EARTHKEEPING NEWS A NEWSLETTER OF THE NORTH AMERICAN COALITION FOR CHRISTIANITY AND ECOLOGY Volume Eleven, Number Five July/August 2002 CALL TO ACTION: INCLUDE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION IN FAITH-BASED INITIATIVES A broad coalition of US religious leaders representing Evangelical Christians, mainline Protestants, Jews, Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholics has called on President Bush to: "Hold off global warming, stop the slide toward massive species extinction and protect the public's forests through an end to commercial logging on national forests," according to a press release of the Religious Campaign for Forest Conservation on May 22. The first in a series of meetings with the White House Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives (OFBCI) sought to begin a process of resolving administration "contradictions" between "its promises and actions" on protecting the environment and God's creation. The coalition of religious leaders asked President Bush to expand the mandate of the OFBCI to include the environment. "President Bush has promised to use religious principles to shape the policies of his administration," said Fred Krueger, coordinator of the delegation. "Who can better interpret religious principles than the leaders of America's faith traditions? It is our desire to help the president understand how these principles translate into environmental policy." The OFBCI has launched initiatives on: Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Justice, Education, and Labor Despite the fact that there have been no initiatives launched on the environment, or the defense of creation, the first of the series of meetings of OFBCI personnel with religious leaders focused just on these issues. If you feel as I do that these issues belong on this Office's agenda, write the president or send him an email at the website www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/faith-based. Information from website, and also from Religious Campaign for Forest Conservation, 409 Mendocino Avenue, Suite A, Santa Rosa, CA fred@ecostewards.org. Home     Table of Contents