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Group Representing Half A Billion Christians Says It Will No Longer Support Fossil Fuels

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posted on Jul, 12 2014 @ 09:07 AM
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YAY!! This is FABULOUS news!!

Group Representing Half A Billion Christians Says It Will No Longer Support Fossil Fuels


A large umbrella group of churches representing more than half a billion Christians worldwide announced Thursday that it would pull all of its investments in fossil fuels, saying it had determined the investments were no longer ethical.
The World Council of Churches, a global coalition of 345 churches, made the decision to no longer fund oil, gas, or coal at its central committee meeting in Geneva, and recommended that its members do the same.

[T]he announcement represents broad support among Christians for action to fight climate change.
“The World Council of Churches reminds us that morality demands thinking as much about the future as about ourselves — and that there’s no threat to the future greater than the unchecked burning of fossil fuels,” Bill McKibben, the founder of 350.org, said in a statement. “This is a remarkable moment for the 590 million Christians in its member denominations: a huge percentage of humanity says today ‘this far and no further.’”

Preserving the climate and the environment is a growing concern among religious groups, many of which see the issue as not only ethical, but spiritual — a way to respect God’s creation. Though the Catholic Church is not a member of the WCC, Pope Francis has spoken widely about his concern for the environment, most recently telling a group of fellow Catholics that rainforest destruction is a “sin.”
“This is one of the greatest challenges of our time: to convert ourselves to a type of development that knows how to respect creation,” the pope said. “When I look at America, also my own homeland (South America), so many forests, all cut, that have become land … that can longer give life (sic). This is our sin, exploiting the Earth and not allowing her to her (sic) give us what she has within her.”



Here is a link to the Press Release by 350.org

This is a breath of fresh air (LITERALLY) that I really, really needed to hear.
This council includes The Church of England (25 million people), Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (48 million) among others; here is a list of them: far too many to list in one post.

The WCC describes itself as "a worldwide fellowship of 349 global, regional and sub-regional, national and local churches seeking unity, a common witness and Christian service."[3] It is based at the Ecumenical Center in Geneva, Switzerland.[4] The organization members include denominations, which claim to collectively represent some 590 million people, across the world in ca. 150 countries, including 520,000 local congregations served by 493,000 pastors and priests, in addition to elders, teachers, members of parish councils and others.[5]
World Council of Churches wiki

They are not the first, however.
From the article first linked above:

The WCC is far from the first religious group to pledge divestment from fossil fuels. In June, New York’s Union Theological Seminary became the first seminary in the world to cut oil, gas and coal investments from its $108.4 million endowment. In 2013, The United Church of Christ became the first national denomination to do the same. And on June 29, The Unitarian Universalist Association’‍s national General Assembly voted to divest from any holdings in 200 fossil fuel companies included on climate activists’‍ Carbon Tracker list.




NOW we're getting somewhere!!
Corporations (and people) denying climate change really bother me. THIS is our home. Not the moon, not Mars - HERE. Planet Earth. We MUST be responsible for her. The best way? I'd say pulling their funding is a good start! YAY for the truly aware people who realize we CAN NOT destroy this planet.

The methane being released from the Arctic is exponentially more dangerous than people realize - far worse than CO2...Arctic News discussion

Methane formed by organisms in the water becomes trapped in the fabric of water ice crystals when it freezes and is stable below about 300 meters depth in the Arctic Ocean and on the shallow East Arctic Siberian Shelf. There are such massive methane reserves below the Arctic Ocean floor, that they represent around 100 times the amount that is required to cause a Permian style major extinction event, should the subsea Arctic methane be released in a short period of time into the atmosphere (Light and Solana, 2012-2014, Carana 2012 - 2014). There are also giant reservoirs of mantle methane, originally sealed in by shallow methane hydrate plugs in fractures cutting the Arctic seafloor (Light 2014, Carana 2013).

If only a few percent of the subsea methane hydrate reserves in the Arctic Ocean (some 1000 billion tons of Carbon) is dissociated and the methane is released into the atmosphere, it will cause total deglaciation and a major extinction event (Light and Solana 2002).




The United States and Canada must cut their global emissions of carbon dioxide by 80% to 90% in the next 10 to 15 years, otherwise they will be become an instrument of mass destruction of the Earth and its entire human population. Recovery of the United States economy from the financial crisis has been very stupidly based by the present administration on an extremely hazardous "all-of-the-above" energy policy that has allowed continent-wide gas fracking, coal and oil sand mining and the return of widespread oil drilling to the Gulf Coast.


People, please...THIS IS REAL.

And I'm so glad that organizations with some clout are climbing on board.
What do you all think??

(Please note: Climate Change deniers can, of course, respond, but you will not be convincing me. Be polite about it, at least, and provide legitimate, peer-reviewed, scientifically sound sources for your case. Let's have a decent discussion.)


edit on 7/12/2014 by BuzzyWigs because: (no reason given)



posted on Jul, 12 2014 @ 09:09 AM
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And they are still FREE to make this choice. All the more power to them. You would deny the rest of us that freedom to make our own choices in favor of what you are so sure is right. That is where you and I differ and always have.



posted on Jul, 12 2014 @ 09:14 AM
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Good news. Hopefully they invest this money into non-fossil fuel technologies and sources. Good find OP!



posted on Jul, 12 2014 @ 09:15 AM
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Not going to outright poo-poo this, I do think that divesting from fossil fuels to R & D for a better alternative is ideal, but as is... industrial civilization runs off fossil fuels, and petroleum products. Whether they realize it or not, they will continue to support FF/petroleum products, just not through direct investment.

