Religious leaders unite to address global warming
Episcopal News Service. May 21, 2007 [052107-05]
Josephine Borgeson, Educator, writer and consultant specializing in intersections of faith, science and the environment of the Diocese of Northern California
Uniting through a common concern for creation, Muslim, Christian and Jewish religious leaders announced May 21 a pact to fight global warming in a statement delivered to the White House and Congress.
"An Interfaith Declaration on the Moral Responsibility of the U.S. Government to Address Global Warming" comes on the heels of the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change's most recent report that makes clear the serious risks of delay.
The religious leaders, including Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, declare acceptance of the scientific evidence for global warming and pledge mutual support in addressing this severe challenge.
Recognizing the human contribution to global warming, the statement's signers call for legislators to enact mandatory limits on greenhouse gas emissions, and to make a healthy and healthful environment a priority.
"Our Earth is in great peril," the declaration says. "We cannot risk the consequences of inaction. Recognizing that human beings are largely responsible for creating this problem we stand together as brothers and sisters dedicated to finding solutions."
A pdf of the declaration is available here.
"Global climate change is one of the largest and most important issues facing all people," Jefferts Schori said. "If we take seriously our own tradition's teaching about interconnectedness, we cannot fail to see that poverty and hopelessness is intimately linked to climatic change. We must challenge the world to do what we can to minimize its effects on the least of us."
The Presiding Bishop reflected on the interconnectedness of poverty and climate change in an op-ed that appeared in May 20 editions of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, said: "Global warming is not just a scientific or political issue -- it is a moral issue. It is time for the moral voice of religion to speak up loudly to demand action."
"Predictions of the effects of global warming paint a bleak picture for millions, maybe billions, of people," said James A. Jordan, chair of the Executive Council Committee on Science, Technology and Faith. "Not only must we work to slow global warming, we must prepare to care for those who will be dispossessed and impoverished by its effects."
The religious leaders plan a series of activities including print and online advertisements, meetings with national legislators, and action campaigns in congregations. They also invite other religious leaders around the country to sign the statement.
The declaration grew out of a climate summit of high-level religious leaders hosted by the Rev. Sally G, Bingham, of The Regeneration Project's Interfaith Power and Light.
"The statement's signers represent millions of the faithful who see beyond their differences to a common need and goal: protection of life on earth," said Bingham.
For further information or to sign onto the statement, visit the website.
Find a chapter of Interfaith Power and Light near you.