Clergy and scientists make climate appeal
A coalition of climate scientists and interfaith religious leaders in Massachusetts issued a “Faith and Science Joint Appeal for Climate Action” last week, urging all citizens to get involved, and especially calling on legislators to address the “ecological and moral emergency” posed by climate change, writes Michael Sean Winters. “As a community of scientists, we see greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels and deforestation causing dangerous changes to the climate and threatening the stability of the planet. We are trained to simply report the facts, but now our findings compel us to public advocacy,” the appeal stated.
“As a community of faith leaders, we have worked together to alleviate poverty, to fight racial and social injustice, and to defend human life. All of these social goods are negatively impacted by climate change.”
The appeal was released at a press conference featuring Boston’s Cardinal Seán O’Malley, Revd Mariama White-Hammond of the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, and Dr Philip Duffy, president of the Woods Hole Climate Research Centre. The appeal was signed by some 600 religious and scientific leaders.
“In [his 2015 encyclical] Laudato si’, Pope Francis calls us to organise our societies in ways that hold protection of the environment as a priority,” Cardinal O’Malley said at the press conference. “In our local communities we hope that we can make a difference by advocating for responsible policies … and each day making choices that respect and support the sustainability of the world around us.”
He noted that the negative effects of climate change fall disproportionately on the poor and vulnerable.
For the full text visit?http://whrc.org/joint-appeal/
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