Faith and Climate News: Top Stories for the Weeks of Dec 11 – 22
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from us at Blessed Tomorrow! Below are some top stories from the last two weeks.
Hot off the presses: Our Recommendations Report from the American Climate Leadership Summit, which has great ideas for faith leaders to implement to accelerate climate action. You can review our recent blog post with highlights, or download the whole report.
FAITH LEADERS REACT TO OPENING ANWR TO OIL & GAS
- Reverend Tony Henderson gave his take on the environmental justice issue of the recent opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil & gas drilling in the Aurora Sentinel. “As a black church leader, I am also struck by the similar injustices continually faced by the African American community. We may live far from Alaska, but our plight is one and the same…”
- The Evangelical Environmental Network also weighed in with their opinion on opening ANWR to drilling. “We are called to by God to be good stewards of America’s majesty. That is why over 42,000 pro-life Christians have called on our leaders to preserve and protect the pristine lands God has given us. We are extremely troubled by this attempt to ruin this land and harm God’s creatures through oil and gas development.”
IN MORE HOPEFUL NEWS
- Our most popular article of the past two weeks: Meyaard-Schaap of Young Evangelicals for Climate Action gave a strong argument for Why Following Jesus Requires That We Act to Stop Climate Change: “As our government turns its back, evangelicals must open our hearts.”
- Members of the West Virginia Interfaith Power and Light Steering Committee penned an opinion piece in the Charleston Gazette-Mail supporting the Clean Power Plan, which EPA Administrator Pruitt recently proposed to repeal. They are building a coalition of faith leaders who support clean power throughout West Virginia.
- The Carbon Brief did a Q&A with Texas Tech Professor Katharine Hayhoe that included some of her thoughts on climate and faith.
- Victoria Hermann’s grandfather survived Auschwitz. His strength and story inspired her human rights work as an activist fighting climate change alongside indigenous communities in the Arctic at the Arctic Institute. The Jewish Standard reports: Activist helps indigenous communities adapt to changing climate.