A year ago on this very date more than 40 religious leaders from Iowa asked Senators Grassley and Harkin to morally act to significantly reduce the dangerously high level of U.S. heat-trapping pollution. We asked them to reduce this country’s reliance on coal and oil through the rapid adoption and encouragement of clean and sustainable energy sources and new technologies. Today, we commend them both for their leadership and support in encouraging more sustainable energy. Progressive innovations in sustainable energy development can help revitalize rural communities while slowing global warming. But that’s not enough to halt global warming during the 21st century. We need, right now, national mandatory controls that reduce the heat-trapping pollutants resulting from our dependence on dirty fossil fuels… on coal and oil.
At that time, the U.S. Senate was about to debate the bipartisan Climate Stewardship act introduced by Senators McCain and Lieberman which has been before the Senate for several years in various forms. Today we call upon Senators Harkin and Grassley to sign-on to a "Dear Colleague" letter authored by Senators Richard Durbin of Illinois and Susan Collins of Maine. We understand the letter will be presented to President George Bush asking for his leadership to help enact a national program of mandatory limits on global warming pollution that would reduce emissions from current levels within 10 years.
The report issued today and numerous similar reports issued over the past decade, support that we have a clear moral and urgent obligation to protect human life, human health, and all of creation. We offer these religious principles to guide immediate action.
Energy development strategies should look toward improving the welfare of humans and God’s sacred creation, not toward strengthening the economy at the expense of human welfare and with degradation of God’s creation. While science informs us about energy impacts and energy options and the market places dollar measurements on units of energy production, these data alone cannot tell us what energy path to choose.
We stand in solidarity with people who live in poverty in Iowa and around the world. Typically, these people are more dangerously affected by fossil fuel use and global warming and do not have the resources to adapt.
God’s sacred creation has an inherent value beyond its usefulness to humans. It should be upheld.
Future generations helplessly rely upon us to make difficult and profound policy decisions for their benefit. Even if we were to stop all emissions of heat-trapping pollutants now, the climate will continue to change for the next few dozen or even 100 years. We should not put off until tomorrow decisions to begin to halt the possibly devastating reality of global warming.
Tim Kautza coordinates Iowa's Interfaith Power & Light (www.ncrlc.com/IIPandL-webpage.html)