Bishops criticize Bush
administration’s environmental policies

Nineteen bishops issued a public statement this week criticizing the Bush administration’s environmental policies and calling upon Christians to “demonstrate our love of God and neighbor by choosing leaders who will tend God’s creation like a garden, for the poor and the humble, our children, and the sanctity of life.”  The distinguished list of signatories includes Episcopal, Lutheran and Methodist bishops from 14 states, including three bishops from Florida. 

The bishops refer to the earth as, “God’s good creation, the support system for our children.”  They cite warnings by scientists that environmental stewardship is needed to prevent human suffering, and ask for Christians to acknowledge that, “God’s creation critically needs our righteous attention and action now.”

"We who are Christians believe that the living God created out of nothing the whole universe and this good earth,” said Bishop Tim Whitaker, Florida Area Resident Bishop, United Methodist Church.  “We have been made by God to be a part of the creation and to care for the creation.  Caring for the creation is more than a feeling; it is a commitment to making serious choices about complex matters. The way we care for the creation is one of the most important aspects of our life of faith in the God who is revealed in Jesus Christ our Sovereign and Savior."     

The bishops list a number of actions by the Bush administration that have negatively impacted human health, including allowing increased discharges from factories and sewage plants, allowing mine waste to be dumped into rivers and allowing nuclear waste to be stored in areas deemed unsafe by the Department of Energy.  Special attention is given to the issue of mercury poisoning.  The statement cites a report by scientists of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), estimating that one out of six U.S. women of childbearing age has unsafe levels of mercury in her blood, and that as many as 630,000 newborn children every year are at risk of having brain damage, mental retardation, blindness, seizures, and speech impediments.  The bishops cite EPA officials who state that new Administration rules will likely "eviscerate" the EPA’s program to control air pollution altogether.

"We are interconnected and interrelated with all of God's Creation,” said The Rt. Rev. James Ottley, Assistant Bishop, Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida. “To plunder and destroy it, is definitely to destroy ourselves."

Volunteers from Defending Creation, a faith-based organization that educates about human suffering arising from abuse of creation, circulated the statement among the bishops.  To learn more about Defending Creation and to view a full copy of the bishops’ statement, visit: www.interdependence.us

Bishops' Statement and Signatories Follow:

Let Us Take Christ's Words to Heart and Hands

"And the Lord said unto Cain: ‘Where is Abel your brother?’ And he said: ‘I don’t know; am I my brother’s keeper?" (Genesis 4:9) Sin is not always so clear as Cain slewing Abel. For example when we abuse God’s creation we often destroy people’s lives, but we may not recognize this as sin. Imagine God saying to us: "Where is your elderly neighbor who died from respiratory illness and polluted air?" We must hear the voice of our brother’s blood and do our utmost to alleviate further suffering: We are commanded to not "indulge the sinful nature, rather serve one another in love" (Galatians 5:13).

Do we, the Christian faithful, understand the sin of destroying the earth that then destroys people’s lives? What has become of our earth, God’s good creation, the support system for our children? Scientists warn us of impending ecological disaster. In 1992 the Union of Concerned Scientists issued a warning: "We the undersigned, senior members of the world's scientific community, hereby warn all humanity of what lies ahead. A great change in our stewardship of the earth and the life on it, is required, if vast human misery is to be avoided and our global home on this planet is not to be irretrievably mutilated." We the Christian faithful must acknowledge that God’s creation critically needs our righteous attention and action now.

Sadly, many of our federal administration’s actions seriously diminish creation’s ability to support life. For one example, the scientists of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimate that one out of six U.S. women of childbearing age has unsafe levels of mercury in her blood. Consequently, as many as 630,000 newborn children every year are at risk of having brain damage, mental retardation, blindness, seizures, and speech impediments. Power plants are the largest source of mercury pollution, and EPA's own scientists stated that current technologies could eliminate almost all their mercury emissions. Unfortunately, the electric and coal industries have been pressuring EPA to do as little as possible. The Administration's current plan allows plants to emit an alarming three times more mercury over the next decade than they could under the Clean Air Act. Furthermore, the administration’s most recent regulations for power plants have stalled the EPA’s legal actions against major polluters. EPA officials state that these rules will likely "eviscerate" the EPA’s program to control air pollution altogether.

Sadly, the Administration has taken many other actions that negatively impact human health, including allowing increased discharges from factories and sewage plants, mine waste to be dumped into rivers, and nuclear waste to be dumped where it was deemed to be dangerous by the Department of Energy. A declaration signed by over 300 clergy nationwide calls us to stop these abuses of Creation (http://www.interdependence.us/).

These actions of the federal administration not only squander our opportunities to help creation to flourish, but they also counter God’s two paramount commands. Jesus said "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.", and "Love your neighbor as yourself." (Matthew 22:37-40) We close our hearts to Jesus’s words when we allow our government to cause terrible destruction of God’s good creation, and when that results in injustice and suffering. Let us demonstrate our love of God and neighbor by choosing leaders who will tend God’s creation like a garden, for the poor and the humble, our children, and the sanctity of life.

Bishop Roy G. Almquist, SE Pennsylvania Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church of America
The Rt. Rev. Allen Bartlett, Bishop of Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania (Retired)
The Rt. Rev. Leo Frade, Episcopal Bishop of Southeast Florida
Bishop William Boyd Grove, United Methodist Church, West Virginia
The Rt. Rev. Sanford Z. K. Hampton, Assistant Bishop, Episcopal Diocese of Olympia
The Rt. Rev. Alden M. Hathaway, Episcopal Bishop of Pittsburgh (Retired)
Bishop H. Gerard Knoche, Delaware/Maryland Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church of America
The Rt. Rev. Ed Leidel, Jr., Episcopal Bishop of Eastern Michigan
The Rt. Rev. Mark MacDonald, Episcopal Bishop of Alaska
The Rt. Rev. Robert M. Moody, Episcopal Diocese of Oklahoma
The Rt. Rev. James Ottley, Assistant Bishop, Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida
Bishop Joe E. Pennel, Jr., Retired,Virginia Conference, United Methodist Church
The Rt. Rev. Wilfrido Ramos-Orrench, Episcopal Bishop Suffragan of Connecticut
Bishop Robert A. Rimbo, Southeast Michigan Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
The Rt. Rev. Henry Scriven, Assistant Bishop, Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh
Bishop Tim Whitaker, Florida Area Resident Bishop, The United Methodist Church
The Rt. Rev'd Geralyn Wolf, Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island
The Rt. Rev. William H. Wolfrum, Bishop Suffragan of Colorado (Retired)
The Rt. Rev. R. Stewart Wood, Jr., Episcopal Bishop, Diocese of Michigan (Retired)

FL BISHOPS DECRY BUSH'S  ENVIRONMENTAL POLICIES