CLIMATE-STEWARDSHIP DECLARATION
Scientists and clergy: Climate change policies could hurt the poor
DALLAS (AP) — A conservative group of more than 140 scientists, economists and faith leaders is warning that policies to combat climate change could needlessly hurt the poor.
The signed declaration, released by the Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation, warns that mandatory reductions in carbon dioxide emissions would likely have minimal impact on global temperatures while making it more difficult for people in developing nations to get access to basic electricity and transportation.
It also argues that natural cycles outweigh human influences in climate change, and declares that “rising atmospheric CO2 benefits all life on Earth by improving plant growth and crop yields, making food more abundant and affordable, helping the poor most of all.”
The declaration calls for caution as more than 120 world leaders prepare to convene the United Nations Climate Summit, and urges Christians to care for creation out of love for God and their neighbors.
Some evangelical groups favor efforts to control climate change.
Online: http://www.cornwallalliance.org/2014/09/17/protect-the-poor-ten-reasons-to-oppose-harmful-climate-change-policies/
Sound:
223-a-05-(Calvin Beisner (BYZ’-nur), founder of the Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation, in AP interview)-“out of poverty”-Calvin Beisner, founder of the Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation, says that for the world’s poor, fossil fuels are abundant, affordable and reliable. (22 Sep 2014)
< 225-a-11-(Calvin Beisner (BYZ’-nur), founder of the Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation, in AP interview)-“than colder periods”-Calvin Beisner, founder of the Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation, says climate change may be neither human-caused nor catastrophic. (22 Sep 2014) < 224-a-14-(Calvin Beisner (BYZ’-nur), founder of the Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation, in AP interview)-“fight environmental problems”-Calvin Beisner, founder of the Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation, says the Bible’s call to love our neighbor should make us careful about limiting poor people’s access to fossil fuels. (22 Sep 2014) < 221-v-33-(Steve Coleman, AP religion editor)–More than 140 Scientists, economists and faith leaders have signed a declaration warning that policies to combat climate change could do more harm than good. AP Religion Editor Steve Coleman reports. (22 Sep 2014) < 222-a-11-(Calvin Beisner (BYZ’-nur), founder of the Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation, in AP interview)-“in the world”-Calvin Beisner, founder of the Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation, says proposals to combat climate change may be both ineffective and harmful. (22 Sep 2014) < GAY MARRIAGE Poll: Support for gay marriage may be leveling off WASHINGTON (AP) — A new survey from the Pew Research Center indicates American support for same-sex marriage has declined. The study released Monday found a 5 percentage point drop since February, from 54 percent to 49 percent, in Americans who want legal recognition for same-sex relationships. The poll of 2,002 adults, conducted Sept. 2-9, has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points. The findings were part of a survey in which nearly three-quarters of Americans said religious influence in public life was waning and most saw that as a negative trend. About half of respondents said churches and houses of worship should speak out more on public issues. Nearly half of all the respondents said businesses that provide services for weddings, such as florists, should be allowed to deny service to same-sex couples if the owners have religious objections. The Pew survey also found the percentage of people who consider gay relationships sinful had increased from 45 percent a year ago to 50 percent last month. Online: http://www.pewforum.org/2014/09/22/public-sees-religions-influence-waning-2/ Sound: 202-c-18-(Steve Coleman, AP religion editor)-“on public issues”-AP Religion Editor Steve Coleman reports that the Pew Survey finds that less than half of Americans now want legal recognition for same-sex relationships. (22 Sep 2014) < 201-v-31-(Steve Coleman, AP religion editor)–A new survey from the Pew Research Center indicates American support for same-sex marriage has declined. AP Religion Editor Steve Coleman reports. (22 Sep 2014) < SUPREME COURT-SAME-SEX WEDDING Justice Kagan performs her first same-sex wedding WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan has officiated for the first time at a same-sex wedding. Kagan presided Sunday at the wedding of her former law clerk Mitchell Reich and his husband Patrick Pearsall in the Washington suburb of Chevy Chase, Maryland. Retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg have previously officiated at the wedding of gay and lesbian couples, including at the Supreme Court. Ginsburg most recently performed the wedding of Washington theater director Molly Smith and her wife. The court could decide in its upcoming term whether same-sex couples nationwide have the right to marry under the Constitution. GAY COUPLE-COMMUNION DENIED 300 parishoners meet with bishop over gay couple GREAT FALLS, Mont. (AP) — A Roman Catholic bishop says a Montana parish is about evenly divided over a priest’s decision to prohibit a gay couple from receiving Communion unless they divorce, live separately and write a statement affirming that marriage is between one man and one woman. Bishop Michael Warfel of the Diocese of Great Falls-Billings met Saturday with about 300 parishioners