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TechnoratiDiverse Groups Coalesce to Protect Environment
"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves," says Proverbs 31:8. Scripture and teachings throughout the world call us to act with caring and justice for the vulnerable. Today "vulnerable" includes the Earth -- and people, plants and animals threatened by climate change.
Concern for this threat has led diverse groups and people to join hands for the common good. We are one example of such cooperation: evangelical and conservation leaders coming together. Protecting people and biological diversity from the effects of climate change is becoming an increasing priority for both our communities.
Along with ethical reasons, we are moved to act by the world's wonder: Mountain goats that scale heights impossible for others. White beluga whales dubbed "sea canaries" because their songs travel for miles and make boat hulls vibrate. Tiny monarch butterflies that journey 2,000 miles every winter in search of a few mountaintops in the forests of Mexico. Sugar maples that grace the fall with their vibrant colors. How fortunate we are to have a world with such marvels. How important it is to leave this for our children.
Another awe-inspiring part of our world is the dedication and resourcefulness of people who care about each other and the environment. With their commitment, we can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and identify adaptations to help humans and wildlife hurt by global warming.
Each of our traditions provides ways to fulfill this commitment as we speak up for others. In the world of faith, we spread the word about Bible-based and moral obligations to care for creation. Then we roll up our sleeves and engage in service for God's Earth. And at times we raise our voices for acting as a community through public policy.
In conservation law, we use the power of the courts to ensure a voice for people, places and species that need protective laws: People, from Inuit in Alaska with towns eroded by rising seas, to salmon fishermen in Washington who stand to lose their livelihoods, are vulnerable to global warming. So are tiny "rock rabbit" pikas covered year-round with heavy fur that can die quickly when temperatures climb above 75 degrees.
Mountain goats losing forage as less snow allows more trees to colonize the meadows on which they depend. Polar bears that struggle with loss of sea ice needed for hunting and exhaust themselves swimming long distances to land. These, and many more, need our help through both individual steps and action we take together under our nation's laws. And when we protect the web of life, we also protect ourselves.
Science is telling us we dare not wait. In its acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize in December 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change noted that global warming jeopardizes people's access to food and clean water; poses health threats due to extreme weather, malnutrition, higher ozone levels and changes in infectious disease patterns; and prompts major migrations.
The IPCC also has found that 20 to 30 percent of animal and plant species could be at an increased risk of extinction, with up to 60 percent species loss in some areas, if global warming continues as predicted.
And, finally, the Environmental Protection Agency last week released a scientific report stating that climate change will pose "substantial" threats to human health. It predicts extremely hot periods (heat waves), more powerful hurricanes, shrinking water in the West, and increased spread of diseases contracted through food and water. The poor, young, elderly and those in inner cities will be most at risk.
Thus, people in the faith, science, conservation, artistic and other communities are coming together now to make a difference. Examples mentioned above are taken from a new exhibit designed by these communities, "Irreplaceable: Wildlife in a Warming World," that just opened at the Burke Museum.
Washington is also fortunate to have people working to find solutions to climate change and its impacts, such as local sponsors of "Irreplaceable": Earthjustice, Earth Ministry, People for Puget Sound, Restoring Eden, Save Our Wild Salmon and the Woodland Park Zoo.
Climate change calls us to be innovative, courageous and compassionate. Inspired by our beliefs, informed by science, and using our intellect, we can answer this call to care.
Richard Cizik is VP of National Association of Evangelicals. Trip Van Noppen is president of Earthjustice. Cizik will speak on a panel at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Burke Museum.
©1996-2008 Seattle Post-Intelligencer
7 Comments so far
Show AllMiMiCcS - might help the truthiness of your claims by using real contribution numbers instead of percentage increases... it's easy to lie and distort with statistics... you have a pretty good grasp of that. But then you wouldn't have much of a point... would you?
From 1997-2004, CO2
"Emissions worldwide increased 18.0%;
Emissions from countries that ratified the Kyoto protocol increased 21.1%;
Emissions from non-ratifiers of the Kyoto protocol increased 10.0%;
Emissions from the US (a non-ratifier) increased 6.6%;
Emissions from the US increased less than 75% of ratifying countries.
With respect to the last point, the following are the percentage rises in emissions for a list of selected countries which have ratified the protocol (or which were exempted from targets): Maldives, 252%; China, 55%; Luxembourg, 43%; Iran, 39%; Norway, 24%; Russia, 16%; Italy, 16%; Finland, 15%; Mexico, 11%; Japan, 11%; Canada, 8.8%."
http://www.climate-skeptic.com/2008/07/1990-a-year-sel.html
http://tomnelson.blogspot.com/2008/07/hypocrisies.html
Land usage and forestation are excluded from these figures, and we are certainly a green country, especially if Alaska is considered. So our contribution is lower than one might think.
"In the world of faith, we spread the word about Bible-based and moral obligations to care for creation."
You also set up an us-vs-them paradigm for everything you preach - from the hatred of gays and anyone who isn't a member of your particular sect to the praise of liars and killers like George W Bush because they favor one of your pet causes and claim to be one of "you".
Organized religion is the root of all evil, and unregulated crony capitalism bankrolls it. No theologies are democratic, and thus they don't represent Democracy. They bend their worshippers (note - not voters) to praise a typical fascist state, where self-appointed representatives of the Leader dictate their infallible rule to the masses. The brainwashed faithful repeat the mantra unquestioningly, kneeling in subservience when the bell rings. Organized religion intentionally causes one not to think, to question, to criticize, to analyze. It is the fascist's best friend. It's no wonder so many mindless followers of religion in this country are Republicans.
Although I applaud the trend now underway by many who once hid behind dogma, to take responsibility for their own actions, I would caution you to be a little more objective when using examples of those others who are "new" to respecting our environment.
"...to salmon fishermen in Washington who stand to lose their livelihoods.."
The salmon industry played the most significant role in the destruction of that resource. Greed was the motivator. That they would now turn to environmental protection as last ditch attempt to maintain a "lifestyle", should give you cause for closer inspection. For them, it's about money, not insuring protection for a vital link in the ecosystem. That is never likely to change, no matter how they currently pose themselves.
If you believe that has changed in some significant way, make a case for it, otherwise I would have to invoke an association observation that you might not like.
At least the Evangelicals, unlike liberals, stay united, get things done and don't form any circular firing squads.
wow, ACC, that last sentence is a little bit exagerrated(sp?) i think
Screw the bible and faith-based anything. Why drag in the very belief system that has ruined the planet in the first place? Anyone with a functioning ethical system and a drop of compassion can see what needs to be done, and will do it to his or her utmost. A belief system based on that which cannot be corroborated or proven is no more than a refuge for those who fear to face the reality of a world based on science. The stupidities and untruths that have been given to us just by the monotheisms alone have held back human progress over and over again, in the name of belief in a deity for which no proof can ever be given. To claim a book written over a couple of millennia by a bunch of desert dwellers is true, with absolutely nothing historical to back up that assertion, is simply silly. The book itself is rife with contradiction, and filled with an ugly violence that certainly doesn't place the deity depicted therein in a particularly favorable light.
People of good conscience, intelligence, education, and good will, can and will come together to do what is needed to save the planet -- or they won't. But to rely on those who believe that god put the planet under man's dominion to do with as he saw fit is simply insane. It's that dominion that has polluted the water, air, and land, decimated the forests, driven species to extinction, and allowed the genocide of "lesser" races of humans. People who follow the bible are the least trustworthy people in the world.