| 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. ### | 
