US evangelists take action on environmental issues

Dozens leading US evangelists went public on Wednesday with a call for their faithful to press the administration of US President George W. Bush into action on climate change.

Eighty-six evangelists yesterday endorsed an environmental action plan that calls on the Bush administration to impose mandatory limits on the fossil fuel emissions that scientists blame for warmer temperatures.

The initiative marks a rare challenge to Bush from one of his most loyal constituencies: his fellow Christians. Bush, a former Texas oil man, has refused to acknowledge the dangers caused by burning fossil fuels and his administration has repeatedly been accused of stifling scientific evidence on the issue of climate change.

Wednesday's signatories include the national commander of the Salvation Army, Todd Bassett, the author of the bestselling The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren, the editor of Christianity Today, David Neff, and Duane Litfin, the president of Wheaton College, the leading Christian university.

However, the environmentally minded evangelists were not joined by prominent conservative figures such as Pat Robertson and James Dobson, who insist there is little evidence of the harmful effects of global warming.

"Our commitment to Jesus Christ compels us to solve the global warming crisis," the leaders said in an advertisement prepared as part of a campaign to convince Christians of the dangers of climate change.

"As evangelical Christians, we believe that we're called to be stewards of God's creation, and after considerable study, reflection and prayer we are now convinced it's time for our country to help solve the problem of global warming." they wrote.

They said they were also guided by the moral obligation to help the poor and the marginalised, who were the worst hit by flood, famine and other calamities.

The evangelists claim recent polling suggests widespread concern about the health of the planet, and that 54 percent of evangelicals believed it to be a Christian duty to support environmental issues.

The initiative came as scientists announced yesterday that global warming is already causing death and disease across the world through flooding, environmental destruction, heatwaves and other extreme weather events.

In a review published in the Lancet medical journal, the scientists said there was now a near-unanimous scientific consensus that rising levels of greenhouse gases would cause global warming and other climate changes.

The scientists' review of dozens of scientific papers over the last five years said that health risks were likely to get worse over time as climate change as well as other environmental and social changes deepened.

The review said climate change would bring changes in temperature, sea levels, rainfall, humidity and winds.