01 Jan 2005 Christians Promote Environmental Stewardship, Not Radical Agenda

Recent reports in the media that evangelical Christians have embraced the protectionist goals of the establishment environmental movement are exaggerated. As the 36th anniversary of the first Earth Day is observed on April 22, it should be noted that the majority of evangelicals and religious conservatives in general support environmental stewardship that is based on sound science and promotes market-friendly alternatives, as opposed to the regulatory agenda of hard-left environmentalists.

Senator James Inhofe (R-OK), who has criticized the media’s coverage of evangelicals going green, commented, “These liberals mean it is OK to support those who would deny and oppose the central tenets on which we have focused and worked so long and hard to achieve. They are polluting our religious communities by diluting our standards.”

“When we embrace the strident messages of radical environmentalism, we are neither just, nor merciful, nor good stewards of the earth, and we condemn the world’s poorest people to continued misery and disease,” Rabbi Daniel Lapin has argued as president of Toward Tradition, a leading non-profit that defends traditional Judeo-Christian values. “This is not what God intended, and not what our traditions have taught.”

To underscore its support for traditional principles on the environment, an interfaith coalition met in 1999 to create the “Cornwall Declaration on Environmental Stewardship.” The declaration, which has collected over 1,000 signatures, chides much of the environmental movement’s alarmism and urges a need for environmental policies based on “reason – including sound theology and sound science.”

“Religious leaders are easy prey to lend their moral weight to bad environmental policy,” said Rev. Gerald Zandstra, who directs the Center for Environmental Stewardship at the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty. “They need to beware they are not captured by radical environmentalists.”

The Earth Day Information Center is also offering an Earth Day Interview Locator Service to provide journalists and broadcasters with scientists and policy experts who are able to discuss Earth Day-related issues including environmental stewardship, global warming, ANWR, air and water quality and a host of other topics.

To book an expert for Earth Day 2005 interviews, contact Ryan Balis at (202) 507-6398 or e-mail him at [email protected]. For the fact sheet on Earth Day and more information on environmental policy, contact our staff or visit the Earth Day Information Center web site at https://nationalcenter.org/EarthDay98.html.