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CLIMATE Dec-5-2006 (860 words) Roundup. With photo. xxxn
Clergy, laypeople seek action on global warming, climate change
By Catholic News Service
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Throughout the United States, clergy and laypeople concerned about global warming and ecological changes are seeking new approaches to slow, stop or reverse the changes.
Archbishop Harry J. Flynn of St. Paul-Minneapolis was one of three Minnesota religious leaders who met Nov. 20 with Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., urging Coleman to help lead efforts to mitigate the threat of global warming.
"Global warming is a religious issue," said a Nov. 20 letter to Coleman signed by Archbishop Flynn and 29 other Minnesota religious leaders. "We need energy policies that guarantee global-warming emissions will decrease, that promote renewable energy and energy efficiency, and that tighten fuel economy standards."
"I don't think people in our community realize the catastrophic effect of global warming," Archbishop Flynn said. "This is a problem for all."
The meeting with Coleman came three weeks after a Pax Christi gathering in Eden Prairie, Minn., that drew hundreds who wanted to learn about climate issues from a Catholic perspective.
Another visible Twin Cities figure, WCCO-TV weathercaster Paul Douglas, said he believes there is "a moral imperative" for all individuals to become better informed about global warming and do their part to maintain the health of the planet.
Douglas, a Catholic, said that while Minnesotans could enjoy some results of global warming -- shorter winters, longer autumns, earlier springs and not as many below-zero nights -- the downsides include more drought, more severe thunderstorms and a strain on water resources.
"Can we adapt in time? The naive optimist in me thinks yes, but there's no question our quality of life is going to be under increasing stress in our lifetime, certainly in this century for our kids and for our grandkids," Douglas told The Catholic Spirit, newspaper of the St. Paul-Minneapolis Archdiocese.
In November, the Oregon province of Jesuits issued a 17-page plan defining sustainable development, meant to guide Jesuits as they advance ecological justice.
The plan "simply widens our vision by bringing the critical problems of the environment into focus," said Jesuit Father Bill Watson, a provincial official. The plan calls for the use of renewable resources, recycling and the restoration of nature. Buildings at Jesuit institutions ought to meet high standards of sustainability, it said.
The plan also urges economics that take into account the human and environmental costs of production. For example, the price of treating sickness caused by pesticides and fertilizers should be figured into the price of a crop.
Theologian Russ Butkus and environmental biologist Steve Kolmes of the Catholic-run University of Portland in Oregon led workshops in November at parishes in the Archdiocese of Portland on climate change and the common good. The archdiocese sponsored the sessions.
Butkus and Kolmes pose the idea of a Catholic theology of climate justice. In the Gospels, Jesus talks of the kingdom of God as the re-establishment of creation, not just a realignment of the human order.
"It's the restoration and renewal of creation -- human and nonhuman," Butkus said. "When we talk about the kingdom of God we tend to see it as about humans. But the Bible sees it as much more cosmic."
Also in November, John Kirk, a longtime parishioner and usher at Our Lady of the Lake Parish in Sparta, N.J., was honored by GreenFaith, New Jersey's interfaith coalition for the environment.
An environmental studies professor at Montclair State University and director of the New Jersey School of Conservation for 37 years, Kirk in 1987 helped establish the Interfaith Partnership for the Environment, which educates religious leaders in North America about serious environmental problems. The organization has evolved into a global network of religious groups and organizations working to bring religious and ecological issues together.
"Some people are more interested in the green of money than the green of the forest," Kirk told The Beacon, newspaper of the Diocese of Paterson, N.J. "We are responsible to God and the earth, this beautiful planet, which we've shortchanged."
In the Diocese of Venice, Fla., Mike Holsinger is convinced churches in his state have a significant role to play in the educational effort it will take to sustain life on planet earth. He is the only layman, along with six priests, on a church-design task force for the diocesan Environmental Justice Committee.
"New church buildings can be designed to be more energy-efficient and parishes and schools can be committed to using EnergyStar equipment," Holsinger said, referring to the federal initiative that rates appliances on energy efficiency.
"I have always thought that the church ought to be setting an example for parishioners by using Florida-friendly landscaping, native plants and less pesticides and fertilizers," Holsinger told The Florida Catholic, Venice diocesan newspaper.
In a commentary just released by the Florida Catholic Conference's Environmental Justice Committee, the state's Catholic bishops offer guidance on addressing environmental issues. The document, "Cultivating Care for All Creation," identifies global climate change and mercury contamination as the two most pressing problems today.
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Contributing to this story was Ed Langlois in Portland, Julie Pfitzinger and Maria Wiering in St. Paul-Minneapolis, Michael Wojcik in Sparta and Carol Stanton in Venice.
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Copyright (c) 2006 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
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