wfn.org | Warnings on warming not enough; act now, says faith community

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Warnings on warming not enough; act now, says faith community

WASHINGTON, D.C., Nov. 5, 2009--As lawmakers grappled on Wednesday with
a climate change bill that appeared stalled in a senate committee, just
hundreds of feet away on the Northeast lawn of Capitol Hill, religious
leaders were issuing an urgent call for speedy and responsible action on
the proposed legislation.

Some 100 participants in a climate vigil focused on the justice
dimensions of climate change, spoke, sang, waved banners and prayed in
an attempt to influence legislative action prior to next month's
climate change summit in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The event was sponsored by 17 faith groups, including humanitarian
agency Church World Service, the National Council of Churches and United
Methodist Women.

The Rev. John McCullough, executive director and CEO of Church World
Service, framed the dayâ??s event as a response at a â??critical
moment.â??

McCullough said, â??We are here so that our voices and the voices of
the poor will echo from this sacred space into the chambers of Congress
and the halls of Barcelona, where policy makers debate the common good
and seek to define reasonable standards, expectations and behavior in
the global greenhouse gas emissions debate.â??

Vigil participants did not intend to stop at words.  They came to
Capitol Hill armed with proof of public support: Postcards--13,000 and
counting--slated for delivery to Congress and the White House and signed
by citizens across the nation who are calling for specific climate
change legislation provisions that would cap greenhouse gas emissions in
the U.S. and commit to adequate adaptation funding for poor countries
hardest hit by climate change impacts

The postcards are the culmination of a year-long Countdown to
Copenhagen sign-on campaign spearheaded in the United States by Church
World Service.  It is at the Copenhagen conference that world leaders
will attempt to decide on a plan to extend the Kyoto Protocol climate
change agreement.

Rajyashri Waghray, Church World Service director of education and
advocacy for international justice and human rights said, "The Kyoto
Protocol is not a consumer a product like a chocolate bar.  It has no
expiration date," a fact that many negotiators have stated.

Only the first commitment period of developed countries greenhouse gas
emission reductions, which began in 2008, ends in 2012.  All other
provisions and elements of the Kyoto Protocol remain in force.  The
international community has been negotiating the next (second)
commitment period for developed countries in a working group so that the
second commitment period can take effect by 2013, thereby ensuring that
there is no gap between the two commitment periods.  The negotiations
are not about ending the Kyoto Protocol but about implementing it.

The US withdrew from the Kyoto Protocol but remains a party to the
Convention

> A demand for justice

Faith community advocacy around the issue is rooted in the demand for
justice.

Climate change, said National Council of Churches General Secretary
Michael Kinnamon, is â??tied to patterns of excessive consumption,
taking a disproportionate toll on those marginalized communities who can
least afford it.  And that, Kinnamon added, â??is the most grave issue
of social justice facing this nation.â??

It was important enough that Betty Henderson came all the way from
Wisconsin to join the vigil.  Henderson, a member of the United
Methodist Womenâ??s group at Salem United Methodist Church in Waukesha
and peace and justice coordinator for her church region, says sheâ??s
been committed to green issues for more than 15 years and has â??seen  it
get worse and worseâ?? as far as the climate is concerned.

"I do believe that it's worth my time to come from Wisconsin to
Washington for even just one appointment if I can see one senator, one
representative, one staff member that I can impact with the concerns
that I have."

Henderson, who met with staffers and delivered postcards at several
congressional offices, was just one of the United Methodist Women
attending the vigil to make their voices heard, in a continuation of the
organizationâ??s long-time commitment to issues affecting women and
children.

â??Women are the highest percentage of the poor and women and children
are among the most vulnerable in any vulnerable population,â?? said  UMW
executive Harriet Olsen in an interview following the vigil.  Olsen, who
is deputy general secretary of the Womenâ??s Division of the United
Methodist Board of Global Ministries, described the UMW presence at the
vigil as â??a way of standing with women to take care of whatâ?? s going
on in the environment.â??

The fact that climate change has a global impact-particularly on poor
people in developing nations, who contribute the least to the
environmental degradation that causes climate change, yet who suffer the
most from it-was brought to the fore in real time via an email message
sent by a group in Ethiopia to Church World Service as the event was
taking place.

The message of solidarity, from the Ethiopian organization's Forum for
Environment and its "America, Take the Lead" campaign, expressed
appreciation for the efforts of the faith community in the United
States, saying, â??We thank you for shouting our shout, voicing our
concerns.â??

The Ethiopian group has mounted its own sign-on campaign on its website
(www.americatakethelead.org), attempting to collect five million
signatures petitioning President Obama and the Senate to secure binding
climate legislation.

"Climate change is not a matter of increased energy taxes for us; it's
rather a matter of real life and death. Due to the inaction of countries
like the US, we're paying not in cash but in lives of children and
adults alike. Climate change is not a joke here," said Forum for
Environment Director Negusu Aklilu.

In a final word yesterday, aimed at lawmakers, CWSâ?? McCullough said,
"It is within our power to create an environment where all Godâ??s
children share in the abundance of this magnificent creation.â??

And by the end of the vigil, when the music of Gordon Kent and Alicia
Gill had stopped and the legislative lobbying and postcard delivery
visits were finished, there indeed was reason for new optimism:  Word
came that the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee had approved
a climate change bill that would require industry to make a 20 percent
cut from 2005 emissions levels for carbon dioxide and other greenhouse
gases by 2020.  The bill is expected to go to the Senate floor early
next year.

Media Contacts

Lesley Crosson, (212)870-2676, media @churchworldservice.org
Jan Dragin, (781)925-1526, jdragin@gis.net