Let There Be Light
An Open Letter to the President, the Congress
and the American People
December 2001
God calls us to care for creation. As it was in the beginning and remains even now, we are asked to receive the Earth as a gift, "to till it and to keep it" according to the second chapter of Genesis. The specific Hebrew words "abad" (to serve) and "shamar" (to sustain and care for) aptly describe God’s expectation of our relationship with creation. The Earth, as creation, is a sacred gift that is meant for the benefit of all until the end of time.
Intensive use of fossil fuels and depletion of forests are contributing to rapid changes in the Earth’s climate. This global phenomenon matters to people of all nations, to their communities and their businesses. Global warming is predicted to bring many serious changes to the United States, but we fear that climate change will bring life-threatening effects to vulnerable nations and people around the world. If we are to love one another, as well as to sustain and care for the Earth, then we must change the way we live in order to avoid the destruction of habitats and anguish for many people.
As leaders of religious communities in Iowa, we join other religious leaders around the country who have expressed great concern about the nation’s energy policy. Our elected representatives are debating such a policy now, and we pray that Congress will use their creative will to formulate a policy based on social and environmental justice. We believe that it is crucial to create an energy policy that addresses global climate change, because the possibility of global warming threatens the integrity of God’s creation and leads to grave injustices.
We are saddened that international discussions on energy use and climate change often fall into disputatious discussions that serve no useful or creative end. The majority of scientists are clear in their research that global climate change is a reality. They clearly warn us that extreme weather events will become more frequent; more people will die of heat-related deaths; sea levels will rise and submerge coastal areas; and deadly diseases like malaria will expand in geographic range. Scientists also predict certain benefits, such as increased agricultural production in temperate climates. Even if Iowa is to benefit from global climate change, we know that we are all God’s people and there is no true benefit unless all of Creation benefits.
Energy Policy and Social Justice
Justice for our Children
"This is the sign that I am giving for all ages to come, of the covenant between me and you and every living creature with you." (Genesis 9:12) An energy policy that allows intensive use of fossil fuels, that fouls the air with pollution, that poisons the land and, ultimately, that causes global warming is a certain jeopardy for the health and well-being of our children and grandchildren. A creative energy policy would invest in clean technology, renewable energy, greater fuel efficiency and safer power plants.
Justice for the Least among us
"You have been told, O mortal, what is good, and what the Lord requires of you; only to do right and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God." (Micah 6:8) The gifts of God’s creation must be shared fairly among all people. Energy policy must be an instrument of social and economic justice here and abroad. With less than 5% of the world’s population, our nation generates more than 22% of greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, the effects of global warming will fall most heavily on those who have the fewest resources to address the consequences. An energy policy that perpetuates U.S. reliance on fossil fuels and continues our disproportionate emissions is unjust.
Justice for the Earth
"The Earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof." (Ps 24:1) In light and wind, in land and water, energy resources are abundant gifts for human well-being given by our creator God. Because we are called "to till and to tend the garden" (Gen 2:15), we have a moral obligation to choose the safest, cleanest and most sustainable sources of energy to protect and preserve God’s creation. Energy conservation is faithful stewardship.
Legislative Action
We call on our federal and state legislators to create and implement an energy policy that cares for Creation and promotes social and economic justice. Specifically, we believe that a fair and just energy policy will include:
 Regulation of main power plant pollutants: carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide and mercury. Regulation of carbon dioxide emissions is particularly important to lessening the United States’ impact on climate change, and President Bush said he would do so during his 2000 campaign before reneging on this promise.
Raise the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards and close the loophole so that sport utility vehicles (SUVs) are no longer exempt. Twenty-five percent of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions are from automobiles. Because SUVs do not have to conform to the standard, yet account for a sizeable portion of vehicles on the road, the 2001 fleet of cars is less efficient than the fleet at the height of the oil crisis.
Increase funding for renewable energy and energy efficiency. The Department of Energy estimates that 30% of America’s new energy demand in the next 30 years could be met by taking advantage of currently available technologies in energy efficiency. Energy legislation should mandate more efficient appliances and environmentally sensible building codes. New legislation should also express strong support for renewable energy technologies, such as an extension of the tax credit for wind energy production.
Refuse to allow drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Drilling in ANWR, which is estimated to have less than six months worth of oil, threatens God’s Creation by degrading a pristine ecosystem and endangering the lifeways of local native people. We oppose any energy legislation that opens the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and other pristine public lands to oil and gas drilling and increases taxpayer subsidies to polluters. Instead, we should rely on conservation and improved efficiencies to resolve U.S. energy needs.
We call on all Americans, and particularly our leaders, to consider carefully the values of justice, stewardship and prudence and let these guide our national and individual energy choices. We pray that the growing wisdom, faith and solidarity of the American people will bring us together at this critical time. We believe national energy policy can and will be directed toward conservation, efficiency, justice and maximum use of the abundance of clean and renewable energy that our Creator brought into being by proclaiming, "Let there be light" (Genesis 1:3).
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