INTERFAITH GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE CAMPAIGNS
WEST VIRGINIA
Coordinator: Marcia Leitch
P.O. Box 226
Talcott, WV 24981-0226
home: 304-466-0982
fax: 304-466-4790
email: jmleitch@mountain.net
WEST VIRGINIA RELIGIOUS LEADERS' STATEMENT
TO THE GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE TRAINING EVENT
DECEMBER 5 & 6, 1999
We, members of the West Virginia faith community, greet you, our sisters
and brothers, gathered together on behalf of God’s creation. We who
are dedicated to the health and habitat of our own good state are also
citizens of the planet. We have been heartened by the efforts of the nations
of the world to address the threat of accelerating climate change. We
believe that global warming is an inescapable religious challenge, dramatically
reminding us of God’s call to faithful stewardship. We believe:
• Climate change violates God’s creation. Accelerated global warming is leading to species extinction, destruction of habitat, inundation of low-lying land by rising seas, and increasing weather extremes.
Scripture teaches : "The Earth is the Lord’s" (Psalm 24:1)
• Climate change afflicts God’s children. Global warming diminishes our supplies of food and water. It is leading to the spread of infectious disease. it destroys agricultural livelihood. Those living on islands and low-lying coasts will lose homes and safety. Already, we see how people are dying from extreme weather conditions believed to be enhanced by climate change : record-breaking storms, heat waves, floods, droughts. Scripture teaches : "...You shall love your neighbor as yourself..." (Lev. 19:18)
• Climate change violates moral and religious principles of justice. The rich of the world, the industrialized nations, are primarily responsible for the increase of greenhouse gases which contribute to global warming. Yet burdens 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. Scripture teaches : "Justice, and only justice, you shall follow..." (Deut. 16:20)
These conditions have been sufficiently documented to require action as
an ethical responsibility. Scientific consensus indicates that society’s
pollution of the atmosphere with global warming gases threatens the quality
of life for our descendants. The religious community must use its voice
and actions to under gird this scientific consensus with a moral consensus.
In December 1997, over 160 nations adopted the Kyoto Protocol
to the Framework Convention on Climate Change. This agreement seeks to
curtail existing and devastating potential effects of global warming.
The next step calls for the President to submit and for the U.S. Senate,
subsequently, to ratify a treaty committing our nation to equitable international
commitments such as those envisaged in Kyoto.
As people of faith whom God calls to be stewards of creation,
we are eager to join you in establishing the West Virginia Interfaith
Global Warming Campaign. We look forward to hearing reports of your deliberations
and concrete steps we all may take individually and collectively. Each
of us will have different ways to act on our resolve. But we will be eager
to join you in efforts to :
• Pray and consult scripture for the wisdom and strength to address
global climate change as a violation of the integrity of God’s creation.
• Distribute educational materials, offer sermons, and convene study
groups to help our congregations understand and embrace this challenge.
• Encourage our congregations and other institutions to conserve
energy and to reduce excessive use of fossil fuels.
• Share religious perspectives on global climate change with representatives
of key sectors in our state - labor, business, agriculture, and environmental
organizations, seeking ways to work together for the common good.
• Organize our communities to meet with US Representatives, Senators,
and West Virginia legislators to share our support of domestic and international
initiatives, to reduce global warming.
• Encourage the electric utility industry and other key energy-intensive
industries to cut greenhouse gases and to increase the use of renewable
and clean energy sources.
• Call upon all oil companies to follow the lead of those companies
which have already pledged to reduce their greenhouse gases and to invest
in alternative energy sources.
• Encourage the development of transportation plans which promote
sustainability, and protect and maintain community.
• Call on the President to increase the automobile fuel economy standards.
• Guarantee that climate policies assure a just transition to a full
employment economy, which provides family-supporting jobs, now and in
the future.
• Declare our support for the ratification of the kinds of equitable
measures envisioned by the 160 nations of the Kyoto Protocol.
We speak not as members of an ‘environmental movement’, but as people of faith seeking to be true to God’s intentions for Creation. We resolve to "choose life so that you and your descendants may live." (Deut. 30:19)
SIGNATORIES
The Reverend Dr. William B. Allen
Regional Minister - Christian Church (Disciples
of Christ) in West Virginia
The Right Reverend Bishop Antoun
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Arch Diocese of North America
The Reverend Dr. John Deckenback
Conference Minister - Central Atlantic Conference United Church of Christ
The Reverend Dr. Ralph Quellhorst
Conference Minister - Ohio Conference United Church of Christ
Richard Jones
Major - The Salvation Army
The Reverend Mr. Ralph W. Dunkin
Bishop - West Virginia/Western Maryland Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church
in America
His Eminence Metropolitan Maximos
Bishop - Greek Orthodox Diocese of Pittsburgh
Mr. Mahmoud Mark Shahbandy
President - Islamic Association of West Virginia
The Reverend Dr. Dennis Johnson
Pastor - Baptist Temple, Charleston, American Baptist Association
Rabbi Israel B. Koller
Congregation B'Nai Israel, Charleston
The Reverend Nathan D. Wilson
Executive Director - West Virginia Council of Churches
The Reverend Dr. Thomas M. Johnson,
Jr.
Synod Executive - Synod of the Trinity, Presbyterian Church (USA)
Gay D. Mothershed
Executive Presbyter - Presbytery of West Virginia, Presbyterian Church
(USA)
June Bucy
Acting Executive Presbyter - Presbytery of Shenandoah, Presbyterian Church
(USA)
Most Reverend Bernard W. Schmitt
Bishop - Roman Catholic Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston
The Reverend Mr. David K. Shumate
District Executive Minister - Virlina District, Church of the Brethren
The Reverend Mr. S. Clifton Ives
Bishop - West Virginia Area of the United Methodist Church
The Reverend Mr. Felton E. May
Bishop - Baltimore-Washington Area of the United Methodist Church
The Reverend
Mr. Nathaniel L. Linsey
Senior Bishop - Second Episcopal District, Christian Methodist Episcopal
Church
The Reverend
Grover Mitchell
Presiding Elder - Cleveland -Pittsburgh District, Christian Methodist
Episcopal Church
The Reverend Rodney E. Thompson
District Consultant - Ohio-Meadville District of the Unitarian Universalist
Association
The Reverend Canon James E. Waggoner,
Jr.
Episcopal Diocese of West Virginia