Christian Conservatives Warm to Climate Change Initiatives

Just when you thought it was safe to discuss environmental issues and politics in the same blog, it gets even more controversial.  Enter religion.

Yesterday, a group of top American evangelists went public to pressure the Bush administration into action on climate change.  What has been termed as “a historic tipping point” by top environmental advocates, 86 leading conservative Christian groups signed a statement entitled, “Climate Change: An Evangelical Call to Action".  The statement describes environmental protection as a Christian imperative - to care for God's creation. It urges federal lawmakers to approve mandatory cuts in carbon dioxide emissions, but in a way that doesn't hurt businesses.

Hmm, but how do you cut carbon dioxide emissions without impacting big businesses’ bottom line?  The statement seems rather tentative to me, but I applaud their step in the right direction.   

However, there is strong opposition to this pro-environmental statement no matter how tentative, yet logical it may seem.  The Interfaith Stewardship Alliance, a group of Christian leaders with close ties to the Bush administration have expressed skepticism about the initiative saying, “science is not settled on global warming”, and argued that most U.S. evangelicals do not back the call for regulating greenhouse emissions. 

President Bush, who is both an evangelical Christian and an ally of business, has rejected mandatory controls on carbon dioxide, and has kept the country out of the Kyoto international treaty to reduce greenhouse gases, saying the pact would harm the U.S. economy.

Despite strong opposition, I hope this "Green Christian" trend continues and will encourage more churches to take a stand on environmental issues that affect everyone, especially the poor.    

by
Erin Swanson

ESwanson@enviance.com