Evangelical Christian Leaders Urge Proactive Climate Solution

It has been widely reported that US Evangelical Christian leaders yesterday issued a statement pressing the US federal government to tackle climate change as a matter of urgency. In doing so, the Evangelical Climate Change Initiative, a group of more than 85 Christian leaders, invoked Jesus Christ in urging government and business leaders to "solve the global warming crisis". Surprisingly, the context of this public postion seems larger than just climate change. The attention-getter, though, was the reading at a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington of the statement, "Climate Change: An Evangelical Call to Action", saying "human-induced climate change is real," and calling on the U.S. government to pass legislation establishing limits on carbon dioxide emissions..."This is God's world, and any damage that we do to God's world is an offense against God himself."

Saying they were not represented by the statement were such long standing 'skeptics' as James Dobson of Focus on the Family.

This is an amazing development , coming as it does, just as many of us have become convinced that rational arguements will not suffice to convince others of the need for climate action. Perhaps the spritual view is the one to make the difference. This was addressed most poignantly by Peter Asmus of the San Franciso Chronical when he recently asked: "Is the environmental movement dead? No, it is just in the process of transforming itself into something larger than the next frightening direct-mail fundraiser...". Even so, a call to elected officials is not exactly overlooked by the Evangelical movement.