U.S. Evangelical Leaders Say "Creation Care" Requires Action on Climate Crisis

From: <http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0214/p03s03-sten.html> .
By Peter N.
Spotts, The Christian Science Monitor, February 14, 2006

Hotter issue in red states: global warming
>From evangelicals to students to business groups, climate change is a rising
political concern.
By Peter N. Spotts | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

Global warming isn't just a "blue state" issue anymore.
>From the Rocky Mountain West to the Southeast, influential red-state voices
are beginning to call for more concerted efforts at local, state, and
federal levels to curb greenhouse-gas emissions.

And they are prodding Washington to address the challenge of adapting to the
effects of global warming, which many scientists say are at work.
So far, movement in a handful of red states has been modest when weighed
against actions in California or the Northeast. But if this momentum is
sustained, it will be harder for congressional and presidential candidates
of either party to campaign in these states without backing more aggressive
action to reduce emissions than the Bush administration has to date, some
political analysts say.

"There is a much broader degree of support for action that is first
apparent" as many grass-roots groups in red states see what's at stake, says
Timothy Profeta, director of Duke University's new Nicholas Institute for
Environmental Policy.

Often, it is framed in economic terms - either the costs of disasters or the
opportunities of turning native switch-grass into ethanol fuels.
Last week, however, 86 Evangelical Christian leaders - many from
conservative Sun Belt states - injected what they see as a critical moral
and religious element. The group called for more aggressive US action on
climate change, asserting that it is a "pro-life" position in accord with
the Gospels, which call on Christians to care for the poor. The group noted
that projected effects of global warming are likely to have the most impact
on the poor, worldwide. The Evangelical group became the latest example of
what some analysts call "reframing voices" on global warming.

Others were evident when delegates from around the world met in Montreal in
December to discuss the next steps for two UN global-warming agreements. In
the past, often groups from developing nations and island states would
describe the potential effects global warming would have back home. This
time in an unusual twist, a "first world" panel of local business leaders,
city officials, and sportsman's groups from the southeastern US did the same
- with the year's record-breaking hurricane season as a backdrop.

Many of the "nonpartisan" or "bipartisan" calls for action appear to come
from liberal enclaves in conservative states. Yet that belies a streak of
environmental stewardship that runs through many red-state conservatives,
notes Georgia Tech political scientist Richard Barke.

"I'm a native southerner, and I don't think that the South or even the
traditional Evangelical Christian southerners are as monolithic as some
people - perhaps ... some political operatives in Washington - may think,"
he says, "especially when they are given other information."

He examined students' attitudes on a range of issues, including the
environment in a survey in September.

"Our students tend to self-identify as rather conservative, rather
Republican," Dr. Barke says. Out of 130 students, "none of them said they
were in favor of weakening environmental regulations. And a strong majority
said they were in favor of strengthening regulations, including some
students who put themselves out on the far tail of ideology and
partisanship."

Indeed, some students were upset to learn that their "conservative" views
might be welcomed among tree-hugging liberal environmentalists, he adds.
In addition to evangelical leaders, sportsman's groups are also concerned
about the regional effects of global warming - in particular on hunting and
fishing, which translates into tourist dollars.

"These people are on the front lines" as they traipse across the countryside
each season looking for game or a new fishing spot, says Jeremy Symons, head
of the climate change and wildlife program at the National Wildlife
Federation in Washington.

Elsewhere, coastal states look at the effects of hurricanes Katrina and Rita
and "sense that if global warming turns out to be real, the effects on
society would be significant," says University of Tennessee political
scientist David Feldman.

Yet perhaps taking a page from GOP strategist Karl Rove's 2004
presidential-campaign play book, advocates for more action in red states are
increasingly framing the issue in terms of values, as well as in dollars and
cents. The Evangelical leaders last week termed it "creation care." For
bird-watchers, hunters, and the rod-and-reel set, global warming is often
framed as stewardship of resources and activities passed down for
generations.

In some cases, these "reframing" voices may bring new people to the table to
press for new solutions to global warming. In other cases, a business leader
in North Carolina or Mississippi may hunt and attend an evangelical church,
and Barke says for some people, these seemingly disparate voices reinforce
each other.

"If you were to ask me how the tide will turn in red states, the religious,
the business, and the agriculture communities are going to come together to
change the dynamics," says Stephen Smith, executive director of the Southern
Alliance for Clean Energy.