Reposted from the Evangelical Environmental Network:
Action Alert on Climate Change
Dear Friends of EEN,
ACTION:
If your U.S. House Representative is a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee (see below), contact them with the following message: "As a Christian and your constituent I ask you to support strong action on climate change in the American Clean Energy and Security Act, including protecting the poor both here and abroad."
WHEN:
By May 20, 2009.
POLICY BACKGROUND:
2009 is the most important year in the history of the problem of climate change. Comprehensive climate change legislation could become law, as President Obama, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid have all said it is a top priority. This December in Copenhagen the next international climate treaty could be finalized, the treaty includes the developing countries and sets the course for decades. However, if federal legislation is not passed this year, the chances for a climate treaty are slim to none. And time has nearly run out for the world to come together and solve this global problem. For the first time ever Members of the U.S. House of Representatives will vote on comprehensive climate change legislation sometime this summer. But before it reaches the floor for the full House to vote on, this legislation must first be voted out of the Energy and Commerce Committee chaired by Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA, 30th). Chairman Waxman and his colleague Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) have released a draft bill, the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES). Chairman Waxman's goal is for this legislation to be voted out of his Committee before Memorial Day.
In evaluating any climate legislation we should make sure it gets us on a responsible glide path of emissions reductions that helps to solve the problem without harming the economy.
We must also work to ensure that any climate policies protect the poor both at home and in poor countries.
As things currently stand we have three concerns:
1. Funding for helping the poor in poor countries adapt to the consequences of climate change, referred to as "international adaptation," is inadequate and must be strengthened.
2. How the policies will help the poor in this country cope with the rise in energy prices has not yet been spelled out in the draft legislation.
3. While the current draft is strong in terms of how much pollution needs to be reduced and by when, forces are at work to weaken the emissions targets and timetables.
Our goal is for a bill that addresses these concerns to be reported out of the Energy and Commerce Committee to the floor of the House of Representatives.
ISSUE BACKGROUND:
Unfortunately, climate change will hit the poor the hardest. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), some of the major impacts the poor will face include the following.
·Hunger: Agricultural output in many poorer countries could be significantly reduced. 40-170 million additional poor people could be at risk of hunger and malnutrition in this century.
·Thirst: Worldwide, roughly 1-2 billion people already in a water stressed situation could see a further reduction in water availability.
· Flooding: Climate change could increase the number of people impacted by coastal flooding by 100 million. Millions more will face inland flooding.
· Disease: Hundreds of millions of people will be at increased risk of malaria, diarrheal diseases, dengue fever, yellow fever, encephalitis, and other infectious diseases because of global warming.
· Extinction: Approximately 20-30% of God's creatures could be committed to extinction by 2050, making climate change the largest single threat to biodiversity. The poor are much more dependent upon such natural resources.
· Urgent need: While climate change is a long-term problem, impacts on the poor are already starting to occur. Significant consequences will occur quite soon. For example, In Africa 75-250 million will face water scarcity by 2020, and crop yields could be reduced by 50% in some areas.
As these scientific findings attest, climate change will be an insidious reversal of our long-standing efforts to help the poor. Such impacts could create, roughly, 200 million refugees and internally displaced persons by 2050. Finally, climate change has been described by national security experts as a "threat multiplier" that could create instability in some of the most volatile regions of the world, increasing the chances for violent conflicts.
As Christians, part of loving our neighbors, caring for "the least of these," and being good stewards of God's creation involves working to overcome climate change, including asking our elected officials to support significant action.
MEMBERS, ENERGY and COMMERCE COMMITTEE:
Henry A. Waxman, CA Joe Barton, TX,
John D. Dingell, MI, Ralph M. Hall, TX
Edward J. Markey, MA Fred Upton, MI
Rick Boucher, VA Cliff Stearns, FL
Frank Pallone, Jr., NJ Nathan Deal, GA
Bart Gordon, TN Ed Whitfield, KY
Bobby L. Rush, IL John Shimkus, IL
Anna G. Eshoo, CA John B. Shadegg, AZ
Bart Stupak, MI Roy Blunt, MO
Eliot L. Engel, NY Steve Buyer, IN
Gene Green, TX George Radanovich, CA
Diana DeGette, CO Joseph R. Pitts, PA
Lois Capps, CA Mary Bono Mack, CA
Mike Doyle, PA Greg Walden, OR
Jane Harman, CA Lee Terry, NE
Jan Schakowsky, IL Mike Rogers, MI
Charles A. Gonzalez, TX Sue Wilkins Myrick, NC
Jay Inslee, WA John Sullivan, OK
Tammy Baldwin, WI Tim Murphy, PA
Mike Ross, AR Michael C. Burgess, TX
Anthony D. Weiner, NY Marsha Blackburn, TN
Jim Matheson, UT Phil Gingrey, GA
G.K. Butterfield, NC Steve Scalise, LA
Charlie Melancon, LA
John Barrow, GA
Baron P. Hill, IN
Doris O. Matsui, CA
Donna M. Christensen, VI
Kathy Castor, FL
John P. Sarbanes, MD
Christopher S. Murphy, CT
Zachary T. Space, OH
Jerry McNerney, CA
Betty Sutton, OH
Bruce L. Braley, IA
Peter Welch, VT
HOW TO CONTACT:
Click here to contact your Member of Congress in the US House of Representatives if he or she sits on the Energy and Commerce Committee. (Using this link will also help you if you are unsure who your Representative is.)
Again, the key message is as follows: "As a Christian and your constituent I ask you to support strong action on climate change in the American Clean Energy and Security Act, including protecting the poor both here and abroad."
Monday, May 11, 2009
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The Evangelical Environmental Network--doesn't represent evangelicals generally. Three polls by Barna Research and one by LifeWay in the past year-and-a-half show that few evangelicals believe either that global warming is primarily manmade or that it is likely to be catastrophic. Most believe more harm will be done by policies to reduce CO2 emissions than by warming itself. They'd rather see money devoted to more urgent problems like poverty and disease.
ReplyDeleteA press release last week by Faith in Public Life and Oxfam America that claimed strong evangelical support for government action to fight global warming not only was based on a poll deeply flawed by prejudicial questions that produced precisely the results the liberal sponsors, authors, and users of the poll wanted. It also concealed what the polling firm later admitted, that only 40% of white evangelicals think there's solid evidence that Earth is warming because of human activity. It's yet another attempt by the same people as before to create the appearance of strong evangelical support where it doesn't exist.
The Cornwall Alliance stands with its partners in WeGetIt.org/--Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, Family Research Council, Institute on Religion & Democracy, Wallbuilders, Acton Institute, and more--in saying, "We face important environmental challenges, but must be cautious of claims that our planet is in peril from speculative dangers like man-made global warming. With billions suffering in poverty, environmental policies must not further oppress the world’s poor by denying them basic needs"--like abundant, affordable energy. That's exactly what cap-and-trade and similar policies to fight global warming will do. Instead, we must help people fulfill their God-given potential as producers and stewards by promoting economic development, which will help them adapt no matter what they face in the ever-changing climate of God's Earth.
For documentation of all above, see http://www.crosswalk.com/root/news/commentary/11603422/page0/. For reasons to believe global warming (and cooling) is largely natural, not manmade, that fighting it by CO2 reductions won't work and will be an enormous waste of money and will harm the world's poorest, see http://www.cornwallalliance.org/docs/a-call-to-truth-prudence-and-protection-of-the-poor.pdf.
--E. Calvin Beisner, National Spokesman, Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation, www.CornwallAlliance.org