-----Original Message-----
From: Eric Uram [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, April 22, 2004 12:47 PM
To: Tarah Heinzen; Angel Kruzen; Bruce Hoeft; Erica Maharg; Gayle Miller;
Jennifer Lenhart; 'Joe Burzynski'; Matt Little; Melissa Damaschke; Patricia
Lanahan; 'Susan Knight'; 'Alison Horton'; 'Aloma Dew'; 'Anne Woiwode'; 'Bill
Redding '; 'Brett Hulsey'; 'Bruce Nilles'; 'Bryan Clark'; 'Carla Klein';
'Caryl Terrell'; 'Cindy Skrukrud'; 'Colleen Sarna'; 'Emily Green'; 'Glen
Brand'; 'Heather Cusick'; 'Heather Mayfield'; 'Jack Darin'; 'Jaimee
Bohning'; 'Jennifer Feyerherm'; 'Jennifer Hensley'; 'Jill Miller'; 'Joshua
Davis'; 'Joyce Harms'; 'Lyle Krewson'; 'Margaret Levin'; 'Marvin Roberson';
'Michelle Rosier'; 'Ned Ford'; 'Rhonda Anderson'; 'Rita Jack'; 'Rosemary
Wehnes'; 'Scott Dye'; 'Scott Elkins'; 'Stephanie Montgomery'
Subject: Church group slams Bush on Clean Air Act
Church group slams Bush on Clean Air Act
SEATTLE, Washington (AP) -- A national group of Christian leaders is sending
a scathing letter to President Bush to coincide with Earth Day, accusing his
administration of chipping away at the Clean Air Act.
The National Council of Churches argued that planned changes to power plant
regulations will allow major polluters to avoid installing pollution-control
equipment when they expand their facilities.
"In a spirit of shared faith and respect, we feel called to express grave
moral concern about your 'Clear Skies' initiative -- which we believe is The
Administration's continuous effort to weaken critical environmental
standards to protect God's creation," the council wrote in an advance copy
of the letter provided to The Associated Press.
The New-York based group, which represents 50 million people in 140,000
Protestant, Anglican and Orthodox congregations, said it was sending its
two-page letter to the president on Thursday, as people all over the country
celebrate Earth Day. It took out a full-page ad in The New York Times,
scheduled to run in Thursday's editions, calling on Bush to leave the Clean
Air Act's new source review rules in place.
The Environmental Protection Agency did not immediately return calls seeking
comment Wednesday, but the agency has defended the rule changes proposed in
August. EPA Administrator Mike Leavitt has called it "the biggest investment
in the air quality improvement in the nation's history."
The proposal would cap emissions and allow polluters to buy and sell
pollution allowances, but environmental groups complain the new system would
be far too lenient. In December a federal appeals court temporarily blocked
the new rules from taking effect, agreeing with more than a dozen states and
cities that contended the changes could cause irreparable harm to their
environments and public health.
"The people we talk to, both inside and outside the administration, say ...
that these changes will in fact weaken, not strengthen the Clean Air Act,"
said the Rev. Bob Edgar, a United Methodist minister and the church
council's general secretary.
"And we will in fact have dirtier air and less compliance," said Edgar, who
served six terms in Congress in the 1970s and '80s, representing a suburban
Philadelphia district. The council is urging ministers across the country to
talk about the problems of air pollution during this week's services.
Monica Myers, pastor at Seattle's Northwest Christian Church, a Disciples of
Christ congregation, said she doesn't plan to bash Bush in her sermon
Sunday. Instead, she said she'll simply remind her congregation that
pollution and other environmental problems tend to affect the poor more
harshly than those who can afford to live in places far away from polluting
factories or toxic waste sites.
"I want to emphasize that their faith should direct them as they vote," she
said. "Responsible Christians should weigh the teachings of Jesus Christ,
especially as they speak of those who are poor and marginalized."
The council joined the Evangelical Environmental Network in a "What would
Jesus drive?" campaign in 2002, urging the auto industry to adopt stricter
emissions standards and calling on SUV owners to switch to more
fuel-efficient vehicles.
Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/science/04/22/churches.bush/index.html
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