of St. Leo the Great Catholic Church in Lewistown, where he also led a Mass. He says about half supported the priest’s decision while the other half were very angry. Warfel told the Great Falls Tribune that he must uphold Catholic teachings, but also wants to effect some healing. The couple said they were married in a civil ceremony in Seattle in May 2013 so they could make medical and financial decisions for each other. PRAYING FOOTBALL COACH Tempe football coach suspended for praying TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — An Arizona school football coach must miss his team’s game Friday as part of a punishment for praying with his players. Tom Brittain is serving the second week of a two-game suspension from his job as coach at Tempe (TEHM’-pee) Preparatory Academy. Headmaster David Baum says Brittain instructed a player to lead the team in prayer after they won a game. Baum says staff cannot appear to condone religion to students on the state-funded charter school’s behalf. Some students hung a sign in support of Brittain at the school’s homecoming game last week and some parents have expressed outrage at Baum’s decision. But others say the school is not a religious institution and that Brittain violated school policy. IMMIGRANT SANCTUARY-OREGON Portland man hides in church to avoid deportation PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A community activist originally from El Salvador has spent the weekend hidden in a church in Portland, Oregon, after immigration authorities tried to detain him last week. According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Francisco Aguirre (ah-GEE’-ray) is facing deportation due to a drug trafficking conviction from 15 years ago. The 35-year-old Aguirre has lived illegally in the U.S. for 19 years and has two U.S. citizen children. He’s the coordinator of the Portland day labor center. It’s the first time in recent history that an Oregon church has taken in an undocumented immigrant. Churches nationwide have offered refuge to immigrants lacking legal status, because immigration officials don’t arrest people inside churches. Aguirre came to the attention of immigration authorities in August following his arrest for driving under the influence. KISSING CONGRESSMAN After scandal, congressman’s TV ad features wife BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — The Louisiana congressman whose re-election is threatened by a cheating scandal is putting his marriage front and center in the campaign. Republican U.S. Rep. Vance McAllister released his first TV ad in the 5th District race Monday, prominently featuring his wife Kelly. In the 30-second spot, McAllister describes his “wonderful, Christian wife,” while his wife describes feeling blessed because her husband “owns up to his mistakes.” The pair never talks directly about McAllister’s infidelity in the ad, but it’s the obvious undertone. In office less than a year, McAllister’s re-election is uncertain after a security video leaked in April showed him kissing a married staffer who was not his wife. The staffer later resigned. Republican leaders called on McAllister to resign, but he refused. He faces eight challengers. Sound: 241-a-13-(Kelly McAllister and Rep. Vance McAllister, R-La., in political advertisement)-“worth fighting for”-Sound of Kelly McAllister and her husband, Louisiana Republican Congressman Vance McAllister, in political ad for his re-election campaign. (22 Sep 2014) < 240-a-11-(Rep. Vance McAllister, R-La., and wife Kelly McAllister, in political advertisement)-“wonderful Christian wife”-Sound of Louisiana Republican Congressman Vance McAllister and his wife Kelly McAllister in ad for McAllister’s re-election campaign. (22 Sep 2014) < SYNAGOGUE LAWSUIT Appeals court reinstates Litchfield synagogue suit LITCHFIELD, Conn. (AP) — A federal appeals court has reinstated a Connecticut Jewish group’s lawsuit accusing the Litchfield Historic District Commission of religious discrimination when it rejected plans for a synagogue in 2007. A three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. District Court of Appeals ruled that federal Judge Janet Hall was wrong to dismiss the lawsuit by Chabad Lubavitch (hah-BAHD’ loo-BAH’-vich) of Northwest Connecticut. The panel said Hall erred by ruling that part of a federal law barring government interference in religious exercise didn’t apply to the case. The Historic District Commission decided Chabad Lubavitch’s proposed 17,000-square-foot addition to an 1870s Victorian house was too large for the local historic district. The commission’s lawyer says he’s confident that Chabad Lubavitch’s case will again be dismissed in U.S. District Court. NIGERIA-BUILDING COLLAPSE Death toll rises in Nigeria building collapse JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa says a total of 115 people, including 84 South Africans, died in the Sept. 12 collapse of a building at a church complex in Nigeria. Phumla Williams, a South African government spokeswoman, said Monday that South African officials in Nigeria provided the updated death toll. Williams spoke after a plane carrying South Africans who were injured in the disaster arrived in South Africa. The fallen multistory building served as a shopping mall and guesthouse at the sprawling campus of televangelist T.B. Joshua’s Synagogue, Church of All Nations, on the outskirts of Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital. Ibrahim Farinloye, spokesman for the Nigerian Emergency Management Agency, had said church officials prevented rescuers from working at the building site in the critical few hours immediately after the collapse. The church denied allegations that it did not cooperate.
