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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.”
World Council of Churches wiki
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]
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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?
is it really practical to stop supporting it?