What others are saying about the ECI Call to Action
“DuPont congratulates the Evangelical Climate Initiative for adding their voice to calls for concerted global action on climate change. Like the Initiative, we believe that global climate change presents a long-term challenge, and that we need to both address its causes and prepare for its potential consequences…” - Chad Holliday, President and CEO, DuPont, Inc.
“I am grateful to evangelical Christian leaders for their clear call to address the urgent problem of climate change, a well founded position that will surely impress their congregations as it has impressed me.” - Senator John McCain (R-AZ)
“The Evangelical Climate Initiative is critical because it makes clear that action to protect the Earth’s climate is not only an urgent practical priority but also a reflection of our nation’s spiritual values, and for many of us, our faith and commitment to being good stewards of God’s creation. I look forward to working in partnership with the evangelical climate community to enact meaningful climate change legislation.” - Senator Joseph Lieberman (D-CT)
“Our meeting was another step forward in finding a national and international consensus on the issue of climate change. People of faith take their stewardship responsibilities very seriously. It’s important we do our part protecting God’s gifts and passing them from one generation to the next. I appreciate their courage and vision in coming forward to help us find a solution to this problem.” - Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
“The degradation of our environment certainly knows no political or religious boundaries - making our task all the more challenging. The bottom line is, the problem of global climate change requires a global solution - and we must all be willing to put measures in place that will lessen the artificial warming of our planet. We must confront the impacts brought about by both poverty, the rapid pace of population growth, and industrialization of developing countries, as well as pollution from the developed countries. I will continue to work in the United States Senate, with our international colleagues, with the Evangelical Climate Initiative, and with others who wish to further these goals because we should do no less for those who will, from us, inherit the earth.” - Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME)
“The statement on global warming by the Evangelical Climate Initiative is a persuasive call to action to all Members of Congress. Their leaders are helping to provide the moral momentum necessary for significant action on climate change in Congress and in the country.” - Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM)
“The technical and policy issues around climate change are difficult, and need to be addressed and debated. At the same time, I think Americans are called to define all aspects of this issue on which we can agree. As a Christian, I personally believe that the stewardship of God’s creation is a basic principle of Biblical theology. As a businessman and professional in the energy and environmental sector, I see that these principles are widely shared among virtually everyone with whom I deal. Success is about taking the long view and making sound decisions every day about using resources and managing risks. I applaud the entry of evangelical leaders into the conversation and believe that by building on a platform of shared principles of stewardship, we can address the tough technical issues and move forward—as we must—to address both the substantial risks and large opportunities presented by the climate change issue.” - Hank Habicht, Former Deputy EPA Administrator during the George H.W. Bush Administration; current Senior Counsel to the Global Environment and Technology Foundation and Energy Commission member
“Proving that science and religion needn’t be mutually exclusive, the group’s statement convincingly yokes the empirical observations made by climatologists with the biblical charge to care for “the least of these.” …The group’s Web site also appeals to Christians to reject the notion that humans are masters of the Earth, divinely entitled to pollute it as we see fit. Instead, it argues, we have a spiritual obligation to be careful stewards of its natural blessings. Amen to that.” - Atlanta Journal Constitution Editorial; February 10, 2006
“In a remarkable statement issued on Wednesday [February 8, 2006], 86 evangelical leaders from all over the United States said it is the duty of Christians to support initiatives to curb global warming…’This is God’s world, and any damage that we do to God’s world is an offense against God himself,’ the evangelicals said. ‘Climate change is the latest evidence of our failure to exercise proper stewardship’ of the planet, they said…Well. That sounds…like a national, indeed a global, imperative. And it is.” - South Florida Sun Sentinel Editorial; February 10, 2006
“Love of God, love of neighbor and the demands of stewardship compelled 86 evangelical Christian leaders yesterday to call for U.S. laws to slow climate change. They joined the legion of scientists, business leaders, environmentalists and government officials, here and abroad, who support mandatory reductions in the carbon emissions believed to be warming the globe…The evangelicals’ argument starts with same solid science other groups have used. Beyond scientific persuasion, the Evangelical Climate Initiative mounts an admirable moral case for action…The statement is wise to stress that global warming will hurt the world’s most vulnerable citizens first and hardest - those with the fewest resources to cope. Wealthy countries should take preventive action before entire islands are inundated, tropical diseases spread, and food production shuts down. These evangelical leaders see global warming as an extension of their work against famine, genocide and AIDS.” - Philadelphia Inquirer; February 9, 2006
“We hear now (in full-page ads) from the Evangelical Climate Initiative. Their summons, signed by 80-odd evangelical leaders, is to address the global-warming crisis. The opening statement declares that “as evangelical Christians, we believe we’re called to be stewards of God’s creation.” That isn’t an inflated claim; ministers of the Gospel are expected to address common concerns. This time we are advised that ‘global warming can and must be solved. It is no small problem. Pollution from vehicles, power plants and industry is having a dramatic effect on the Earth’s climate. Left unchecked, global warming will lead to drier droughts, more intense hurricanes and more devastating floods, resulting in millions of deaths in this century.’…One way to go would be a surtax on gasoline. Another, a heightening of federal requirements in the matter of energy-efficient automobiles…We are indeed stewards of nature, and calls to conjoin our concern with a sense of Christian mission are noteworthy.” - William F. Buckley, Jr.; Yahoo News Op/Ed; February 10, 2006