Letter to President Obama from Archbishop Wenski and Religious Leaders on Climate Change, January 30, 2014

Letter to President Obama from Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski and Religious Leaders on Climate Change, January 30, 2014

We write to you as leaders representing an alliance of diverse religious traditions including Jewish, Catholic, Evangelical and Protestant groups, concerning your State of the Union address. As senior religious leaders representing these organizations, we value the actions you have taken to reduce carbon pollution and your commitment to address climate change through your Climate Action Plan as expressed in the State of the Union.  

We appreciate the comprehensive nature of your Plan and its goal to cut carbon pollution, prepare the United States for climate impacts, and lead international efforts to address global climate change. We also are grateful for your desire to protect God’s creation that you expressed publically prior to announcing the Climate Action Plan.  

The broader religious community shares a deep conviction that the issue of global climate change presents an unprecedented threat to the integrity of life on Earth and a challenge to values that bind us as human beings. We know that the consequences of climate change are not felt equally across communities within our own country and those around the world. Impacts fall most heavily on those who have done the least to create the problem and who possess the fewest resources to adapt.  

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 obligation to future generations.  

 

letter-to-president-obama-from-religious-leaders-on-climate-change-2014-1-30.pdf