wfn.org | Churches Urge U.S. Action on Environment

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25-July-1996 
 
 
96262        Churches Urge U.S. Action on Environment 
 
                     by Religion News Service 
 
WASHINGTON--The National Council of Churches (NCC) and a dozen Protestant 
and Orthodox bodies July 16  called for greater U.S. leadership in reducing 
the emission of "greenhouse gases," which many scientists believe are 
changing the earth's climate. 
 
     "These are profound issues of global justice," the Rev. Joan Brown 
Campbell, general secretary of the NCC, told a Washington news conference. 
 
     "While we will all suffer from the consequences of climate change, it 
is the poor in the United States and in other nations who will be most 
severely affected and who will have the least recourse." 
 
     The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) was represented at the news 
conference by the Rev. Bernadine McRipley, associate for health and 
environment issues in the PC(USA)'s Washington Office, and the Rev. William 
Somplatsky-Jarman, associate for environmental justice in its National 
Ministries Division. 
 
     Climate change, or global warming, is caused by the emission of 
so-called greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide, which are released 
into the atmosphere through the burning of fossil fuels such as coal and 
oil in electricity generation, heating and automobiles. 
 
     Many experts believe the climate changes will increase the volatility 
of weather patterns, which could disrupt agriculture and magnify the 
effects of storms and floods.  Some climate changes can cause 
micro-organism proliferation, and in turn, health problems. [Climate 
change] could also affect forest ecosystems and raise sea levels, which 
would impact low-lying coastal areas. 
 
     At the United Nations-sponsored Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 
1992, the United States, along with other governments, signed the 
Convention on Climate Change in which the countries agreed, as a first 
step, to stabilize greenhouse gas emissions at their 1990 level by the year 
2000. 
 
     However, Campbell said the United States is not acting aggressively 
enough to meet its commitment. 
 
     "We have met with members of the administration and members of 
Congress on this issue to express our dissatisfaction with the United 
States' slow progress on limiting the release of gases that cause global 
warming into the atmosphere," she said.  "We have concluded that our 
government is just not hearing enough from people who care about the future 
of God's good creation." 
      
     In response, the NCC and other church agencies are mounting a petition 
campaign to urge the government to meet the Earth Summit obligation and to 
"support, not resist, adopting a binding international agreement ... to 
achieve greater reductions ... after the year 2000." 
 
     The petition campaign is part of an international effort spearheaded 
by the World Council of Churches (WCC). 
 
     Signers of the Convention on Climate Change are currently meeting in 
Geneva to draw up an agreement that would set reduced levels of greenhouse 
gas emissions for the period after 2000. 
 
     "The threat of climate change touches the religious mind in a special 
way," the Rev. Sam Kobia, director of the WCC's Justice, Peace and the 
Integrity of Creation Unit, told the international meeting in Geneva July 
12. 
 
     "It reminds us of our fundamental dependence upon creation," he said 
in testimony before the U.N.-sponsored meeting.  "Nature, we believe, is a 
gift of God.  It must not and cannot be dealt with as if it were our 
property." 
 
     WCC officials said they expect petitions to be circulating in 15 
industrialized nations by September. 
 
   Statement on International Climate Change Petition Campaign 
              by the Rev. William Somplatsky-Jarman 
                July 16, 1996 -- Washington, D.C. 
 
     "Global climate change remains a serious challenge facing humankind. 
 
     "Six years have elapsed since the General Assembly of the Presbyterian 
Church (U.S.A.) first addressed climate change and called for the United 
States and the international community to undertake significant actions in 
response to the warnings of impending climate change. 
 
     "Two developments make the prophetic insight of the 1990 General 
Assembly even more compelling.  First, scientific consensus through the 
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has concluded that human activity 
is playing a role in the climate changes we observe today.  Second, actions 
by the international community to reduce emissions of  greenhouse gases' 
are falling short of minimum targets.  We risk more severe changes through 
our feeble actions. 
 
     "The 1990 policy urged several steps which remain valid today.  First, 
the United States should be a leader in reducing emissions and shifting to 
renewable sources of energy.  Second, our government should support efforts 
to strengthen the ability of the international community to monitor and 
project trends in climate change, and to make broad environmental and 
social assessments. 
 
     "A very important third step would be to  work through the United 
Nations and appropriate diplomatic channels to reach firm international 
agreements for steady and substantial reduction of the gases causing 
climate change ...' 
 
     "Other measures include increased research and development of 
energy-efficient technologies and renewable resources, greater 
international cooperation for technology transfer, and stronger fuel 
economy and emission standards for cars, buses and trucks as well as better 
standards and incentives for efficiency improvements in lighting, heating, 
air-conditioning, appliances, etc.  Support for public transit is also 
encouraged. 
 
     "As the public grows in its awareness of the reality and implications 
of climate change, we believe support for such measures will continue to 
galvanize as well.  In fact, we believe that there is significant public 
sentiment for stronger action now.  We support the International Climate 
Change Petition Campaign initiated by the World Council of Churches as a 
concrete way to demonstrate that concern." 

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