ELCA NEWS SERVICE
November 9, 2009
Lutherans, Others Urge Congress and White House to Address Climate Change
09-252-JD
WASHINGTON (ELCA) -- In a public demonstration of support for
climate change legislation, faith leaders gathered Nov. 5 here on the
lawn of the U.S. Capitol. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
(ELCA) joined several other religious organizations in co-sponsoring the
event which included a ceremony of prayer, music and testimony reflecting
on the need for climate change legislation.
The current climate change legislation in the U.S. Senate is "a
mixed bag" according to Mary Minette, director for environmental
education and advocacy in the ELCA Washington Office.
"There are some things we do support," she said. "It gets good
funding for international assistance to people in poverty who are
struggling with climate change impacts already. It has pretty robust
emissions reductions, not as strong in the short term, but definitely in
the long term."
Minette said the bill is not yet complete in the Senate and will
need bipartisan support to pass. "There are Republicans outside of the
(Senate Environment and Public Works) committee who are reaching out to
people -- to Senator Kerry (D-Mass.) primarily, who is one of the authors
of the bill -- trying to forge a compromise for legislation that could
then be supported by more Republicans," said Minette.
Participants in the event also delivered thousands of "Countdown to
Copenhagen" campaign postcards to U.S. Senators.
The "Countdown to Copenhagen" campaign was developed by the National
Council of Churches USA and Church World Service to call for U.S. action
on the international climate negotiations.
Several ELCA congregations as well as youth from the 2009 ELCA Youth
Gathering this past summer participated in the campaign. ELCA members
signed more than 3,500 postcards.
Patricia Benson, creation care coordinator for the Lutheran
Coalition for Public Policy in Minnesota, St. Paul, was one of the
activists in the campaign. She said the campaign was "attractive" because
of its discipleship response in reducing one's own carbon footprint.
Benson also cited the importance of the campaign's goal of engaging with
policy makers in coming up with "just and compassionate solutions."
Benson said, "We weren't telling people what to think about it, but
challenging people to learn about it and engage in the conversations. We
have a Creator and we are participating in the restoration of creation
through this process."
"If we do cap and trade and everything else in this country, but we
do it alone, it's not going to make a difference. At the same time we
can't keep standing here saying, 'Well, I'm not going to do it unless you
do it'," said Benson. "We're hoping that America will take a lead on it."
This coming December world leaders will meet in Copenhagen for
international talks about climate change. The summit participants are
expected to discuss and finalize an agreement to replace the Kyoto
Protocol. The protocol is a mandatory agreement among nations to reduce
global emissions and expires in 2012, according to Minette.
However, she said there are still some "major areas of
disagreement," and an actual agreement may not be signed. Minette will be
attending the Copenhagen Summit as a delegate with the Lutheran World
Federation.
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Audio of comments by Patricia Benson is at
http://media.ELCA.org/audionews/091109Benson.mp3 and by Mary Minette is
at http://media.ELCA.org/audionews/091109Minette.mp3 on the ELCA Web site.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/news
ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog
