Remarks as prepared for climate rally in front of the White House 6.2.17
The
Bible begins, “In the beginning, God created the heaves and the earth…” Christians are
called to care for the
earth and its inhabitants, including the sea, birds, and “every creeping thing
that creeps on the earth.” The environment, the world, the stars, the moon and
the sun, everything that is was created by God and given to human beings to
care for and to protect. We are called to be stewards of God’s creation, not
abusers of it.
On
Thursday June 1, 2017 at 3:30 President Trump announced that the United States would
withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord agreed to on Dec. 12, 2015.This decision
on his part will do tremendous damage to this planet. It will not create jobs,
rather slow tremendous job growth already occurring in clean energy production.
The
United States economy has benefited greatly from the decision to adopt green
energy sources and cut down on emissions in order to limit the rise of global
temperatures. The threat of climate change is "urgent and potentially
irreversible," and can only be addressed through "the widest possible
cooperation by all countries" and "deep reductions in global
emissions." This agreement gives direction and needed momentum to the
movement for Christian stewardship of creation.
Unfortunately
the United States is not fully equipped with leaders who are ready to lead in
climate justice. Far too many voices are speaking for God who, quite frankly,
don’t understand theologically what Christian stewardship means. Many of our
politicians have adopted a uninform theology which denies the reality of
climate change.
·
Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI) preached last Friday at a town hall “Well, as a Christian, I
believe that there is a creator in God who is much bigger than us, and I’m
confident that, if there’s a real problem, he can take care of it.”
·
In 2011, North
Carolina Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx
complained that
environmentalists “think that we, human beings, have more impact on the climate
and the world than God does.”
·
And in 2013, GOP
Texas Rep. Joe Barton said, “I would
point out if you’re a believer in the Bible, one would have to say the Great
Flood is an example of climate change, and that certainly wasn’t because
mankind overdeveloped hydrocarbon energy.”
But
I urge you, rather than listen to politicians who are way out their lane when
talking theology, listen to those who have an informed faith, who are in
conversation with the 97%
of climate scientists who agree that warming trends over the last decades
are due to human influence.
·
Listen to the Presbyterian
Church which has for decades been an advocate for protecting the earth,
eliminating the use of fossil fuels and warning about the dangers of climate
change. Read The
Power to Change the climate justice policy approved by the 218th
General Assembly which outlines our role and responsibility to act on climate.
·
Listen to the
more than 80 groups and 3,600 individuals of Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu,
Christian, and Muslim faith who have signed on a declaration against climate
change including the Dalai Lama, the head of the World Council of Churches and
several Catholic cardinals. Listen to the majorities
of American people of faith who say that dealing with climate change now will
help prevent future economic problems: 82% of Jewish Americans; 76% of
black Protestants, and 69% of Hispanic Catholics 1.8 million people have signed faith-based petitions calling for
climate action.
·
Listen to Pope
Francis who has explicitly presented
global warming as a moral issue. He issued a 184-page papal letter titled “Laudato Si” (“Praise Be to You”)
describing global warming as a worldwide problem rooted in greed, apathy and
unceasing environmental exploitation. Pope Francis wrote that the poor and
powerless are paying the heaviest price for those behaviors and that climate
change “represents one of the principal challenges facing humanity in our day. The
earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of
filth… Any harm done to the environment, therefore, is harm done to humanity.”
What
we say as a church and what we do makes a difference. We can influence others
who are hesitant to support the science which informs us of the current danger.
EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said the Pope’s encyclical on climate change
was a “game changer.” According to a report from the Yale Program on Climate
Change Communication, 17% of Americans say the Pope’s stance on global warming
has shaped their view of the issue.
So
don’t stop protesting. Don’t stop shouting. Don’t stop marching. Don’t stop
praying. Don’t stop demanding that the United States support the Paris Climate
Accord. Don’t stop what you are doing in the name of God for climate justice.
