One of the most important recent accomplishments of the US government which most people have never heard of is the Bureau of Land Management Methane Waste Reduction Standard. While regulations often fail to catch the attention of everyday people of faith, this one is projected to cut millions of dollars of waste, and channel that money to public goods such as public schools, roads, and libraries.
When companies extract oil and natural gas from public and tribal lands, the Bureau of Land Management collects revenues on this production on behalf of taxpayers. However, when these public resources are wasted due to outdated technology or shoddy industry practices, taxpayers are cheated of this revenue.
This new Standard was strongly supported by religious communities because of our moral commitment to stewardship. We organized for stakeholder meetings and engaged with the Administration to get it done. Download a fact sheet (PDF) (DOC) to learn more about the the Bureau of Land Management Natural Gas Waste Rule.
Now, the time has come to defend this common-sense Standard from being rolled back.  It has been reported that the 115th Congress will take up a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to block rules issued by the Bureau of Land Management to limit natural gas waste from the oil and gas sector at the oil lobby’s behest. Our leaders in Washington should not sell out their constituents to special interests by giving the oil and gas industry an indefinite free pass to waste energy and taxpayer resources. The CRA is a reckless and blunt tool that, if successful, would prevent any “substantially similar” rule from being issued – allowing the oil and natural gas industry to continue to waste hundreds of millions of dollars-worth of taxpayer owned resources every year, and continue using outdated, wasteful practices and technologies. 
Meet the advocates who are traveling all the way to Washington, DC to urge their elected leaders to defend the energy stewardship values we hold as people of faith.

Support Rev. Dr. James Blassingame's efforts to represent South Carolinian people of faith in Washington, DC this Wednesday, Feb. 1. Call for responsible energy stewardship by calling Senator Graham’s office at (202) 224-5972.
Here’s what you might say:
“Hello, my name is ____ and I’m from ____ (faith community, organization, city). Wednesday, Rev. Dr. James Blassingame is traveling to Washington DC to represent our faith commitment to responsible energy stewardship, and to call for a fair return for taxpayers. Every year, oil and gas operations on public and tribal lands waste millions of dollars worth of methane. I stand with Dr. Blassingame in urging the Senator to please uphold the Bureau of Land Management Natural Gas Waste Rule, which will stop needless methane waste.”

 To support Rev. Maynard's advocacy, please call Senator Alexander’s office at (202) 224-4944.
Here’s what you might say:
“Hello, my name is ____ and I’m from ____ (faith community, organization, city) in Tennessee. Wednesday, Rev. Charles Maynard is traveling to Washington, DC to represent our community’s faith commitment to responsible energy stewardship, and to call for a fair return for taxpayers. Every year, oil and gas operations on public and tribal lands waste millions of dollars worth of methane. I support Rev. Maynard’s leadership and stand with him in urging the Senator to please uphold the Bureau of Land Management Natural Gas Waste Rule, which will stop needless methane waste.”

To support Sarah's advocacy effort, please call Senator McCain’s office at (202) 224-2235 and tell them something like this:
“Hello, my name is ____ and I’m from ____ (faith community, organization, city) in Arizona. Wednesday, Sarah King is traveling to Washington, DC to represent our community’s faith commitment to responsible energy stewardship, and a fair share for taxpayers. Every year, oil and gas operations on public and tribal lands waste millions of dollars worth of methane. I support Sarah King’s leadership and I join her in urging the Senator to please uphold the Bureau of Land Management Natural Gas Waste Rule, which will stop needless methane waste.”

If you or someone you know lives in Nevada, please help us send calls to Senator Heller’s office at 202-224-6244 to support his advocacy. Here’s what a caller might say:
“Hello, my name is ____ and I’m from ____ (faith community, organization, city). Wednesday, Deacon Mike Margerum is travelng to Washington DC to show his faith commitment to responsible energy stewardship, and to call for a fair return for taxpayers. Every year, oil and gas operations on public and tribal lands waste millions of dollars worth of methane. I stand with Deacon Mike in urging the Senator to please uphold the Bureau of Land Management Natural Gas Waste Rule, which will stop needless methane waste.”

Today, President Donald Trump signed a Presidential Memorandum to the US Army Corps of Engineers directing them to complete the Dakota Access Pipeline permitting process to the extent allowed under law. Based on previous studies by the Corps, current interpretation of the law includes: respecting the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s treaty rights, a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), and careful consideration of alternative routes.
 
