Science, religion find common cause in global warming

WASHINGTON — Saying they share a moral purpose, a group of evangelicals and scientists said Wednesday they will work together to convince the nation's leaders that global warming is real.

"We believe that the protection of life on Earth is a profound moral imperative," the new coalition said in a statement sent to Bush and leaders of the House and Senate.

The Rev. Rich Cizik, public policy director for the National Association of Evangelicals, and Nobel laureate Eric Chivian, director of the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School, were among 28 signers of a statement that demands urgent changes in values, lifestyles and public policies to avert disastrous changes in climate.

"God will judge us for destroying the creation. Therefore, we as evangelicals have a responsibility to be even more vigilant than others," Cizik said. "Science can be an ally in helping us understand what faith is telling us," he said. "We will not allow the creation to be degraded, destroyed by human folly."

Chivian said: "There is no such thing as a Republican or Democrat, a liberal or conservative, a religious or secular environment."

Among the project's supporters are Edward Wilson, a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning scientist and author; James Hansen, a prominent NASA climatologist; and Calvin DeWitt, president of the Academy of Evangelical Scientists and Ethicists.

Not all evangelicals were on board. The Interfaith Stewardship Alliance, formed by evangelicals who say scientific evidence counters claims of climate change, derided Wednesday's announcement as "just another attempt to create the impression of growing consensus among evangelicals about global warming. There is no such growing consensus."

The new effort represents the boldest evangelical step yet into the world of environmental activism.

To start, the coalition is meeting with congressional leaders, both Democrat and Republican, organizing a summit on environmental issues and developing public-relations tools such as a "Creation Care" Bible study guide.

It also has requested a meeting with President Bush.

Bush — long a skeptic on the human causes of global warming — is expected to offer a policy change on global warming in Tuesday's State of the Union address, but the White House has discounted reports of a major shift. Sources familiar with Bush's plans have said he is likely to call for a big increase in U.S. ethanol use and tweak policy on climate change.