Over the past several months, Protestants for the Common Good has been working as part of a coalition to build support for the Illinois Clean Cars Act. Thirteen other states, led by California, have already adopted clean car emissions standards for cars and light-duty trucks. These standards not only set a limit on vehicular global warming pollution, but also regulate other pollutants that are currently being put into our air. Toxins like carbon monoxide combine with sunlight to produce smog-- a primary cause of serious public health risks, including birth defects, cancer, heart disease, and asthma.
My major project at Protestants for the Common Good this summer is to help develop a curriculum on Faith and Global Warming for use with local churches. Right from the start, I was struck with how little I actually knew about global warming! I understood some of the basics, like: producing carbon dioxide and putting it into the atmosphere is a BAD thing. But, I really didn’t have a full appreciation for the delicate balance of creation which holds us all or the extent to which this balance is being altered by human activity. Neither did I realize the devastating impact that global warming is currently having on people around the world, especially the poor. Like many, I had a tendency to view it as a future threat, one step removed from more immediate concerns.
...between a society where people accept modest sacrifices for a common good or a more contentious society where group selfishly protect their own benefits." (Newsweek columnist Robert J. Samuelson)
Protestants for the Common Good (PCG) was founded in 1995 out of a concern that groups from the Christian Political Right (e.g. the Christian Coalition) were portraying themselves as speaking on behalf of ALL Christians on matters of public policy. As a Christian and as a social worker, I had already begun to grapple with these issues on my own. I still remember receiving PCG’s initial mailing, sending in my small contribution, and being grateful that there was an organization ready to serve as a resource for people like me! Twelve years later, here I am, serving PCG as a Beatitudes Summer Fellow.
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