Faith-Based Statements on Climate Change

56 our awareness of a continuing and enlarged need for attention and commitment to the environment. For instance, since 1990 , previous General Assemblies have repeatedly called on the United States and the global community to join together in order to mitigate and prevent the worst effects of global climate change. The 218th General Assembly (2008) approved “The Power to Change: U.S. Energy and Global Warming” in which it called for measures to create more sustainable and just energy consumption at all levels of the church—individuals and families; councils, governing bodies, consistent with agencies; and the church’s social responsibility regarding U.S. energy policy (Minutes, 2008, Part I, pp. 934–37).

For its recommendations on climate change policy, the 2008 document drew specifically on the recommendations of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s fourth Assessment Report, which contained scientific recommendations based on the most recent scientific data available. Such data and scientific recommendations have since been updated, leaving the recommendations of the 218th General Assembly (2008) behind the most current data. Urging that responses to climate change be commensurate with the best available science will allow the statement of the 218th General Assembly (2008) to grow with new learnings and understandings (Minutes, 2008, Part I, pp. 935–37).

On Recommendation 6: Water, one of five areas of social policy focus in the 1990 “Restoring Creation for Ecology and Justice” deserves more focused attention as we enter the second decade of the twenty-first century. The 216th General Assembly (2004) approved the “Report and Recommendations on Limited Water Resources and Takings with Study Guide” that addressed, in abbreviated form, the balance of water usage (agricultural, industrial, urban) necessary for water justice. As drought continues in southwestern states, and desertification has increased in all regions of the world, and as the issue of water rights grows increasingly contentious within the U.S., the General Assembly may affirm that clean water is a human right for all persons whether living in the developing world or in the United States. Within the U.S., disputes over sources of water among states and municipalities create political controversy. In addition, the increasing commodification of water,