Using faith to fight for the environment

Social justice news
May 2001

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Using faith to fight for the environment
Religious groups in 18 states are joining forces and taking on a tall order: They’re trying to save the planet.

The Interfaith Climate Change Campaign aims to persuade people of faith—any faith—to see global warming as a religious issue. The National Council of Churches’ (NCC) Eco-Justice Working Group, a Protestant and Christian Orthodox organization, launched the initial effort in Ohio in 1998. It reached out to Catholics, evangelicals, and Jews to organize support for global warming initiatives.

In 1999 the group expanded to four additional states: Michigan, Iowa, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Since then 13 more have joined and the movement is now organized around state ecumenical agencies.

The campaign has two main objectives: first, to convince the public that allowing global warming to continue is morally and spiritually wrong and second, to find practical ways to halt global warming.

“Our biggest challenge is getting people to take the issue seriously,” says Father Christopher H. Bender, a Christian Orthodox parish priest and vice chair of the West Virginia campaign. “People think Sunday morning is a time for inspiration, not political challenge, but I don’t think they can be separated.”

In West Virginia Bender says education efforts include congregational scripture study, newspaper editorials, and television announcements. He says religious groups must draw connections between faith and environmental issues.

“All major faiths believe God created the heavens and the earth,” Bender says. “As humans we do not have ultimate sovereignty; we must be good stewards of life. If we reverence God that implies we should have reverence for creation.” According to Bender, respect for life translates to a concern for the people who will be affected by global warming: the poor who will struggle to feed themselves and future generations who will live with violent weather.

That’s why practical efforts are particularly important, Bender says. The West Virginia campaign has conducted energy efficiency audits to show religious groups and individuals how to cut back on the energy they use. Group delegates have also met with state government officials to influence legislative decisions.

Ohio campaign representatives testified at the state legislature against a bill calling on Ohio members of Congress to vote down the proposed 1997 Kyoto Protocol, a United Nations agreement that would limit carbon dioxide emissions. “Much to the surprise of legislators, these people of faith ended up being the strongest voice in support of Kyoto,” says the Rev. Richard Killmer, NCC environmental justice director. In March President Bush announced that the United States would not ratify the Kyoto Protocol because its mandatory pollution reductions would harm the American economy.

“People are realizing this is not a dry or irrelevant policy issue,” Killmer says. “It is about what we will give to our children and grandchildren. It is also about practicing life and about justice for the most vulnerable all over the world.”—Anne Graber

For more information on the Interfaith Climate Change Campaign contact the NCC news department at news@nccusa.org.

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