wfn.org | Religious Leaders Call for Action on Global Warming

[CAROL.FOUKE@ecunet.org]

National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.
Contact: NCC News, 212-870-2227
11/20/2000 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

RELIGIOUS LEADERS CALL FOR ACTION ON GLOBAL WARMING
U.S. Faith Groups, at The Hague, Urge Clinton to Finish Global Warming
Treaty

November 20, 2000, THE HAGUE – Proclaiming global warming a religious
issue, representatives of the United States faith community, at treaty
negotiations in The Hague, today called on the Clinton Administration to
negotiate a strong treaty that actually addresses the threat of global
warming by reducing pollution caused by burning fossil fuels.

“The U.S. should not avoid its responsibility to reduce the global
warming pollution it produces by supporting loopholes in the treaty that do
nothing to cut pollution,” said the Rev. Richard Killmer, Director of
Environmental Ministries of the National Council of Churches.  “We
call on the U.S. delegation to close these loopholes, preserve the
environmental integrity of the Kyoto Protocol treaty, and protect
God’s creation.”

The U.S. faith community is delivering this message to the U.S. delegation
in four ways:

- Open letter to President Clinton: The heads of 28 Protestant and Orthodox
Christian denominations released a letter today to President Clinton urging
the Administration to complete the negotiations for a strong treaty. 
Signatories include the Rev. Robert Edgar, General Secretary of the National
Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. (NCC); Rev. William Shaw,
President of the National Baptist Convention USA; His Eminence Archbishop
Dimitrios, Primate of the Greek Orthodox Church in America, and Bishop
Melvin Talbert, Ecumenical Officer of the Council of Bishops of the United
Methodist Church.

In the letter, the leaders assert that the Kyoto Protocol “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.”

- Building grassroots coalitions in 16 states: The NCC Eco-Justice Working
Group is spearheading Interfaith Global Warming Campaigns in 16 states
across the United States to educate people of faith on the dangers of global
warming and advocate for bold action nationally and internationally.  The
NCC is working in cooperation with the National Religious Partnership for
the Environment, a coalition of national Catholic, Protestant, Evangelical
and Orthodox Christian groups and the Jewish community.

- Addressing world leaders at the treaty talks: The Rev. Dr. Angelique
Walker-Smith, in a presentation today to the Conference of Parties on behalf
of the World Council of Churches, asserted that global warming is
fundamentally about justice for the most vulnerable people of the world. 
She cited the fact that the U.S. emits 22 percent of the world’s
global warming pollution, despite having only 4 percent of the world’s
population.

“While the richest industrialized nations of the world are responsible
for the vast majority of global warming pollution, the least-developed
countries and poor communities in the U.S. are already suffering the
effects, and will be most severely affected in the future,” said Dr.
Walker-Smith, of the Indiana Faith-Based Climate Change Campaign.

“Therefore, it is only just and fair that industrialized countries,
especially the U.S., take the lead in reversing global warming,” she
said.  “As we read in Luke 12:48b, ‘From everyone whom much has
been given, much will be required.’

- Evangelical Christian scientists’ statement urging action: A group
of 55 Evangelical Christian scientists is releasing an “Evangelical
Scientists’ Statement of Concern on Climate Change and the Need for
Clean Energy,” which concurs with the prevailing scientific consensus
that global warming poses a serious threat that must be addressed.

Signatories include Sir John Houghton, co-chair of the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change Working Group One for all three Assessment Reports,
and senior leaders of the American Scientific Affiliation, the largest
evangelical scientists association in the world.

The Statement urges “government leaders at the national and
international levels to act in accord with biblical justice (e.g. Ps. 72.1,
12-14a; I Kings 10:9; Prov. 31:8-9; Isa. 11:3-5; Jer. 21:11-12) and take the
steps necessary to significantly reduce the threat of global climate
change.”

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