Scientists Call for Creation Care Laws

Story updated on July 15, 2013

A group of 200 evangelical scientists, including members of the Christian Reformed Church, are urging the U.S. Congress to take action as soon as possible to address the impact of climate change.

In a press conference last week, the scientists say their faith compels them to call on lawmakers to cease the debate and pass legislation as soon as possible that reduces carbon emissions which are threatening God’s creation.

The press conference was held  by the Academy of Evangelical Scientists and Ethicists to announce the release of a letter that it sent to Congress.

“All of God's Creation — humans and our environment — is groaning under the weight of our uncontrolled use of fossil fuels, bringing on a warming planet, melting ice, and rising seas,” they say in the letter.

At the press conference, they noted that President Obama recently outlined a plan calling for laws protecting the environment for future generations.

In the letter, the scientists sketch some of the alarming developments being caused by a changing climate.

People are starving because of droughts in Africa, floods have washed away homes and lives in Asia, and tornadoes and hurricanes have caused devastation in the United States, they say.

The scientists point out that “average global temperatures are at their highest level within the measurement record.”

Last year, they also write, was the hottest year ever recorded for the contiguous United States, and it will go down “as one of the  most destructive and disruptive years in U.S. history: wildfires, drought, superstorms, and public health outbreaks.”

The letter highlights the fact that those whom Jesus called “the least of these” – the poor, vulnerable, and oppressed – feel the greatest impact from the effects of climate change, with worsening droughts, wildfires, floods, and severe storms.

World Renew, the development agency of the Christian Reformed Church working in thousands of these impoverished communities around the world, is strategically addressing climate change through mitigation, adaptation, and prevention in 30 developing countries among those who are being affected the most.

In taking the lead from the CRC’s Creation Stewardship Task Force, Synod 2012 stated:

• Climate change is occurring and is very likely due to human activity;
• Human-induced climate change is a moral, ethical, and religious issue; and
• Urgent action at the personal, communal, and political levels is required to address climate change.

Climate change and its causes have been a contentious theological and political issue within the evangelical Christian church for years. The Academy, along with the coalition of evangelical organizations and denominations that its efforts are a part of, is hopeful that this will change.

“When it comes down to it, this is not primarily a political issue. This is primarily an issue of faithfulness—namely will the church be faithful to its mandate to serve and to keep God’s good creation and to its call to care for the vulnerable and the oppressed?” says Kyle Schaap, policy analyst for the CRC’s Office of Social Justice who has worked with the Academy of Evangelical Scientists and Ethicists on this effort

Calvin DeWitt, a founding member of the CRC’s Creation Care Task Force and professor emeritus of environmental studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said at the press conference that being a Christian scientist means he has obligations.

“There is a real directive from scripture to care for the earth and when we see evidence of degradation, which we see with climate change, scripture commands us to speak up and work against that degradation,” said DeWitt.

The evangelical scientists offered Congress their expertise as scientists and their prayerful witness on why the issue of climate change is so crucial.

“Christian scientists across the country view science as a gift from God, a tool to discover the mysteries of creation. Our call is to provide care for creation in ways that enhance the health and wellbeing of our communities,” says Larry Louters, professor of chemistry at Calvin College.

Click here to listen to a recording of the press conference.