I'm not going to get into specifics but if we were to stop with FF today, within a few weeks time we'd be close to breaching the +2c mark. That's not considering the 30-40 year lag in CO2's effect on the earth's biosphere. So I think this is politics, for the informed, else pure ignorance. As in, we missed the opportunity to transition to a "sustainable" economy a generation ago.



posted on Jul, 12 2014 @ 09:18 AM
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posted on Jul, 12 2014 @ 09:20 AM
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a reply to: BuzzyWigs

so now suddenly these 590 million Christians are going to walk wherever they need to travel, shut off their air conditioners and heaters?
No they will not.



posted on Jul, 12 2014 @ 09:21 AM
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This is called a strategic withdrawel,the reality is that Oil is made of PEOPLE,BILLIONS OF THEM ....AND....Plants and Animals,furthermore Oil is NOT millions of years old it is only thousands of years old.

These are hard ,cold,undeniable FACTS,which Academia and Science and Religon and Governments and Industry and many others have co-operatively attempted to SUPRESS GLOBALLY.

You bet your bluebells that using Oil is unethical.It is also cannabalism.

This is part of Humanitys One True History.

This One True History is on its way to a place near you soon.



posted on Jul, 12 2014 @ 09:22 AM
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a reply to: spirited75

It's a start. If they pay attention to their church leaders, they might think it over.
ESPECIALLY since it's being linked to morality. A far cry from "dominion" over the earth and animals.

Stewardship.


edit on 7/12/2014 by BuzzyWigs because: (no reason given)



posted on Jul, 12 2014 @ 09:28 AM
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a reply to: Aleister

I know, right!??

It's high time this stopped being swept under the rug.



posted on Jul, 12 2014 @ 09:30 AM
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originally posted by: spirited75
a reply to: BuzzyWigs

so now suddenly these 590 million Christians are going to walk wherever they need to travel, shut off their air conditioners and heaters?
No they will not.



When they find out they are eating and sitting one and wearing HUMAN BEINGS who are STILL IN LIQUID FORM....... methinks more and more will also stop.


I am not sure you are grasping the reality here, these are HUMAN BEINGS and plants and animals in LIQUID FORM,they arent even solid for goodness sakes,and they are NOT millions of years old.



posted on Jul, 12 2014 @ 10:05 AM
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originally posted by: BuzzyWigs
a reply to: spirited75

It's a start. If they pay attention to their church leaders, they might think it over.
ESPECIALLY since it's being linked to morality. A far cry from "dominion" over the earth and animals.

Stewardship.



Catholics have been practicing stewardship for over seventy years.



posted on Jul, 12 2014 @ 10:11 AM
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a reply to: spirited75

And that is awesome!
The article mentions the Pope's statements on it. That pleases me, too!!


I was a 70s youth - we were concerned then, too - 40 years ago.
But there are, of course, much older civilizations such as the Native Americans, and other groups - like the Amish -
who have always taught:

"We did not inherit the Earth from our ancestors. We are borrowing it from our children."


I was raised with a profound respect for Nature and the Earth. I know my kids (Millenials) are also concerned...my daughter works as a R&D scientist working on alternative fuel development using hydrogen.



posted on Jul, 12 2014 @ 10:11 AM
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I hope that everysingle one of them stops pumping gasoline into their vehicles.Maybe gas would drop a few cents a gallon.

But something tells me they will be driving their gas guzzling SUV's today.



posted on Jul, 12 2014 @ 10:12 AM
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a reply to: liejunkie01

Welll, there are always car-pooling, ride-share boards, more bicycle paths, etc. But yes, dependence on automobiles, especially with urban sprawl, is a big contributor.



posted on Jul, 12 2014 @ 10:20 AM
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Nuclear now that's where the money's at




posted on Jul, 12 2014 @ 10:21 AM
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I've shown this before, and I'll show it again. A solar cell the size of a watch can power your house! cheniere.org... Namaste



posted on Jul, 12 2014 @ 10:22 AM
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I realize that pulling their investments from fossil fuel is the basis of your post, but can't it be said that each time they buy a tank of gas, potentially heat their home with gas, put oil in their car, turn on a light switch, etc. that they are still supporting fossil fuel?

I think those numbers are impressive, but regardless of their intention, is it really practical to stop supporting it?


edit on 7/12/2014 by EternalSolace because: Clarity



posted on Jul, 12 2014 @ 10:32 AM
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This is really welcome news! I'm sure they're not going to sell their cars and stop heating their homes, but the fact that they're thinking about it and it's coming from the top may really have an effect on the overall mindset. There are so many places on this planet that are perfect for solar and wind power. Great find! Thanks for posting!



posted on Jul, 12 2014 @ 10:50 AM
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originally posted by: EternalSolace
I realize that pulling their investments from fossil fuel is the basis of your post, but can't it be said that each time they buy a tank of gas, potentially heat their home with gas, put oil in their car, turn on a light switch, etc. that they are still supporting fossil fuel?

I think those numbers are impressive, but regardless of their intention, is it really practical to stop supporting it?



At this time, it's practically impossible for most people to not make use of fossil fuels to some degree but that doesn't negate the significance of making an ethical decision to participate in the transition away from fossil fuels.



posted on Jul, 12 2014 @ 10:51 AM
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a reply to: EternalSolace


I realize that pulling their investments from fossil fuel is the basis of your post, but can't it be said that each time they buy a tank of gas, potentially heat their home with gas, put oil in their car, turn on a light switch, etc. that they are still supporting fossil fuel?


We still have to do those things because that is our infrastructure. We can all cut down - by doing less of the things you mention.

is it really practical to stop supporting it?

"Practical"?
If they instead invest in alternative fuel techs, research and development, then the infrastructure will slowly but surely change. My brother has been struggling to develop and market solar energy for 20+ years now.

The tech is being suppressed by Big Oil and other Fossil Fuel Companies.




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