Archive for the ‘evangelicals’ Category

By Alexander Carpenter of The Regeneration Project + Interfaith Power and Light, today’s guest blogger

Recently, I watched this forthcoming documentary, “Renewal,” which details interfaith efforts — from Bay Area Buddhists to Kentucky evangelicals — to reverse the effects of fossil-industry fueled consumption.

I work with “Interfaith Power and Light”– a religious response to global warming – which is featured as the last segment in this documentary (currently featured as My Green Element’s “Green Video”). Our work has exploded in the last couple of years, particularly after we organized 4000 screenings of An Inconvenient Truth (2005) in mosques, temples, synagogues and churches around the country. Interfaith Power and Light now has chapters in 25 states and an growing online activism presence, all framing global warming as a moral issue and helping folks of faith share that message locally and in the Capital.

The green faith movement has been picking up tremendous grassroots involvement and media coverage, due in part to the growing numbers of evangelicals who talk about creation care. People like Richard Cizik and Kandida-funded projects like this PBS NOW segment on conservative Christians visiting Alaska, are changing the landscape of the environmental movement – for good.

Editors note: Alexander Carpenter is Online Communications Manager at The Regeneration Project + Interfaith Power and Light in San Francisco. You can learn more about the project at www.theregenerationproject.org.

The views expressed above are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent The Element Agency. If you are interested in penning guest posts for My Green Element, please email Stefan Deeran via stefan@theelementagency.com.

Christian groups are becoming more vocal in their support for the environment. A coalition of the Baptist Union of Great Britain, the Methodist Church and the United Reformed Church had representatives at the climate conference in Bali. In a joint response, they cautiously welcomed the consensus reached there.

The group is also asking parishioners to directly engage their political representatives in the British Parliament to enact tougher emissions reductions targets of 80%.

Convener of the Church and Society Committee at the United Reformed Church, Simon Loveitt, said: “As Christians, the care of God’s creation has been for too long a side issue, and this cannot continue.”

Last May in America, an interfaith body of Christian, Muslim, and Jewish leaders was established to combat climate change.

The conventional wisdom suggests that evangelicals in America, a large and motivated voting block, are still skeptical of environmental issues. Check out a PBS documentary on this subject in our “Green Video.”

Interestingly, a recent opinion poll of evangelicals found these surprising results.

• *70% believe global warming will pose a serious threat to future generations. Even 56% of conservatives believe this.
• *63% believed that although global warming may be a long-term problem, the problem is being caused today; therefore we must start addressing it immediately.
• *51% said steps should be taken to reduce global warming, even if there is a high economic cost to the U.S.
• *66% favored a bill that would cost $15 a month.
• *Among those who were completely convinced global warming is taking place, 71% also thought it will impact them during their lifetime.
• *76% of moderate evangelicals were completely (24%) or mostly (52%) convinced global warming is happening. 48% of conservatives were completely (11%) or mostly (37%) convinced.

Rev. Richard Cizik, vice president for governmental affairs of the National Association of Evangelicals (NEA) has become a climate crusader, traveling throughout the nation urging member churches to recognize the moral aspect of the issue. “If you are for the sanctity of life and ignore the health impact of the environment on the unborn, I think that is a limited understanding of how everything is connected in life,” Cizik said.

Of course, not every evangelical is on board yet. Notorious leaders such as Dr. James C. Dobson and Gary L. Bauer have even attempted to boot Rev. Cizik from the NEA.

Nevertheless, it seems Green evangelicals are becoming increasingly politically engaged. Rev. Jim Ball, president of the Evangelical Environmental Network teamed up with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Union for Reform Judaism to fully support the recent Lieberman-Warner Climate federal cap and trade bill. And there is even a new Green evangelical magazine called “Creation Care.”

In 2006, leaders from the National Association of Evangelicals created the Evangelical Climate Initiative’s “Call to Action,” a landmark statement which declares global warming is real and mainly caused by humans.

Now we also have a nascent green churches movement in America. Last November, the National Association of Evangelicals and a U.S. government energy program created the first religious-government partnership to tackle energy consumption in religious facilities.

By Stefan Deeran at The Element Agency in New York.