wfn.org | Religious Leaders' Testimony Opposes Clear Skies Act

["Carol Fouke" <cfouke@ncccusa.org>]

Religious Leaders Testimony Opposes 'Clear Skies' Act;
Testimony Expresses 'Grave Moral Concerns' About Air Pollution Legislation

Washington, D.C., February 2, 2005--Religious leaders representing the
National Council of Churches USA and five of its member denominations have
joined together to ask members of the Senate Environment and Public Works
Committee to reject the proposed "Clear Skies Act" of 2005. In testimony that
was submitted this morning during a full committee hearing today, religious
leaders from the United Methodist Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America, Presbyterian Church (USA), United Church of Christ, the Episcopal
Church and NCC, testified against the bill because it fails to implement
policies needed to clean up our the nation's air and excludes provisions to
address the threat of global warming. 

"[W]e believe the legislation delays the critical action necessary to clean
up our nation's air and fails altogether to address the real and present
threat of global warming. We urge this committee to adopt amendments that
would strengthen standards, speed up implementation, and control emissions of
carbon dioxide," says the testimony.

In addition, the testimony states that "clean air is a basic right and
necessity for all life" and that "we have too often abandoned (our) sacred
responsibility . . . leaving a legacy of pollution that threatens the health
of communities and the very future of our planet." Citing the harm air
pollution can cause humans, including premature deaths, asthmas attacks, and
lost productivity, the religious leaders urged Senators to enact strict
emission controls to clean the air. 

"We believe that our elected officials have a moral duty to address air
pollution," says John S. Hill, Director of Economic and Environmental Justice
at the United Methodist General Board of Church and Society. "All too often,
the most vulnerable in our society, including the elderly, the poor,
children, and pregnant women pay the price suffer because of our failure to
act."

"Over the past several years we have educated and mobilized people of faith
on the issue of air pollution," says Rev. Brenda Girton-Mitchell, NCC's
Associate General Secretary for Justice and Advocacy. "Within the last year
we have encouraged our 100,000 congregations across the country to take
action to protect God's gift of air and have provided them with theological
statements, worship materials, study guides and prayers. The call now is to
our elected officials to take action."

	 

-end-

EDITOR'S NOTE: For copies of the testimony, contact Cassandra Carmichael at
443-822-3720.