Nothing in the Memorandum addresses these considerations, and the easement to undertake Dakota Access Pipeline construction under the Missouri River has not been granted. Yet, the Memorandum’s release on President Trump’s fifth day in office invites profound concern for religious communities, which have heavily invested in solidarity efforts to protect Standing Rock Sioux treaty lands and water. 
 
United Church of Christ Environmental Justice Minister Rev. Dr. Brooks Berndt said the Trump Administration’s actions today “have revived the dinosaurs of an obsolete and destructive energy system.” He went on to urge Christians everywhere, “If you care about the people of Standing Rock, if you care about the world we are giving to our children and grandchildren, then now is the time to act. Corporate greed must no longer trample over love of neighbor and love of those dear to us.”
 
Creation Justice Ministries Executive Director Shantha Ready Alonso responded to the news: “This was a brash decision by an Administration that claims to care about clean water and local decision-making power. I hope and pray this Memorandum does not set the tone for the Trump Administration’s posture toward matters of environmental justice and indigenous rights. As Christians, we are committed to responsible stewardship of the gifts of God’s creation, and to respecting the sovereignty of our indigenous brothers and sisters. We call on the Administration to respect indigenous rights and the safety of drinking water for millions.
 
Locally, as they have consistently done from the beginning of their resistance to the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline on their treaty lands, members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe are maintaining a posture of strength through prayer.
 
Episcopal Deacon Brandon Mauai of Standing Rock said of today’s announcement, “We need to pray that every person in a decision-making position takes into consideration that authorizing this pipeline will harm the people of Standing Rock. We continue to pray for all leadership, including our President Donald Trump. We pray we can reach a conclusion that will not harm any life, and the Church takes the side of creation and the people.”

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Creation Justice Ministries represents the creation care policies of 38 Christian communions, including Baptists, mainline Protestants, Historically Black Churches, Peace Churches, and Orthodox communions. Learn more at www.creationjustice.org

Today, the State Department announced the second U.S. contribution of $500 million to the Green Climate Fund, an international multilateral fund that supports low-emission and resilient development in countries that are the most vulnerable to the unavoidable impacts of climate change. The Green Climate Fund was established to help countries that are least responsible for causing climate change, and least economically able to cope with it. The Green Climate Fund is accountable to a board with representatives from the U.S. government, and other donor and recipient governments. It includes high levels of transparency and accountability in its structure and governing principles to prevent corruption.

Religious communities, which are heavily involved in relief and development ministries, have a strong interest in seeing the Green Climate Fund succeed. Religious relief and development ministries are struggling to respond to climate impacts, and the Green Climate Fund provides welcome international organization of funds for the cause. In 2016, 121 religious organizations requested a $750 million investment in the Green Climate Fund for Fiscal Year 2017.

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Creation Justice Ministries represents the creation care policies of 38 Christian communions, including Baptists, mainline Protestants, Historically Black Churches, Peace Churches, and Orthodox communions. Learn more at www.creationjustice.org

“The Green Climate Fund is an investment in the well-being of our collective future, especially the poor and vulnerable peoples around the world, whose livelihoods are directly harmed and threatened right now by climate disruption.  As such, the Friends Committee on National Legislation is deeply grateful to the Obama Administration for its $750 million commitment to the fund for Fiscal Year 2017.  It is a commitment to compassion in action.  As we come upon our nation’s annual celebration of the legacy of Martin Luther King, this commitment resonates in his words:  “Every nation must now develop an overriding loyalty to mankind as a whole in order to preserve the best in their individual societies.” 
Jose Aguto
Legislative Secretary, Friends Committee on National Legislation

“As Christians, we celebrate the release of funds to the Green Climate Fund because are called to rectify injustice. When the most vulnerable people in the world who have emitted the fewest greenhouse gas emissions get harmed first and worst by our damaged climate, countries like the United States must take responsibility. We see the Green Climate Fund as a strategic investment to organize and strengthen efforts for climate adaptation and resilience. We remain committed to calling for the United States to meet its full pledge of $3 billion to the Green Climate Fund by 2020.”
Shantha Ready Alonso
Executive Director, Creation Justice Ministries

“We are pleased that the Obama administration was able to continue the United States’ bipartisan tradition of support for climate resilience and renewable energy technologies in developing nations. This is an important installment toward our $3 billion pledge and shows the rest of the world that the U.S. is keeping our word and doing our part. As people of faith, we have a responsibility to consider the needs of others and answer God’s call to care for the least among us. That is what this fund is all about.”
The Rev. Cn. Sally Bingham
President, Interfaith Power & Light

