We are encouraged by the historic action taken today by Senators John Kerry and Joe Lieberman to cap America’s global warming pollution.
Their draft bill jumpstarts the Senate debate over America’s energy future. We need comprehensive clean energy and climate policy that will protect vulnerable people and communities from climate change impacts, rapidly transition to a clean energy economy, and build a sustainable future for our children.
We have watched with horror the recent West Virginia coal mine disaster and the unfolding Gulf Coast oil catastrophe. An energy policy that involves such cost to human health and safety and devastation of God’s creation represents a profound moral failure. We must end our dependence on dirty and dangerous forms of energy and move rapidly to clean energy solutions.
The thousands of religious congregations and houses of worship we represent have been taking action in our own facilities, conserving energy, shrinking our carbon footprint, and preaching and teaching about climate change. But we know we can’t do it alone.
Therefore we applaud this important step forward and we urge President Obama and leaders of both parties in Congress to join the effort to develop an effective and equitable climate solution that becomes law this year.
Download a PDF of our statement on the Kerry-Lieberman bill.
