Wednesday Bulletin

Dear Friend,

Thank you for adding your name to the thousands of pastors, Christians, and evangelical leaders from across the country who have signed the WeGetIt.org declaration! If a million Christians sign this statement, we can send an important message to our leaders that Biblical principles and factual evidence, not media hype about things like global warming, should guide our care for the environment and the poor.

Every week, the WeGetIt.org Wednesday Bulletin provides updates on the stewardship-related news of our day, and offers some practical ways to think Biblically about these issues. As you read, please be thinking of the people you know who would benefit from this information. Then, forward this message to your friends and encourage them to sign the declaration.

Stewardship curriculum for churches, small groups

A new resource is available to churches, small groups, and individuals looking for Biblically, economically, and scientifically sound instruction on the environment, business, finances, and government. The Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty has released Effective Stewardship , a five-part series with videos and study guides. (A link to watch the trailer on environmental stewardship or purchase the curriculum is available in the WeGetIt.org video library.)

The curriculum emphasizes the image of God in man as central to a proper understanding of economics, the environment, and all of life. It draws on the expertise of outstanding scholars like environmental economist Kenneth W. Chilton, environmental scientist Steven Hayward, former Secretary of the Interior Don Hodel, and others.
Has your pastor signed the WeGetIt.org declaration? Signers of the WeGetit.org camapaign receive periodic notices of outstanding new resources like this one. Forward a copy of this message to your pastor and encourage them to join you and thousands of other pastors, Christians, and evangelical leaders in signing the declaration!

Christian leader: Rising energy costs "a civil rights issue"

When Washington, D.C.-area pastor Bishop Harry R. Jackson, Jr. of Hope Christian Church joined the diverse group of supporters of the WeGetIt.org campaign in May, he called it a matter of civil rights. In a recent column he asks, “Is climate change a greater threat than freezing the jobless in the dark?” Not, he concludes, by a long shot.

The real dangers to poor and minority families will come from policies implemented in the name of environmental protection. Those policies would send energy prices soaring, destroy jobs and economic growth, and force people to choose between food, fuel and pharmaceuticals.

The poorest families are already spending half of their incomes on energy. For families earning $50,000, energy expense amounts to a quarter of their income. This cannot continue.

Bishop Jackson expresses hope that “the faith community will be instrumental in breaking the ideological environmental deadlock.” We couldn't agree more! The WeGetIt.org campaign provides a simple statement by which Christians can express a balanced, Biblical approach to these issues. Forward this message and encourage your friends to sign up today!

Federal studies document high costs of climate policy

Bishop Jackson’s concern is well founded. It turns out that any of the three leading bills to fight global warming would bring serious harm to the economy, and especially to America's poor, according to recent government analyses.

Both the Environmental Protection Agency and the Congressional Budget Office analyzed the economic effects of three pieces of climate-change legislation (Bingaman/Specter, to reduce CO2 emissions 4% by 2050; Liberman/McCain, 16% by 2050; and Lieberman/Warner, 44% by 2050). Only Lieberman/Warner aims to reduce emissions by as much as the Kyoto Protocol targets--an achievement that would, hypothetically, reduce global average temperature by about 0.2 degree F.

All three bills would drive up energy prices. The least stringent of them would, according to the EPA, cost the US as much as $1.2 trillion (2005 dollars) per year in lost economic production; Lieberman/McCain, $1.3 trillion per year; and Lieberman/Warner $3 trillion per year. These figures are conservative, since they assume almost tripling nuclear power generation, an unlikely prospect granted environmentalist opposition and the long and costly permitting and litigation processes necessary to bring new nuclear plants to operation.
According to the CBO, the hardest hit by all three bills would be the poor, because they spend a disproportionate amount of their incomes on energy.

Remember, word of mouth is the most effective way to get the truth out. Help us reach one million signers by forwarding this email to your friends, and encouraging them to sign the WeGetIt.org declaration.

Together, we can take a stand for truth and for the poor.

Gratefully,

-- The WeGetIt.org campaign team