Religious Groups Lobby for Environmental Causes

September 25, 2002

Source: The Associated Press

On September 25, 2002 The Associated Press reported that "religious groups around the country are finding ecological issues hard to ignore. Clergy are speaking from the pulpit on global warming and Arctic drilling, and practicing what they preach in their own churches, synagogues, temples and mosques. Across faiths, the environmental movement has been evolving slowly over the last decade or more. Denominations have started looking into their traditions, examining how their beliefs could be applied to ecological issues and releasing statements outlining their positions. In February [2002], 1,200 religious leaders sent a letter to senators urging energy conservation as a 'morally superior' alternative to drilling for oil in Alaska. Last year, 12 Catholic bishops were active in protecting the Northwest's Columbia River watershed. And in 1998, mainline Protestant churches lobbied for the passage of the Kyoto Protocol."