President Donald Trump’s actions this week to reverse the steady progress being made in confronting the challenge of climate change are not only alarming and dangerous; these actions are immoral.
Interfaith Power & Light and The Parliament of the World’s Religions and have joined together to express deep concern over the Trump Administration’s deceptively-titled Executive Order on “Energy Independence and Economic Growth,” and join with people of faith and conscience within the United States and across the world to protest the President’s actions.
Dr. Larry Greenfield, Executive Director of the of Parliament of World Religions argues “religious and spiritual communities and people of conscience across the earth must commit themselves to work together to stand against the President’s irresponsible and unethical actions.... actions that threaten human beings everywhere, that endanger living beings across the globe, and that put the earth at a peril.”
And I agree that the recent executive order from Donald Trump is shocking to anyone who cares about future generations and the right to breathe clean air. We have struggled for many years to secure a healthy and safe future for our children and grandchildren by responding to the urgent threat of climate change. For anyone who believes in God and believes that God put us here to look after the garden, stewarding Creation is a moral imperative. All of the world’s great religions teach that caring for our Earth is a moral imperative, and that we must serve the poor and vulnerable. The ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Pope Francis have both stated that environmental degradation is a sin. It is a sin to knowingly harm Creation and endanger our air and water. Is this what our president intends to do— sin against God? This is a shameful day in our country’s history.
Based on a flawed understanding of both economics and science, the President’s action compromises Americans health and safety, damages our economy in both the short and long term, and undermines our children’s future wellbeing and security.
The Executive Order blatantly and callously plays on real fears and economic pain while it puts the benefit of a few of the richest Americans ahead of the needs and rights of the vast majority and offers no real solutions or help to those in economic distress. Its purported “benefits” are ephemeral, exaggerated or nonexistent.
The Clean Power Plan that the President wants to reverse and rollback has important provisions to move the United States toward reliable, affordable renewable energy and energy efficiency, while preventing as many as 3,000 premature deaths and almost 100,000 asthma attacks per year by 2030. The CPP is helping to bring the benefits of clean energy, good jobs and lower energy bills to consumers in every community. This carefully crafted plan, which is now in jeopardy, had the input of millions of Americans through the public comment process, and it has support from industry leaders.
The other elements of the President’s Executive Order are as pernicious as dismantling the Clean Power Plan. The sweeping order attempts to undo methane standards for oil and gas operations, stop federal agencies from considering the imminent and demonstrable impact of climate change in their decisions, and opens up federal lands for coal mining and fracking.
The cumulative impact of this Executive Order will harm the economy, reduce jobs, endanger the health and safety of communities, take decision-making away from states and communities, and lead to wasteful spending of federal funds, internationally and domestically.
Its promises are false, but the damage it will cause will be very real.
This issue goes to the heart of our spiritual values and our call to promote justice, protect life, and to be good stewards of Creation. Over the past decade, important progress has been made: Federal actions have helped curb pollution from power plants, raised mileage standards and made our cars more fuel efficient and helped communities avoid impacts of climate change. We have much more to do, and we should be building on our progress, not rolling them back.
Climate change threatens the Earth and disproportionately harms the most vulnerable among us. That’s why climate change is a common factor in all environmental justice issues, and an urgent priority for people of faith. Although it affects everyone, poor and vulnerable communities that contributed least to creating this problem bear the brunt of its impacts. From devastating drought in sub-Saharan Africa to powerful storms that wipe out coastal communities, to deadly air pollution, it’s the poor who suffer “first and worst.”
Faith communities will fight these reactionary measures every step of the way. We will use energy efficiently, install renewable energy on our facilities, and build climate resilient communities. We will support those most in need and those who bear the brunt of climate impacts, and encourage and help those most responsible for climate change to increase their efforts.
The choices we make today will shape the world in which our children will live. We have a responsibility to ensure that those choices are guided by our values as people of faith.
This blog was co authored by me, Sally Bingham and my colleague, Larry Greenfield.