Evidence of Commitment to Eco-Justice

EARTHKEEPING NEWS
A NEWSLETTER OF THE NORTH AMERICAN COALITION FOR CHRISTIANITY AND ECOLOGY

Volume Six, Number Five
July/August 1997

NATIONAL RELIGIOUS PARTNERSHIP PRESENTS TO ADMINISTRATION EVIDENCE OF COMMITMENT TO ECO-JUSTICE

In February of this year a delegation of 25 senior leaders from the four major faith groups in the National Religious Partnership for the Environment (NRPE), met in Washington with key Republican senators, the vice president and the secretary of the interior, to challenge them on their bipartisan retreat from the struggle against poverty, and to ask if in the next four years there will be justice in environmental policy.

The delegation conveyed the message that the religious communities in America, across a broad spectrum, are clearly committed to protection of the environment, linked with justice for the poor. They presented to Vice President Al Gore descriptions of thirty five Model Environmental Justice Projects, out of hundreds of exemplary efforts,* as evidence that care for creation is now an irreversible priority for the American religious community.

Nearly half of the projects (17 of the 35) are engaged in the struggle to prevent, or to force clean up of, toxic dumps, incinerators and polluted land where the poor and people of color live. Other projects focus on: protection of old growth forests, restoration of coastal wetlands, energy, wildlife habitat restoration, gardening, rural outreach and sustainable agriculture, wilderness experiences, multi-cultural canoe trips, transportation, land use planning, affordable housing, housing rehabilitation and jobs, "teach-ins", science education, interfaith cooperation, linking church organization to watersheds, protection of Indian sacred sites, and building bridges between industry, government agencies and environmentalists.

The NRPE has committed $4 million for the next three years to accelerate, through thousands of local congregations, the work of its partners: United States Catholic Conference, Evangelical Environmental Network, Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life, and National Council of Churches of Christ.

For more information contact NRPE, 1047 Amsterdam Ave., New York NY 10025; 212/316-7441; fax: 212/316-7547; email: nrpe@aol.com.