Senate Committee to hear Presiding Bishop's concerns on global warming
Episcopal News Service. June 4, 2007 [060407-03]
Citing the need for immediate attention to serious issues of global warming, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori will represent the National Council of Churches USA (NCC) at a June 7 Congressional hearing on global warming.
Jefferts Schori will testify before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee at 10 a.m., Room 406, Dirksen Senate Office Building. The committee will hear from several leaders of faith groups in "An Examination of the Views of Religious Organizations Regarding Global Warming."
The Presiding Bishop, who in 1983 earned her doctorate in oceanography, approaches the issue of climate change from both scientific and theological perspectives. Her testimony to the Senate Committee notes the specific effects of climate change on those living in poverty. Jefferts Schori regularly emphasizes care for the environment as part of the Millennium Development Goals, affirmed within the Episcopal Church's current top mission priority.
The Episcopal Church is one of the 35 member communions of the NCC which is the ecumenical voice of America's Orthodox, Protestant, Anglican, historic African American and traditional peace churches. These communions have 45 million faithful members in 100,000 congregations in all 50 states. The NCC's Eco-Justice Programs have been working for nearly two decades addressing environmental concerns from the Christian faith perspective.
Members of the Senate Committee are: Senate Majority (Democrats): Barbara Boxer (Chairman), California; Max Baucus, Montana; Joseph I. Lieberman, Connecticut; Thomas R. Carper, Delaware; Hillary Rodham Clinton, New York; Frank R. Lautenberg, New Jersey; Benjamin L. Cardin, Maryland; Bernard Sanders, Vermont; Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota; Sheldon Whitehouse, Rhode Island. Senate Minority Committee Members (Republicans): James M. Inhofe, Oklahoma; John Warner, Virginia; George V. Voinovich, Ohio; Johnny Isakson, Georgia; David Vitter, Louisiana; Lamar Alexander, Tennessee; Larry E. Craig, Idaho; Christopher S. Bond, Missouri.
Joining the Presiding Bishop on the panel will be: John Carr of the department of social development and world peace at the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops, who will address the theological imperative; Jim Ball, director of the Evangelical Environmental Network, promoters of What Would Jesus Drive, who will focus on conditions affecting those living in poverty; and Rabbi David Saperstein, Religious Action Center, summarizing and responding to minority witness if needed.
Minority presenters will be: Jim Tonkowich, president of the Institute on Religion and Democracy; David Barton, author, historian and founder/president of WallBuilders, a national pro-family organization; and Dr. Russell D. Moore, dean of the School of Theology and senior vice president for academic administration of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.