A Ray of Hope?

Yesterday 86 evangelical Christian leaders issued a statement to the effect that climate change is a problem and we must take action now. An article in the New York Times indicates that the group that has signed on to the Evangelical Climate Initiative includes some heavy hitters in the community. A colleague of mine who has worked behind the scenes to get this statement drafted, signed and released, also noted that the group includes a significant number of college presidents. There is not unaniminty in the evangelical community, but a signifiant call has been raised.

The statement they have prepared is pretty good. In particular it is explicit about the generational aspects of our impacts on the climate system, about its impacts on the poor, and about the fact that we have already committed ourselves to significant impacts over the coming decades and centuries. The statement endorses a manditory market-based cap and trade approach to decreasing our society's carbon emissions.

The ray of hope enters in that this is the group that Bush and the Republican party have leaned heavily on for support. James Dobson apparently is still not convinced, but according to my collegue, Dobson is engaged and may yet see the light. And there is at least one signatory who speaks regularly with W.

Maybe, just maybe...