EARTHKEEPING NEWS A NEWSLETTER OF THE NORTH AMERICAN COALITION FOR CHRISTIANITY AND ECOLOGY Volume Ten, Number Four May/June 2001 THE GLOBAL WARMING CAMPAIGN — FROM SCIENCE LABS TO PEWS Science Museum Hosts Faith Community Event Heavy rains and flooding rivers couldn't dampen the spirits of 400 people of faith who gathered at the Science Museum of Minnesota on April 22 to attend Climate Change: A Matter of Faith. Sponsored by the Minnesota Council of Churches (MCC) as part of their Interfaith Climate Change Campaign, the event was part of a National Council of Churches campaign to engage people of all faiths in addressing the issue of global warming. The program featured Paul Douglas, meteorologist for WCCO-TV and outspoken advocate for action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In his keynote Douglas described the science behind global warming and the mounting evidence that the planet's climate is changing dramatically. "Even if the most dire predictions have only a 30 percent chance of being true, shouldn't we take some kind of action," Douglas asked the audience. Douglas was joined by Lutheran pastor Keith Olstad, Talmudic scholar Sarah Lynn Newberger, and Buddhist monk Lama Gendun Gyatso, who placed the climate change issue into the context of their faith, and led prayers for the Earth. Attendees viewed the critically acclaimed photographic exhibit, Polar Thaw, which documents global warming in the Earth's polar regions. They also visited information tables set up by the MCC, Union of Concerned Scientists, and other organizations At one table, seventy-eight people wrote letters to state and federal legislators urging action in developing alternative energy sources. The campaign will continue to reach out to churches, synagogues, and temples, with congregation-based education and action programs. From NACCE Board member Ginny Yingling, who is also a member of Minnesota Council of Churches Climate Change Committee. Congregations Take Steps to Save Energy California's religious leaders have undertaken a new initiative to combat global warming through sane energy choices. A new organization called California Interfaith Power and Light has been formed, with steering committee members representing the California Council of Churches, the Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Interfaith Service Bureau, Episcopal Power and Light, the Southern California Ecumenical Center, the Los Angeles Coalition on the Environment in Jewish Life, the Northern California Inter-Religious Conference, the Friends Committee on Legislation of California, and Omar Ibn Al-Khattab Foundation. The group is working closely with the California Global Warming Campaign. In Oregon, Unitarian churches and others have implemented a "one-two-three" lifestyle change strategy to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. They turn down their home thermostats one degree, drive two miles per hour slower than usual, and replace their incandescent light bulbs with energy-saving compact fluorescent bulbs. Even in West Virginia, where coal mining is an important industry, churchgoers have been more receptive to listening to climate-change issues than might have been guessed, according to Father Christopher Bender, a priest at the Assumption Greek Orthodox Church in Morgantown. "We see it as a moral question that has to do with justice for all God's creatures," he said. From Los Angeles Times, April 7 Home     Table of Contents