Chapter 12
The Moral Imperative
Around the world, people of faith are calling for swift and decisive action on climate change.
“What kind of world do we want to leave to those who come after us?’’
— Pope Francis in his encyclical on climate change, June 18, 2015
Besides all the other good reasons to limit climate-altering carbon pollution — the threats to our health, our environment, our economy, our national security — there is this: the moral imperative.
Climate change is a global problem with serious implications — environmental, social, economic, political, and for the distribution of goods. It represents one of the principal challenges facing humanity in our day,’’ Pope Francis said in his June 2015 encyclical calling for swift global action. “The effects of the present imbalance can only be reduced by our decisive action, here and now. We need to reflect on our accountability before those who will have to endure the dire consequences.’’
Pope Francis’ encyclical on climate change and his U.S. visit in September 2015 will spotlight the fact that many faith leaders are calling for decisive action to combat climate change while citing its disproportionate impact on the poor and vulnerable.
“The consequences of climate change will be borne by the world’s most vulnerable people; inaction will worsen their suffering.”
“The diversity of faith communities actively advocating for the Clean Power Plan is both broad and strong,” said the Reverend Stacy Martin, director of national policy and advocacy for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
“People of faith have a moral obligation to be good stewards of the earth, to care for the environment, and to protect future generations by addressing the effects of climate change and carbon pollution,’’ Delman Coates, senior pastor of Mount Ennon Baptist Church in Clinton, Maryland said at a July 2014 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency hearing on the first-ever limits on carbon pollution from power plants.
Speaking on behalf of the U.S. Conference on Catholic Bishops, Miami Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski called climate change action necessary “to protect the common good.’’
“The consequences of climate change will be borne by the world’s most vulnerable people; inaction will worsen their suffering,’’ he said in a letter to the EPA.
At an EPA hearing on July 30, 2014, Tricia Bruckbauer, program director for the ecumenical organization Creation Justice Ministries, said that climate change disproportionately impacts “the very people we are called to serve.’’
“People of faith have a moral obligation to be good stewards of the earth.”
“All God’s children deserve a future where they can breathe freely, think clearly, and pursue their dreams for a brighter America and an entire world not threatened from the food insecurity, water scarcity, foul air, extreme weather, forced migration, and sea-level rise,’’ said the Reverend Mitchell Hescox, president and CEO of the Evangelical Environmental Network.
Other religious groups have weighed in, including the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), United Methodist Church, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, and Interfaith Power & Light, among others.
The fight against climate change could be reaching a turning point with Pope Francis’ encyclical to the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics, the first pontiff to devote the entire text of a papal encyclical to environmental issues. He also will address Congress on September 24, 2015, and the U.N. General Assembly in New York the following day in advance of a critical gathering of representatives of about 200 nations in Paris in December 2015 to work out an international treaty to slow or reduce climate change.
At the conclusion of an April 28, 2015, Vatican climate conference, about 60 scientists, diplomats, and religious and political leaders released a statement citing a “moral duty to respect rather than ravage the garden that is our home.’’
A significant majority of Americans say world leaders are “morally obligated’’ to fight climate change, according to a February 2015 Reuters/IPSOS poll. “The result of the poll suggests that appeals based on ethics could be key to shifting the debate over climate change in the United States,’’ Reuters reported.
“Our faith demands that we act.”
A growing number of churches and other faith groups are divesting holdings in fossil-fuel companies, reported the Washington Post. The Church of England, for example, announced that it is divesting itself of investments in “any company where more than 10 percent of its revenues are derived from the extraction of thermal coal or the production of oil from tar sands,’’ citing a “moral responsibility’’ to protect the most vulnerable populations from climate change.
Among those expressing support for carbon limits at power plants was the Reverend Sandra Strauss, director of public advocacy for the Pennsylvania Council of Churches.
“For far too long we have failed to truly care for the magnificent creation we have been given,’’ she wrote to the EPA. “Our faith demands that we act.’’
