In the wake of the most significant scientific report to date on the potentially dire consequences of global warming, a ray of hope has emerged. Ironically, it emanates from the convergence of forces that have often been at odds. One force, the world of science, has long been on the forefront of the issue of climate change. Another equally powerful force, religion, has often remained on the sidelines — until recently.
The Intergovernmental Panel on climate change (IPCC), a body of more than 2,000 of the world’s top scientists from more than 100 nations, stated in a Feb. 2 report that global warming is “unequivocal,” that it is rapidly changing the nature of our planet and its ecosystems, and that it is “very likely” being caused by human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels.
In the course of the last decade, a significant movement within the faith community has been mobilizing around the call to care for God’s creation, the web of life that sustains us all. This calling is the essence of religious life, and people of faith are beginning to hear it, even as scientists sound the alarm that we may be nearing a climactic tipping point.

What do people think are the reasons why no effective action has been taken to restrain climate change? We are certainly monitoring and calibrating our species extinction with respectable thoroughness. But we are less dedicated in our solutions. Neither the option of keeping fossil fuels in the ground nor the very concept social change are mentioned in polite society, for example.

Here’s my three suggestions why we are not doing enough quick enough to reverse the ecological meltdown. (I’ve actually only got two but ‘three’ sounded better and I’m hoping the third will come to me while I’m writing the first two. If it doesn’t I’ll just quote some poetry.) .

1. Being prescriptive makes you look silly.

Today I will be writing my sermon for tomorrow having spent most of the week thinking about it, but not writing due to the worst cold I’ve had in years and another priority assignment. The gospel lesson on Sunday is from Luke and in it John the Baptist tells his listeners that he is not the Messiah whom they are seeking. The people should be joyful because God is in their midst, but he is not God. The lesson for us is to model that behavior. Know who we are, accept who we are, recognize our own limitations and know that others have been before and others will come after. The humility in this carries a dual message. It asks us not to take advantage of the vulnerable or use any occupational privilege to exploit others. We might apply this to fossil fuel use and our greed, exploitation of the poor nations and people. As a wealthy country, the US could use this example set by John. As a nation we have the power and ability to help poor nations by cutting our own use of fossil fuel and setting an example by using more renewable energy. Some how the Christian values that our US government leaders profess to have don’t show up in the policies they make.

Full text of speech given in Trafalgar Square on November 4th.

(Due to the event over-running, this speech was cut a little on the day.)

When I pull up the steel pole containing the core ice sample of what I did in 2006, the unifying element to the work is the idea that only social change halts climate change.

In the summer I did a couple of benefit gigs for this week-long Camp for Climate Action. In September the Camp for Climate Action tried to shut down Drax power station, Britain’s single largest carbon spewer. The benefit gigs were performed in autonomous social centres in the north of England.

I spoke in London’s Trafalgar Square at a Stop Climate Chaos rally ( I’ll post the text soon). There were a lot of young kids there come to see the pop bands that were on, and I’m sure most of ‘em were just thinking: ‘Why is that nasty, unshaven man so angry? Shouldn’t he be happy that we’ve saved the planet already by our judicious consumer choices? In the same way that we ended corporate rule of the Global South with Live 8?’

Hi, finally the week draws to an end and I begin to reflect on the recent activities and look ahead to the coming week. I am the executive director of The Regeneration Project which is (most descriptively) a ministry for the religious community to draw on for support and resources when seeking to find solutions to the problem- potentially catastrophic problem- of climate change. We have an affiliated network of religious leaders from many diverse faiths in 21 states in the US. “A religious response to global warming” operates under the banner of Interfaith Power and Light. Each state program operates autonomously, but in collarboation with the others. Our aim is to reduce the US overall dependency on fossil fuel for energy by example in our memeber congregations. We promote energy efficiency, conservation and use of renewable clean resources for electricity. We ask our member congregations of which there are roughly 2000 to preach about the moral responsibility of religious people to care for God Creation. This means all living things with particular focus on the poor and in addition those living things that cannot speak for themselves.