Global Warming and Energy

This year overlap of Easter Sunday, Earth Day and anniversary of Deepwater Horizon oil spill offer unique dimension to resurrection worship.

A spiritual and cultural transformation is needed to confront the 3 biggest problems in creation care: greed, selfishness and apathy.

World Council of Churches, ACT, Caritas highlight need for greater awareness raising at the grassroots level, social mobilization and advocacy for climate justice.

Over 38 presenters, sustainable community to help faith communities become caretakers of planet Earth.

Diverse Virginia interfaith group meets with Senate staff, urge support for comprehensive legislation.

Gulf oil spill resource offers information, resources, prayers for faithful response.

6-session group study combines biblical, scientific information with plan of action.

Kansas East Board of Church & Society, Kansas Interfaith Power & Light cooperating on helping congregations put faith into action on climate change.

Annual conference resolution calls for implementing sound environmental policies and practices.

Participants will learn ways to better take care of the planet.

New and refurbished buildings, energy-saving practices, innovative programs show concern for environment.

Religious leaders say U.S. has responsibility to commitment toward reducing carbon emissions.

World Council of Churches calls for ‘chain of bells and prayers’ around the world.

Faith-based alliance seeks just legislation on greenhouse emissions, U.S. presence at Copenhagen.

Course focuses on relationship between humans and rest of creation.

United Methodist General Board of Pension & Health Benefits among endorsers.

Tips on caring for God’s creation to be emphasized at Sept. 19 free event in church parking lot.

For more than 50 years, his ministry embraced church mission to care for ‘the least of these.’

Book calls for collective power of current generation to tackle environmental problems.

Will address how faith community efforts to ensure strong emissions targets and protect persons in poverty.

Cry of Creation - A Call for Climate Justice
This interfaith study guide includes a sermon by Bill McKibben, an overview of the science behind climate change, and a multi-session curriculum with a facilitator’s guide to discuss global warming in your church.

Faith and Facts Sheet: Global Warming
Part of a series examining issues through the lens of Scripture, tradition (excerpts of United Methodist policy), reason (facts and figures), and individual experience (with action opportunities).

Faith Principles on Global Warming
These interfaith principles - signed by GBCS - outline the faith community’s shared call to protect God’s creation and the primary components required of any global warming legislative initiative: justice, sustainability, stewardship and sufficiency.

Life-Giving Breath of God: Protecting the Sacred Gift of Air
Sermon starters, issue overview and bulletin inserts are included in this material prepared for Earth Day (or Festival of God's Creation) in 2004.

General Board of Discipleship Resource on Worship and Global Warming
A "Liturgical Musing" by Taylor Burton-Edwards on ways to include Global Warming concerns in worship services.

Clear the Air
Clear the Air is a national public education campaign to address air pollution and combat global warming. This site provides community-specific information on the dangers of power-plant pollution and allows users to access emission information about power plants in their states.

Earth Ministry
Founded in 1992, Earth Ministry's mission is to inspire and mobilize the Christian community to play a leadership role in building a just and sustainable future.

Interfaith Power and Light
The IPL campaign, a part of the Regeneration Project, is mobilizing a national religious response to global warming while promoting renewable energy, energy efficiency and conservation.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Established in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme, the IPCC assesses the current scientific, technical and socio-economic information available and reports on the risk of human-induced climate change, its potential impacts and options for adaptation and mitigation. The most recent IPCC report was issued in early 2007.

National Council of Churches Eco-Justice Working Group
The NCC coordinates a Climate and Energy Campaign aimed at educating and empowering Christians across the United States to take action on a variety of environmental concerns, include clean water.

The Pew Center on Global Climate Change
This Web site has basic overviews of the issue as well as in-depth analysis of the latest news and pending initiatives.

The Rural Coalition / Coalición Rural
An alliance of regionally and culturally diverse organizations working to build a more just and sustainable food system which: brings fair returns to minority and other small farmers and rural communities; ensures just and fair working conditions for farmworkers; protects the environment; and, delivers safe and healthy food to consumers. Its programs include advocating for national policies which support these goals, as well as economic development efforts such as bridging the digital divide, and helping our diverse members market the products of their farmers.

World Council of Churches - Justice, Peace and Creation Concerns
The WCC engages the international community on a range of creation care concerns including climate change.

160 I. The Natural World

All creation is the Lord’s, and we are responsible for the ways in which we use and abuse it. Water, air, soil, minerals, energy resources, plants, animal life, and space are to be valued and conserved because they are God’s creation and not solely because they are useful to human beings. God has granted us stewardship of creation. We should meet these stewardship duties through acts of loving care and respect. Economic, political, social, and technological developments have increased our human numbers, and lengthened and enriched our lives. However, these developments have led to regional defoliation, dramatic extinction of species, massive human suffering, overpopulation, and misuse and overconsumption of natural and nonrenewable resources, particularly by industrialized societies. This continued course of action jeopardizes the natural heritage that God has entrusted to all generations. Therefore, let us recognize the responsibility of the church and its members to place a high priority on changes in economic, political, social, and technological lifestyles to support a more ecologically equitable and sustainable world leading to a higher quality of life for all of God’s creation.

Click here to view all of ¶160.

B. Energy Resources Utilization

Affirming the inherent value of nonhuman creation, we support and encourage social policies that are directed toward rational and restrained transformation of parts of the nonhuman world into energy for human usage and that deemphasize or eliminate energy-producing technologies that endanger the health, the safety, and even the existence of the present and future human and nonhuman creation. Further, we urge wholehearted support of the conservation of energy and responsible development of all energy resources, with special concern for the development of renewable energy sources, that the goodness of the earth may be affirmed.

D. Global Climate Stewardship

We acknowledge the global impact of humanity’s disregard for God’s creation. Rampant industrialization and the corresponding increase in the use of fossil fuels have led to a buildup of pollutants in the earth’s atmosphere. These “greenhouse gas” emissions threaten to alter dramatically the earth’s climate for generations to come with severe environmental, economic, and social implications. The adverse impacts of global climate change disproportionately affect individuals and nations least responsible for the emissions. We therefore support efforts of all governments to require mandatory reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and call on individuals, congregations, businesses, industries, and communities to reduce their emissions.