wfn.org | NCC Calls Senate Approval of Oil Drilling in Arctic 'Unjust'

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

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE			

Contact: Leslie Tune
	 202/544-2350, ext. 11

NATIONAL COUNCIL OF CHURCHES USA OPPOSES
SENATE BUDGET RESOLUTION TO ALLOW DRILLING IN THE ARCTIC

Washington, D.C., March 16, 2005--We express profound grief at the Senate's
decision to include drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as part
of the budget resolution. Rather than reduce our consumption of oil and begin
to move our nation toward clean energy alternatives, our elected officials
are once again charting a course that is both unjust and unsustainable.
Sacred scripture teaches us unequivocally that we have a responsibility to
care for God's creation and to be good neighbors. As people of faith, we also
bear witness to the Biblical mandate to care for the least among us. 
Drilling for oil in such a fragile place contradicts both of these Scriptural
commandments.  Our call to protect all of God's creation extends to
communities such as the Gwich'in that would suffer the most from this Senate
decision.  To risk the destruction of both an untouched wilderness and an
ancient culture violates all that Western civilization understands as our
Christian responsibility to people and planet. We call on the Senate to
prevent the passage of any legislation that includes the possibility of
drilling in one of the Creator's most precious places.
 
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