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U.S. faith leaders call for 11th hour rescue of Senate climate change bill
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
In a public event in Washington this Thursday (November 5), humanitarian agency Church World Service and leaders from the U.S. faith community will deliver a red flag message to the Obama administration and the Senate, in the countdown to the December Copenhagen climate change summit.
 WASHINGTON, D.C. -- In a public event in Washington this Thursday (November 5), humanitarian agency Church World Service and leaders from the U.S. faith community will deliver a red flag message to the Obama administration and the Senate, in the countdown to the December Copenhagen climate change summit.
That message is calling for Senate Environment and Public Works committee members now grappling with markups to the Clean Energy bill to forgo differences and agree on a strong and binding climate bill. The message to President Obama: Be in Copenhagen and have evidence of commitment in your pocket.
Calling decisive U.S. action now "a moral and ethical imperative," the faith based alliance also is pressing for U.S. negotiators in Copenhagen to support a scientifically based, binding global emissions target, and for the U.S. to commit to a fair share of adaptation funding. Church World Service and its partners say climate change is a justice issue‹and, as such, a faith and ethical issue-- in which the world's poorest are those who contribute least to the problem but are suffering most from its effects.
Described as a "Climate Witness and Day for People of Conscience," Thursday's Washington event will feature presentations by religious dignitaries and public officials.
Capping Thursday morning's presentations on the lawn of the United Methodist Building, in the shadow of Capitol Hill, the climate legislation advocates will walk to the Senate and present their Senators with proof of public support - tens of thousands of postcards signed by citizens across the nation who are calling for specific climate change legislation provisions that would cap greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. and that commit adequate adaptation funding for poor countries hardest hit by climate change impacts.
The postcards are the culmination of a yearlong Countdown to Copenhagen sign-on campaign spearheaded in the United States by relief and development agency Church World Service.
Thursday's Washington event is also timed to coincide with this week's high level climate change meeting in Barcelona, Spain, the last round of United Nations FCCC (Framework Convention on Climate Change) meetings before December's decisive Copenhagen summit.
What:
Countdown to Copenhagen
A Climate Witness and Day for People of Conscience
A ceremony of prayer and public testimony
Public and media invited
U.S. religious leaders will present the justice dimensions of climate change in the company of members of the faith community, climate change activists, lawmakers, and representatives of the Administration.
When/Where:
Climate Witness Presentations
10:00 - 11:00 AM
On the Northeast Lawn, Capitol Hill
First Street N.E. and Constitution Avenue, Area 9 Washington, D.C.
(Map: http://www.uscapitolpolice.gov/special_events/map.pdf)
Who:
Invited:
- The Honorable Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State
- Josh DuBois, Director, Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships
- Senator John Kerry (D-MA)
- Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN)
Confirmed Speakers:
Program:
Climate Witness Presentations
10:00 - 11:00 AM
On the Northeast Lawn, Capitol Hill
First Street N.E. and Constitution Avenue, Area 9 Washington, D.C.
(Map: http://www.uscapitolpolice.gov/special_events/map.pdf)
12:00 - 3:00 PM
Senate visits and delivery of Countdown to Copenhagen Campaign postcards signed by their constituents
2:00 - 4:00 PM
Reception for participants
United Methodist Building conference room
Media Interview and Visual Opportunities:
- Jumbo "Countdown to Copenhagen" postcards will be presented at the 10:00 AM event, as symbols of the faith alliance's national climate legislation postcard sign-on campaign - and as a precursor to the group's afternoon visits to Senate offices
- Following the event's presentation on the East Capitol Hill plaza, advocates and attendees in a long line will offer individual, simultaneous prayers and blessings of the people in multiple languages and fashions
- At 12:00 Noon, the group of advocates will deliver tens of thousands of signed postcards to Senate offices
The Climate Witness and Day for People of Conscience is co-sponsored by Church World Service and the National Council of Churches, United Methodist Women, Center of Concern, Jubilee USA Network, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, the Presbyterian Church USA, Washington D.C. Office, Sisters of Mercy, the Unitarian Universalist Association and Unitarian Universalist Ministry for Earth, The United Methodist Church - General Board of Church and Society, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Episcopal Church, and United Church of Christ - Justice and Witness Ministries.
Days before the event, faith based, advocacy and environmental organizations are continuing to sign on to co-sponsor or participate in the event, say its planners.
Church World Service, the National Council of Churches and United Methodist Women are urging their constituents and all climate change advocates nationally to join in the Thursday event at the Capitol, either in person or "virtually," making their presence and demands known on the Internet and social networking sites.
Background:
On the need for the U.S. and the Senate to take the bold step now, Church World Service executive director Rev. John L. McCullough said, "We must craft national legislation and orient the U.S. international negotiating position in a way that puts front and center the needs and concerns of vulnerable peoples and communities worldwide.
"We are at a critical moment in history, a moment where humankind faces the most serious ethical imperative of our time," he said, "an imperative to act wisely, boldly, justly and compassionately to address climate change. There are times when you simply have to let all the considerations drop and just, plain 'do the right thing.'" McCullough will lead a group of representatives from mainstream U.S. denominations as delegates to the Copenhagen summit.
"We need the world to agree to rigorous global binding emissions targets that keep the rise in the temperature to under 2 degrees Celsius if we are to have a reasonable chance of preventing dangerous and irreversible consequences," National Council of Churches head Rev. Michael Kinnamon said.
Harriett Jane Olson, Deputy General Secretary, United Methodist Women, noted the faith based community's critical concerns for "vulnerable developing communities who are already struggling with shrinking water resources and decimated food production from climate change effects. It's imperative that the U.S. commit to its fair portion of adaptation funding for the people who need it most and who least caused the problem," she said. "Now is the time for the U.S. to ensure that there is enough for all."
Church World Service is an international relief, sustainable development, human rights advocacy and refugee assistance agency at work worldwide.
The National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. is a leading voice for ecumenical cooperation among Christians in the United States, representing 35 member Protestant, Anglican and Orthodox faith groups in the U.S., reflecting 45 million adherents nationwide.
United Methodist Women is an organization of approximately one million members in the U.S. whose purpose is to foster spiritual growth, develop leaders and advocate for justice.
Media Contact:
Lesley Crosson, 212-870-2676, lcrosson@churchworldservice.org
Jan Dragin, 781-925-1526, jdragin@gis.net
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