Religious Witness for the Earth

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NOVEMBER 7, 2003
3:18 PM

CONTACT: Religious Witness for the Earth
Sharon Pickett 301-365-9307

Religious Leaders Rally at the UN to Mark 5th Anniversary of U.S. Signing of the Kyoto Protocol and Call on US Leaders to Stop Global Warming
NEW YORK - November 7 - PUBLIC EVENT: Clergy from Christian, Jewish, Buddhist and other faith traditions will lead an interfaith service at the United Nations to call for action on the religious and moral challenge of global warming. This service of “repentance and renewal” will allow participants to say they’re sorry for the ways that both American leaders and individuals have contributed to the problem and commit themselves to positive change. While the U.S. signed the Protocol in 1998, Congress never ratified it and President Bush has since repudiated it. Following the service, participants will visit 14 U.N. missions and meet with world leaders to discuss ways to strengthen U.S. commitment to action on this issue. Hundreds of people are expected to attend including large delegations from Massachusetts, Maine and New York.

DATE/TIME/PLACE: Wednesday, November 12 – Participants will gather at 11:00 am at the Community Church of New York, 40 E. 35th St., and then walk about 20 blocks to Dag Hammarskjold Plaza across from the United Nations. The outdoor interfaith service will begin at 1:15 pm.

SPONSOR: Religious Witness for the Earth, a national interfaith environmental network dedicated to public witness on environmental issues, especially global climate change (www.religiouswitness.org).

SPECIAL NOTE:

· Four Buddhist monks are leading a small delegation walking to New York City from Western Massachusetts. The monks believe that slowing global warming is central to achieving peace and justice in the world.

· Other worshipers will arrive from around the Northeast using “green” transportation, e.g., vans powered by biodiesel (made from vegetable oil) and hybrid cars.

· Photo Op: Dozens of clergy in colorful religious vestments; hundreds of worshipers singing and praying for an end to global warming.

SPEAKERS AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEWS

Ambassador Enele Sopoaga is Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary for the Permanent Mission of Tuvalu to the United Nations and Vice Chairman of the Alliance of Small Island States. Tuvalu is a Pacific island nation facing rising sea levels caused by global warming. Mr. Sopoaga is fluent in English.

Ross Gelbspan is the author of The Heat Is On: The Climate Crisis, the Cover-up, the Prescription. Gelbspan won the Pulitzer Prize in 1984 for a series of articles that he wrote for the Boston Globe.

Rev. Fred Small is minister of First Church Unitarian in Littleton, Massachusetts, and co-chair of Religious Witness for the Earth. Before entering the ministry, Fred was a staff attorney for the Conservation Law Foundation and a folksinger/songwriter.

Bishop Bud Cederholm, Jr. is Bishop Suffragen of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts. Bishop Cederholm was instrumental in creating the first Bishops’ Pastoral Letter on the Environment. The letter was signed by all of the Episcopal bishops in New England and released in the spring of 2003.

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