Evangelical Christians launch campaign on limiting emissions

WASHINGTON – A group of evangelical Christian leaders kicked off a national campaign Wednesday to urge Congress to pass legislation to limit carbon-dioxide emissions, contending that decreasing the human role in global warming was central to putting faith into action.

The evangelical leaders said they were acting not just out of a sense of stewardship for the Earth as God’s creation but also out of concern for the poor who are most often the hardest hit by hurricanes, floods and other natural disasters linked to climate change.

Through a national advertising campaign using television, radio and the print media – including an ad running in Thursday’s New York Times with a statement signed by 86 of the Christian leaders – the evangelicals said they hoped to further the growing momentum for environmentalism within many churches.

Evangelical Christians for many years have been portrayed in the media as virtually a wing of the Republican Party and many hold views that are virtually indistinguishable from the GOP’s platform. But evangelicals say they have always been a more diverse group than media portrayals have suggested.

Chicag Tribune