“As Christians in the United States who care about vulnerable persons from all backgrounds, we know ensuring that our country does its part for the Green Climate Fund is not only a matter of environmental concern, but also one of basic justice and compassion. With the resources to prepare for extreme weather, rising sea levels, drought, and other climate disruption, fewer people will find themselves in desperate situations.”
Rev. Dr. Ken Brooker Langston
Director, Disciples Center for Public Witness

“The Franciscan Action Network applauds the Obama administration’s continued commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement by pledging additional funding to the Green Climate Fund. As Pope Francis reminded us in his encyclical Laudato Si, it is going to take the full dedication of each of the world’s major polluters to ensure that we stop the debilitating effects of climate change that are currently affecting our brothers and sisters in the third world. It is our hope that this commitment continues with the incoming President-Elect.”
Patrick Carolan
Executive Director, Franciscan Action Network

For such a time as this we are called to responsibly steward the gifts of creation and to stand in solidarity with the most vulnerable, affirming all creation’s right to flourish. Through the health of our climate, all the world’s concerns are intertwined. We – the Alliance of Baptists – therefore urge President Obama to fulfill our country’s commitment to the Green Climate Fund as a part of the historic Paris agreement so that we might join with other countries in caring for the earth as our common home.”
Rev. Paula Dempsey
Director of Partner Relations, Alliance of Baptists

 "Church World Service(CWS) warmly welcomes President Obama’s move to shore up US contributions for the Green Climate Fund before his Administration departs office. These are critical investments for the future.  CWS can already attest to the damage caused by increasing drought, catastrophic weather events and failing crops caused by changes to climactic patterns. Our faith tradition compels us to help the vulnerable and to build communities through acts of compassion, solidarity and active giving. This US contribution to the Green Climate Fund is in keeping with finest traditions of US global leadership which CWS hopes will continue long into the future."
Jasmine Huggins
Senior Policy and Advocacy Officer, Church World Service

"It is simply a fact that those hit hardest by the impacts of climate change are those that have contributed the least to the problem. Given the disproportionate burden that our changing climate is placing on the poor and the marginalized around the world, it is a moral imperative that the U.S. do everything possible to ensure that climate mitigation and adaptation is as just and equitable as possible. This means allocating robust funding to mechanisms like the Green Climate Fund so that less developed countries have the resources they need to adapt to a rapidly changing world. If the United States wants to continue its tradition of moral leadership on the international stage, it must make good on its commitment to fund the Green Climate Fund."
Kyle Meyaard-Schaap
National Organizer and Spokesperson, Young Evangelicals for Climate Action

“This transfer of $500 million to the fund demonstrates our country’s ongoing compassion and commitment to the poor around the world. The Green Climate Fund is an important resource that helps communities in developing countries prepare for the ill effects of climate change, like increasing droughts that undermine the livelihoods of small farmers.” (Link to full statement)
Bill O’Keefe
Vice President for Government Relations and Advocacy, Catholic Relief Services 
 
“We express our gratitude to President Obama for honoring his commitment to the Green Climate Fund up to the end of his term. From super typhoons to severe drought conditions, our missioners and the vulnerable communities we serve in Asia, Africa, and Latin America experience deeply and directly the weather events linked to climate change. These events will only become more frequent and severe if we fail to act to protect our common home.”
Chloe Schwabe
Faith Economy Ecology Program Director, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns

Today, President Obama used his executive authority under the Antiquities Act of 1906 to designate three new national monuments: Freedom Riders National Monument in Anniston, Alabama, the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument in Birmingham, Alabama, and the Reconstruction Era National Monument in South Carolina. He also released a Presidential Memorandum on diversity and inclusion in the U.S. public lands system.
 
The Freedom Riders National Monument in Anniston honors Civil Rights Activists who boarded buses there, and were later violently attacked for challenging segregation.
 
The Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument honors Birmingham for being the epicenter of the American Civil Rights Movement in 1963. The Birmingham monument includes the A.G. Gaston Motel, 16th Street Baptist Church, Kelly Ingram Park, Bethel Baptist Church, the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, the 4th Avenue Business District, St. Paul United Methodist Church, and the Colored Masonic Temple.
 
Pastor of 16th Street Baptist Church is the site Pastor of 16th Street Baptist Church Rev. Arthur Price said of the designation: “This national monument will fortify Birmingham’s place in American history and will speak volumes to the place of African Americans in history.”
 
The Reconstruction Era National Monument in South Carolina is at the site of the Penn Center, which was one of the country's first schools for freed slaves and served as a retreat for Baptist minister and Civil Rights leader Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
 
The Presidential Memorandum is directed toward federal agencies, instructing them to value diversity and inclusion in their work. The Memorandum includes guidance for broad stakeholder engagement by agencies before they make decisions, as well as to prioritize conservation of places and stories important to under-represented communities.
 
