By Bob Allen
Leaders of two Baptist groups were among 34 interfaith leaders across the United States sending a letter to Congress in light of the pope’s visit and his call for action to fight climate change.
Paula Clayton Dempsey, director of partnership relations for the Alliance of Baptists, and Roy Medley, general secretary of American Baptist Churches USA, joined leaders of other faith traditions urging support for a resolution introduced by Rep. Chris Gibson (R-NY) calling for measures “to create and support economically viable, and broadly supported private and public solutions to study and address the causes and effects” of measured climate change.
Gibson organized a coalition of 11 Republican members of Congress in response to Pope Francis’s appeal for a new dialogue about how humans are shaping the future of the planet.
The resolution notes “a marked increase in extreme weather events across the United States,” which have had “noticeable, negative impacts that are expected to worsen in every region of the United States and its territories.”
If left unaddressed, it states, “the consequences of a changing climate have the potential to adversely impact all Americans, hitting vulnerable populations hardest, harming productivity in key economic sectors such as construction, agriculture, and tourism, saddling future generations with costly economic and environmental burdens, and imposing additional costs on state and federal budgets that will further add to the long-term fiscal challenges that we face as a nation.”
A “Moral Action on Climate Justice” rally is scheduled for Sept. 24 on the National Mall to welcome and connect the Washington faith communities’ efforts for dialogue and action on climate change with the pope’s climate message.
The Alliance of Baptists adopted a statement on climate change in 2009 urging government leaders to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, support communities affected by climate change and humanitarian aid for migrants fleeing the effects of weather.
“As people of faith, we are called to protect the vulnerable and to care for God’s earth,” the Alliance statement said. “We are gravely concerned that the impacts of climate change are dramatically and negatively altering God’s gracious gift of creation. Because the effects of global climate change impact those least able to cope with them, addressing global climate change is also a justice issue. “