INTERFAITH GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE CAMPAIGNS:

NORTH CAROLINA

Coordinator: Sister Evelyn Mattern

North Carolina Council of Churches
1307 Glenwood Ave., Suite 162
Raleigh, NC 27605
919-828-6501
Email: emattern@pagesz.net

STATEMENT ON GLOBAL WARMING AND CLIMATE CHANGE
BY NORTH CAROLINA'S RELIGIOUS AND SPIRITUAL LEADERS

As witnesses of the serious climate changes the earth is now undergoing, we leaders of North Carolina's various spiritual traditions join together to voice our concerns about the health of the planet we share with all species. We acknowledge the need to commit ourselves to a course of action that will help us recognize our part in the devastating effects on much of our planet brought about by increasingly severe weather events. We declare the necessity for North Carolina's spiritual communities to be leaders in turning human activities in a new direction for the well being of the planet.

Scientific evidence indicates that greenhouse gases are linked to global warming or climate change, which threatens the health of the entire planet and all its inhabitants. We believe that global warming is a challenge to all people but particularly to the spiritual communities that recognize the sacredness of preserving all eco-systems that sustain life.

Global warming violates that sacredness. It leads to species extinction, destruction of habitat for all species, melting ice caps, and rising sea levels. It disrupts our supplies of food and water. Already we see people dying from extreme weather conditions exacerbated by climate change, including record-breaking storms, heat waves, floods, and droughts. The burdens of a degraded environment fall disproportionately upon the most vulnerable of the planet's people: the poor, sick, elderly, and those who will face still greater threats in future generations.

In response to the global warming crisis, we join with you in establishing the North Carolina Interfaith Climate Change Campaign. We commit our spiritual community to join with others to address this serious issue in the following ways:

• Attend with awe, humility, and gratitude to the spiritual beauty in nature as well as in scripture.

• Pray for the wisdom to address global warming as a violation of the integrity of the earth.

• Distribute educational materials, offer presentations, and convene study groups to help our communities understand the negative impact on the earth of some personal behaviors and lifestyles, and take action to conserve energy and reduce waste and use of fossil fuels.

• Share our perspectives on global warming with representatives of key sectors in our business, agricultural, and environmental organizations, seeking ways to work together for the common good.

• Encourage others in North Carolina communities to act on their responsibility to care for the earth.

• Organize our communities to meet with local and state political leaders, and members of Congress, to encourage their participation and support.

• Declare our support for U.S. Senate ratification of the Kyoto Protocol, thereby join in the international effort to address the threat of climate change.

Let us now "join together as many and diverse expressions of one loving mystery: for the healing of the earth and the renewal of all life" (UN Environmental Sabbath Program).

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