Letter
Letter on Climate Change to President Obama, January 29, 2013
Letter on Climate Change to President Obama, January 29, 2013, signed by Bishop Stephen E. Blaire, Chairman, USCCB Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, Rabbi Steve Gutow, President and CEO, Jewish Council for Public Affairs, Reverend Mitch Hescox, President and CEO, Evangelical Environmental Network and Kathryn Lohre, President, National Council of Churches USA
As senior religious leaders representing a broad spectrum of faith communities across the United States, we congratulate you on your recent reelection and assure you of our continuing prayers and best wishes as you begin a second term in office.
We recognize that in your new term of office you face several major priorities and we were greatly encouraged that you named global climate change as one of these key priorities in your inaugural address. Scientific evidence continues to point toward significant damaging impacts from climate related events, not only here in the United States, but across the globe, and particularly for some of the poorest developing countries. Some poor nations and small island states are already seeing the impacts as a matter of survival for their people and cultures.
For the religious community, our priorities regarding climate change reflect several moral requirements --- to protect and assist the poorest peoples and nations, to care for God’s creation, and to fulfill our obligations to future generations.