wfn.org | Religious "Global Warming Letter" to Clinton

[CAROL.FOUKE@ecunet.org]

The Honorable William Jefferson Clinton
The White House
Washington, DC  20500
November 20, 2000

Mr. President:

As leaders of member churches of the National Council of the Churches of
Christ in
the U.S.A., we write to urge you to complete the negotiations for the Kyoto
Protocol to the Framework Convention on Climate Change in The Hague,
November 13-25, and prepare the treaty for ratification by the United States
Senate.  We pledge you our active support and commitment to educate our
communities about the need to reverse global warming.

The National Council of Churches has been historically and continues to be
concerned about protecting the quality of our environment. We believe that
the earth is the Lord’s and that as communities of faith, we are
called to be good and faithful stewards of God’s creation. We believe
that God, through Jesus Christ, heals the brokenness in creation that human
beings have caused.

We have been encouraged by your Administration’s public commitment to
address climate change.  We are convinced that leadership from the United
States, especially in the area of domestic reductions, is crucial for global
efforts on climate change to be successful.  The Kyoto Protocol represents
the initial commitment by the nations to take the first steps in reducing
emissions of the gases that are causing global warming.  It is an important
witness to God’s redemption of creation and to the importance of 
protecting God’s children and God’s creation, now and for future
generations.

Climate change affects not only justice for future generations, but justice
in the present.  It is the least developed nations, which make a much
smaller contribution to the problem, that are already suffering the effects
of climate change and will be most severely impacted in the future. With
only 4% of the worldıs population, the U.S. emits 22% of the worldıs
greenhouse gas emissions.  For this reason alone, the United States has a
unique responsibility to address the problem of climate change without a
delay.

The negotiations in The Hague will consider emissions trading and several
“flexible mechanisms”. It is critical that industrial nations
truly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and not put an unjust burden on the
developing nations. Moreover, by reducing the emissions of US industry and
vehicles, the air of US communities will be made cleaner and healthier,
while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

We have committed ourselves to working for the passage of the Protocol in
the Senate.  Before that can happen, we need your leadership to complete an
effective treaty and prepare it for ratification.  Adoption of this Protocol
would be a significant legacy of your administration. May God bless our
common efforts to protect and care for creation.

Sincerely,

Rev. Dr. Robert Edgar
General Secretary
National Council of Churches 
Of Christ in the USA

Bishop McKinley Young
African Methodist Episcopal Church

The Rev. Dr. Robert H. Roberts
Interim General Secretary
American Baptist Churches USA

Archbishop Philip Saliba
Primate
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese

The Most Reverend Archbishop Khajag Barsamian
Primate
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America

Rev. Dr. Richard L. Hamm
General Minister and President
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

Rev. Paul A. Stewart, Sr.
Presiding Bishop
Christian Methodist Episcopal Church

Rev. Judy Mill Reimer
Executive Director
Church of the Brethren General Board

His Grace Bishop Serapion
Diocesan Bishop
Coptic Orthodox Church

The Most Rev. Frank T. Griswold
Presiding Bishop
Episcopal Church, USA

Rev. H. George Anderson
Presiding Bishop 
Evangelical Lutheran Church of America

His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios
Primate
Greek Orthodox Church in America

Rev. Michael F. Livingston
Executive Director
International Council of Community Churches

Rev. Dr. Seung Koo Choi
General Secretary 
Korean Presbyterian Church in America

His Grace Mathews Mar Barnabas
Diocesan Metropolitan
Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church

Rt. Rev. Dr. Zacharias Mar Theophilius
Diocesan Bishop
Mar Thoma Church

Rev. R. Burke Johnson
President
Moravian Church – Northern Province

Dr. Robert E. Sawyer
President
Moravian Church – Southern Province

Rev. William J. Shaw
President
National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.

Rev. Dr. W. L. Snead, Sr.
President 
National Missionary Baptist Church of America

Most Blessed Theodosius
Metropolitan
Orthodox Church of America

Thomas H. Jeavons
General Secretary
Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of Friends (Quakers)

Rev. Dr. Clifton Kirkpatrick
Stated Clerk of the General Assembly
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Rev. Dr. C. Mackey Daniels
President
Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc.

Rev. Wesley Granberg-Michaelson
General Secretary
Reformed Church in America

His Eminence Metropolitan Christopher
Presiding Bishop
Serbian Orthodox Church in the U.S.A. and Canada

Rev. Ronald P. Brugler
President
Swedenborgian Church

Reverend John H. Thomas
General Minister and President
United Church of Christ

Bishop Melvin G. Talbert
Ecumenical Officer, Council of Bishops
The United Methodist Church