luni, 11 iulie 2011

Religious Leaders and Climate Change

Many of the GOP presidential candidates are seeking the votes of church-goers and religious conservatives by presenting themselves as strong defenders of their faith. While candidates mostly agree with their respective churches on issues like abortion and same-sex-marriage, they are mostly silent  when it comes to environmental platform, in which they deny climate change science, call for elimination of Environmental Protection Agency, and support the deregulation of the oil and coal industries.
In contrast, their churches call for environmental stewardship and creation care. Their faith leaders have advocated support for  the EPA, greater education  on environmental care, and policies to reduce air toxins and lower emissions from power plants.
Newt Gingrich, a Catholic, denies the urgency of the global climate crisis and has called for elimination of the EPA. When asked about his position on climate change and the threat that it poses, Gingrich said that it is an act of egotism for humans to think we are primary source of climate change. Another Catholic candidate, Rick Santorum, calles climate change junk science and argues that it is a beautifully concoted scheme from the left.
However, the Catholic Church has long encouraged stewardship of the environment  and has undertaken numerous renewable energy projects. In May, the Vatican released a report on the urgency of the global climate crisis and recommended action steps. In addition, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops recently supported the EPA's proposed standards to reduce mercury and other air toxins in order to protect public health.
Evangelical Tim Pawlenty, once a strong advocate for environmental protection has changed his beliefs. He now accuses climate scientists of data manipulation and controversy and casts doubt wheather changes in climate are man-made.
These views are out of step with the vast majority of evangelicals, 90% of whom say that Christians should take a more active role in caring for creation. Michele Buchmann, a Lutheran, is another climate change denier. She has called global warming voodoo, nonsense, hokum, a hoax. In the recent New Hampshire debate, Bachmann called the EPA the job-killing organization of America. Baptist Heman Cain recently called global warming poppycock and told a radio interviewer that there is no such a global warming crisis. But he is also out of step with other southern Baptists who see the environment as a high priority.
When it comes to climate change, Gingrich, Santorum, Pawlenty, Bachmann, Cain and others are out of step with their own churches. And they are also out of step with the people they represent.

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