The following is an article that Kate, Jim, and I wrote for the Leader-Telegram "Matter of Faith" column on the day before the U.N. Paris Climate Talks are set to begin. Kate and Jim are co-leaders of our local chapter of the Citizen's Climate Lobby. Kate was a professor of English at UWEC and Jim is currently Prof. of Chemistry at UWEC.
We have just celebrated a day set aside to offer thanks for and to enjoy earth’s bounty, autumn’s harvest. Thanksgiving is a day that believers and non-believers alike celebrate, sharing life on earth. This Sunday, Christians will mark the beginning of Advent, a period of waiting and watching for good news which is to come.
Tomorrow also begins another time of waiting and watching: world leaders will arrive in Paris for COP21—the 21st ‘Conference of the Parties’ at which the desperately needed global response to climate change will be discussed. The question at hand: will humans of any or no spiritual tradition allow the earth’s climate to change beyond humanity’s capacity to adapt? After many failed attempts over too many years, the nations of the world are poised to reach an agreement to reduce emissions of the heat-trapping gases that threaten to make large parts of the earth unlivable. For the next two weeks, concerned global citizens will watch and wait for some good news, for word that humans are at last ready to act in defense of God’s creation: our planet we share with 7 billion other human beings, a vast community united by the great arc that curves beneath our feet, the wind that moves across its surface, and the atmosphere that has made life here possible.
The issue of climate change is not only scientific but also moral. For we who follow Jesus, this is an important matter of faith. We are charged by God to take care of our planet, not to dominate or carelessly use it to extinction. We are also commanded by Jesus to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Addressing climate change has become an essential part of living that love.
We ask readers to consider why, as we celebrate the bounty of God’s great earth, we would refuse to be good stewards of it. Why would we stand by while our elected officials (and even some of our religious leaders) defy scientific consensus and work actively against earth’s, and therefore our, health? Why, caring for creation and for our brothers and sisters, would we allow the rolling back of hard-won pollution regulations and deny the overwhelming evidence that global warming is already affecting humanity—indeed, all life on the planet? Why would we not fight to address this threat with all due speed, with all of our considerable resources?
Many of us are perhaps fearful of the changes to the earth and to our way of life. I suggest that we ought not fear this change, but welcome it. Almost 400 times in the Bible one divine being or another says, "Don't be afraid," including—as we will hear this Advent—the archangel Gabriel to Mary. Like Mary, we need to ponder this change in our hearts. We need to look, unafraid, at the truth that our choices are negatively affecting our climate; we need to be willing to change our hearts about how we live on and use our planet’s resources.
Like all things mortal, the Paris accord will be a work in progress; nations will need to periodically revise their commitments to be more ambitious—we are in uncharted territory, but our moral obligation is clear.
You can begin to take action on climate change tomorrow (11/29). While government leaders are gathering in Paris, concerned citizens will be rallying around our precious globe to express their support for climate action. The cumulative impact of these rallies with be illustrated with group photos taken all over the world, to be posted on-line. You can be part of the Chippewa Valley gathering at 2:00 pm at the Chippewa Valley Technical College’s Energy Education Center 4000 Campus Rd., Eau Claire (west side). For more information, contact any of us, or see the Citizen’s Climate Lobby-Eau Claire Facebook page,
-- Rev. David J. Huber, Pastor at Plymouth United Church of Christ; Dr. Kate Hale Wilson and Dr. Jim Boulter, Prof. of Atmospheric Chemistry, co-leaders of Citizens’ Climate Lobby-Eau Claire chapter.
We have just celebrated a day set aside to offer thanks for and to enjoy earth’s bounty, autumn’s harvest. Thanksgiving is a day that believers and non-believers alike celebrate, sharing life on earth. This Sunday, Christians will mark the beginning of Advent, a period of waiting and watching for good news which is to come.
Tomorrow also begins another time of waiting and watching: world leaders will arrive in Paris for COP21—the 21st ‘Conference of the Parties’ at which the desperately needed global response to climate change will be discussed. The question at hand: will humans of any or no spiritual tradition allow the earth’s climate to change beyond humanity’s capacity to adapt? After many failed attempts over too many years, the nations of the world are poised to reach an agreement to reduce emissions of the heat-trapping gases that threaten to make large parts of the earth unlivable. For the next two weeks, concerned global citizens will watch and wait for some good news, for word that humans are at last ready to act in defense of God’s creation: our planet we share with 7 billion other human beings, a vast community united by the great arc that curves beneath our feet, the wind that moves across its surface, and the atmosphere that has made life here possible.
The issue of climate change is not only scientific but also moral. For we who follow Jesus, this is an important matter of faith. We are charged by God to take care of our planet, not to dominate or carelessly use it to extinction. We are also commanded by Jesus to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Addressing climate change has become an essential part of living that love.
We ask readers to consider why, as we celebrate the bounty of God’s great earth, we would refuse to be good stewards of it. Why would we stand by while our elected officials (and even some of our religious leaders) defy scientific consensus and work actively against earth’s, and therefore our, health? Why, caring for creation and for our brothers and sisters, would we allow the rolling back of hard-won pollution regulations and deny the overwhelming evidence that global warming is already affecting humanity—indeed, all life on the planet? Why would we not fight to address this threat with all due speed, with all of our considerable resources?
Many of us are perhaps fearful of the changes to the earth and to our way of life. I suggest that we ought not fear this change, but welcome it. Almost 400 times in the Bible one divine being or another says, "Don't be afraid," including—as we will hear this Advent—the archangel Gabriel to Mary. Like Mary, we need to ponder this change in our hearts. We need to look, unafraid, at the truth that our choices are negatively affecting our climate; we need to be willing to change our hearts about how we live on and use our planet’s resources.
Like all things mortal, the Paris accord will be a work in progress; nations will need to periodically revise their commitments to be more ambitious—we are in uncharted territory, but our moral obligation is clear.
You can begin to take action on climate change tomorrow (11/29). While government leaders are gathering in Paris, concerned citizens will be rallying around our precious globe to express their support for climate action. The cumulative impact of these rallies with be illustrated with group photos taken all over the world, to be posted on-line. You can be part of the Chippewa Valley gathering at 2:00 pm at the Chippewa Valley Technical College’s Energy Education Center 4000 Campus Rd., Eau Claire (west side). For more information, contact any of us, or see the Citizen’s Climate Lobby-Eau Claire Facebook page,
-- Rev. David J. Huber, Pastor at Plymouth United Church of Christ; Dr. Kate Hale Wilson and Dr. Jim Boulter, Prof. of Atmospheric Chemistry, co-leaders of Citizens’ Climate Lobby-Eau Claire chapter.
