THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
May 19, 2004; Page A2

Religious Leaders Urge U.S. Senate to Act on Climate
By JOHN J. FIALKA
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

WASHINGTON -- Leaders from a broad spectrum of religious groups joined leading scientists in urging the Senate to resume work on and approve legislation to regulate carbon dioxide and other man-made gases thought to be causing global climate change.

The religious leaders -- including some conservative evangelical groups generally supportive of President Bush -- say in letters to be hand-delivered to each senator today that a recent consensus among international experts shows the climate-change problem is real and that it requires political action "to prevent damage to the common good."

The letter adds a new voice to the climate-change debates and indicates political ground on the issue could be shifting.

"Scientists and religious leaders are normally allergic to one another," said Peter Raven, a professor of botany at Washington University in St. Louis. But he and other scientists signed the letter with the religious leaders, he said, because "we would both like to get a better hearing on these issues."

Richard Cizik, a vice president of the National Association of Evangelicals, said recent polls among its membership show that "even George Bush supporters believe you have to offer something more here than simply voluntary measures." The group's members include 45,000 churches and 51 denominations.

President Bush has called for voluntary steps by U.S. companies to curb CO^² emissions, which are thought to be trapping more of the sun's heat in the Earth's atmosphere. The administration also withdrew from the Kyoto Protocol on global climate change, but ordered billions of dollars of more scientific study.

"I happen to be one of those Bush Republicans, but I disagree with the president on this one," Mr. Cizik said, adding that in his view mounting evidence of environmental damage from burning fossil fuels puts a responsibility on leaders of industrial nations to limit ill effects, including drought, the spread of disease and rising sea levels.

The involvement of conservative evangelicals in the climate-change issue could be difficult for the White House to brush off, given that they constitute a voting bloc whose support may be critical in the upcoming presidential election, which is expected to be close. While Mr. Cizik and other leaders said they don't mean to criticize Mr. Bush, they do want to see him more involved in assessing potential damage to the environment. The letter notes that principles of "stewardship, justice, protection of the weak, inter-generational duty and prudence are universal values when responsible scientific study has identified grave risk."

Paul Gorman, executive director of the National Religious Partnership for the Environment, which negotiated the wording of the letter with the various signatories, said it isn't intended as a specific criticism of President Bush or of Congress. "Our fundamental purpose is to lift this issue out of partisan politics, movie exaggerations and soundbites."

Said another signatory, John Carr, a spokesman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops: "It is clear to us that something important is happening here and if we delay a response, the poor and future generations will pay a heavy price."

The letter, also signed by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and main-line Protestant, Jewish and Greek Orthodox leaders, calls for the Senate to renew consideration of the Climate Stewardship Act, proposed by Sen. John McCain, an Arizona Republican, which would create the U.S.'s first CO² regulatory system. The bill was defeated in the Senate last year, 43-55, but the letter calls for a new and "reflective" debate.

Meanwhile, the European Union this week is putting new pressure on Russia to ratify the Kyoto pact as Moscow works to become a member of the World Trade Organization. Russia's ratification, if it comes, would create a sufficient bloc of nations to bring the international treaty and its emissions restrictions into legal force.