This past Sunday morning the organization I work for, the Evangelical Environmental Network (EEN), ran TV spots in key states -- Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Missouri and in D.C. -- asking viewers to tell their Senators "that defending the EPA's ability to reduce carbon pollution is the right thing to do."
On Monday, EEN's President, the Rev. Mitch Hescox, and I met with the Environmental Protection Agency's Assistant Administrator for air pollution issues, Gina McCarthy, played the TV spot for her, and hand-deliver more than 50,000 messages of support from pro-life Christians.
Here is what that message said:
Dear EPA Administrator Jackson:As a pro-Life Christian, I urge you and the EPA to remain strong in your efforts to address carbon pollution through the authority of the Clean Air Act.
The reality of climate change is already being felt here in the U.S. and around the world in the form of extreme weather and health impacts, which most affect the unborn, poor, and powerless. It is time for America to tackle this great moral challenge. Doing so protects life and abides by Christ's teaching to love one care for the least of these who will be hit hardest by climate change.
Thank you.
The TV spots highlight the extreme weather that has been plaguing the United States and point out that the poor in poor countries are and will continue to experience more frequent and intense heatwaves, droughts, floods and other harmful impacts due to climate change.
"You do whatever it takes to protect someone you love," the video narrator says. "What about the less fortunate in poorer countries? Climate change is threatening their lives. Jesus taught us to care for 'the least of these,' and today this means working to overcome climate change."
I'm sure it will surprise some to know that over 50,000 pro-life Christians are supporting the EPA's efforts to overcome global warming. Support for climate action has been quietly growing, despite our economic troubles and the disavowal of climate change by prominent political leaders. Christians are seeing that climate action is part of Christ's lordship in our lives, even in the midst of hardship and opposition.
Support for climate action within the evangelical community began in February 2006 when more than 80 senior evangelical leaders, including Rick Warren of Saddleback Church and Bill Hybels of Willow Creek Community Church, formed the Evangelical Climate Initiative (ECI) and issued a statement calling for strong action on climate change, including federal legislation to put a price on carbon. Since then evangelicals have authored numerous books climate change and creation care, including Katharine Hayhoe and Andrew Farley's "A Climate of Change: Global Warming Facts for Faith-Based Decisions," Jonathan Merritt's "Green Like God," Ben Lowe's "Green Revolution" and my own "Global Warming and the Risen LORD."
In addition, for the first time an evangelical denomination, the Christian Reformed Church, recently adopted a special report on creation care and climate change, which included the following statement:
"Urgent action is required to address climate change. Action is needed at the personal, community, and political levels toward reducing human causes of climate change and mobilizing ourselves in urgent assistance to those who are forced to adapt to its negative effects. We have an opportunity now to reduce the future impact of climate change by reducing the emission of greenhouse gases. These emissions are increasing at an exponential rate. Waiting to act until more data accumulate limits our ability to reduce future impacts and ensures that future climate change will be greater rather than smaller" (p. 57).
As my colleague and EEN's President, the Rev. Mitch Hescox, says: "So goes our community on this issue, so goes the country."
The Rev. Jim Ball, Ph.D., is author of Global Warming and the Risen LORD.
Bert Montgomery: Of Jaws and the Kingdom of God
Katherine Marshall: Rio +20: Point of No Return?
Bill Chameides: Climate Politics: North Carolina House Whiffs on Controversial Sea-Level Bill
Rabbi Joshua Levine Grater: The End of the World As We Know It, See Pg. 3
I can respect that.
A recent article here cited A Beka Book and Bob Jones University Press curricula with the statement, "God has provided certain "checks and balances" in creation to prevent many of the global upsets that have been predicted by environmentalists."
Now let's not resort to the No True Scotsman Fallacy here. The majority of evangelicals put stock in a theology that primarily espouses claims contrary to scientific evidence. While it's a good thing that SOME evangelicals are taking the initiative to espouse environmental awareness, Christianity and evangelism disproportionately increase scientific illiteracy over environmental awareness.
The Evangelical Environmental Network mentioned in this very article started in 1993 or so. Before that there was A Rocha. And Au Sable. And others. World Vision and other evangelical humanitarian organizations have long had sustainability as a central piece of their work. They may have been overshadowed, but evengelical environmentalists have been around from the start of the environmental movement.
The question is, how will these Fundamentalists vote? How much influence will the EEN have on fellow Evangelicals?
Truth told: If the GOP takes over, some of the biggest losers will be Evangelicals.
The EPA is a lossy agency to handle man made climate change! Say they were successful and closed all coal fired generations plants. Things like mercury pollution would be higher than ever in 5 or 6 years!
How you ask?
Because we already get over 2/3's of our mercury pollution from Asia and at the rate it is increasing shutting down all our plants would be negated in about 5 years!
"There is no place called away!" It's a quote.
http://discovermagazine.com/2011/apr/18-made-in-china-our-toxic-imported-air-pollution/
Now if we use the Endangered Species Act:
The Act is administered by two federal agencies, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
And Stop imports from Asia or apply a high environmental tariff on their products then we might make some progress in terms of man made climate change.
http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=4390
..and on the other hand,they have tax-exempt churches and anti-pro-reproductive -autonomy -special- interests pushing their envelopes of cash across the table.....
Did I just smoke an LSD cigarette?
Now here is the question for you. (I am assuming you don't believe in a literal Creation about 6-7,000 years ago). The earth has shown tremendous variation in climate in very recent geological time. Even if the climate is changing, what makes you think that man can stop the change???
As a smart-aleck comment, I am wondering how far back you want turn the clock. Do you think we should turn the clock back 10,000 years? That would completely eliminate global warming.
The atmosphere, oceans and life forms are all in a complicated chemical balance. We have been changing the concentrations of some gasses, creating entirely new ones and flying airplanes all over the place.
It is sort of like we are yeast turning grape juice into wine. At some point the process itself will kill us. You can not turn the climate clock backwards any more than you can turn wine into grape juice. That would be a miracle.