God Loves Clean Air

The New York Times has a (free subscription only*) piece on the National Association of Evangelicals (US) and their attitude to pollution reduction. It's quite interesting. Remeber Richard Cizik? I circulated an article to some of you about him and his beliefs about the Biblical command that Christians care for the environment. It turns out he's the Vice President for Government Affairs at the NAE!

In the latest effort, the National Association of Evangelicals, a nonprofit organization that includes 45,000 churches serving 30 million people across the country, is circulating among its leaders the draft of a policy statement that would encourage lawmakers to pass legislation creating mandatory controls for carbon emissions.

A key Republican, also an evangelical, who is blocking any progress on global warming measures is Senator James Inhofe.

Mr. Inhofe said the vast majority of the nation's evangelical groups would oppose global warming legislation as inconsistent with a conservative agenda that also includes opposition to abortion rights and gay rights. He said the National Evangelical Association had been "led down a liberal path" by environmentalists and others who have convinced the group that issues like poverty and the environment are worth their efforts.

At the same time, Mr. Inhofe said he took the association's stance seriously because of the influence its leaders had on people who generally voted Republican. Evangelical groups including the Noah's Ark Foundation lobbied successfully in 1996 to block efforts by the House to weaken the Endangered Species Act.

So the NAE, as far as I know the biggest Evangelical group in the US, is putting the fear of God into Republicans finally and making a distinction between Christianity and conservatism. There are dark days ahead in that case for the Republicans, my friends, dark and lonely times.

While he was reluctant to predict its potential political impact, [Inhofe] said, "I don't think there's a Republican running for the White House in 2008 who will not have to deal with the emergence of evangelicals on creation care."

John Green, a senior fellow for the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, ... said the full impact of the alliance position would not be known for several years. But if their support for global warming legislation increases, "then," he said, "Senator Inhofe is going to have to sit up and listen."

So this radically deeper 'creationism' is not the view of a lone pastor but a whole new evangelical movement. Lookout!

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