biodiversity), theorist (consilience, biophilia), and naturalist (conservationism) E. O. Wilson shares a letter to a Christian pastor, an appeal for common cause on caring for creation.
On Jul 8th, 2006, at the Aspen Ideas Festival, Wilson offered some thoughts on our shared future, while noting that we live in the century of the environment.
Get to know: Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life
The answer may lie with the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life.
VIDEO: Former Christian Coalition leader calls for creation care
In this special report, Anderson Cooper 360 profiles Dr. Joel Hunter, senior pastor of Northland, A Church Distributed in Longwood, Florida. A longtime conservative, Dr. Hunter stepped down as president of The Christian Coalition of America because he believes that Evangelicals must care "for the vulnerable outside the womb, as well as inside the womb." The "Compassion Issues" we must address, he teaches, include sanctity of life, marriage and family, justice, poverty and creation care.
Boxer: Elections have consquences. . .for climate change
Scientists and Christian leaders unite on global warming
Spreading the Green Word
Get to know: Restoring Eden, a new front in the Christian environmental movement
I'm a Christian environmental evangelist!, writes Restoring Eden head Peter Illyn.
In an article in the hip environmental journal Grist, Illyn adds he recognizes that "this definition is loaded with stereotypes, both positive and negative, but it best describes what I do -- traveling around the country preaching in churches and colleges about the goodness of nature and our sacred duty to love, serve, and protect God's creation."
NAE's Cizik calls on Bush to address the environment in the state of the union
Faith and science share distress over climate change
On NPR, Richard Cizik discusses emerging evangelical issues
Get to know the Regeneration Project
Wait, is climate change a MORAL issue?
Bill Moyers' God is Green?
This week over 4000 places of worship will show films about climate change
Heritage Foundation Attempts to Retake the Religious Voice on Global Warming