Creation Justice Ministries Executive Director Shantha Ready Alonso said of the new monument designations and Presidential Memorandum: “The example set by this Administration and the best practices laid out in the Presidential Memorandum have set the bar high for future administrations. It is important to us that the new Trump Administration upholds these monument designations and prioritizes engaging diverse stakeholders. I am grateful to Senators Booker and Bennet, as well as Representatives Grijalva, Chu, Gallego, and Butterfield for championing this Memorandum.”
 
RELIGIOUS LEADERS CELEBRATE NEW CIVIL RIGHTS MONUMENTS
“Our Church, in the South, is seen as an iconic symbol of freedom and justice, just like the Liberty Bell is seen as a freedom symbol in Philadelphia. Given the tragedies that took place here, people come here to reflect on the sacrifice and service of those who put their lives on the line. 16th Street stands as a symbol to those who galvanized a generation, motivated a movement, and turned the bitter days of Birmingham in better days. The designation has done a tremendous tribute to the city of Birmingham, and a tribute to the people who worked for Civil Rights in the ‘60s. Birmingham has a story to tell about the fight in Civil Rights. This national monument will fortify Birmingham’s place in American history and will speak volumes to the place of African Americans in history.”
Rev. Arthur Price
Pastor, 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama
 
“I am grateful President Obama is recognizing and seeking to honor the honor the saints and martyrs of the Civil Rights movement by establishing these new National Monuments in Alabama. Our continuing effort to seek justice and equality for all demands that we remember the legacy of those upon whose shoulders we stand.  Not only are they worthy of our deepest gratitude, but also our strongest commitment to the goal of living as 'one nation under God, with liberty and justice for all.'”
Rev. John Mobley
Regional Minister, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Alabama and Northwest Florida
 
“These newly declared national monuments will enter the stories of resilience, courage, and faith into our country’s collective memory for generations to come. President Obama has ensured our African American heritage, too, is officially recognized as part of our national identity.”
Rev. Thomas Bowen
Earl L. Harrison Minister of Social Justice, Shiloh Baptist Church in Washington DC & Progressive National Baptist Convention

 Dear President-elect Trump,
 
As a coalition of diverse faith traditions, we are united across theological lines by our commitment to care for and be stewards of all of God’s creation and our call to serve vulnerable communities.
 
It is the moral responsibility of our nation, and our sacred task as people of faith, to protect our ecosystems, work for environmental justice, and address climate change. The need for global leadership could not be more urgent. We believe that the United States can and must play a leadership role in addressing these environmental challenges which threaten our planet, our security, the health of our families, and the fate of communities throughout the world. Other countries are moving forward, as evidenced at COP22 in Morocco, and it is in the U.S. interest to maintain our leadership role.
 
We join together to urge you – as the President-elect of the United States – to support policies that will safeguard God’s creation, address the impacts of climate change on our most vulnerable brothers and sisters, and fulfill our moral obligation to future generations in the United States and internationally. In the spirit of finding common ground, we ask that you work across party lines for bipartisan solutions to the environmental challenges facing our nation.
 
Though we represent a broad array of theological perspectives, we are guided by shared principles of stewardship, sustainability, justice, and dialogue in addressing these critical issues.
 
PRINCIPLES
Stewardship: We have a responsibility to be caretakers of our natural world and to preserve our ecosystems for future generations. Creation includes all people, animals, and plants, and as such we heed the call to be faithful stewards of our entire natural world. All of God’s creatures have intrinsic worth, and many of our faith traditions specifically call us to protect all species. As stewards of God’s creation, we are charged with protecting the integrity of the web of life.
 
Sustainability: We must cultivate and maintain a healthy and abundant planet that meets the needs of current and future generations. We seek to put our world on the path to a sustainable future by enabling biological and social systems that support life to thrive. To address the growing pattern of overconsumption, we prioritize systems and lifestyles of sufficiency.
 
Justice: We strive for justice with the understanding that all people are children of God, but the burden of environmental degradation, pollution, and lack of access to resources falls disproportionately on marginalized communities. In the spirit of justice, we are committed to ensuring that all communities have equal access to a healthy and thriving environment and can participate in shaping a sustainable economic and environmental future.
 
Dialogue: As people of faith, we are uniquely able to serve as bridge-builders by finding common ground and reaching across political divides. Protection of our environment is not the responsibility of one person or one country, but rather, must be addressed as a united global community. We are rooted in the practice of emphasizing our common values in order to advance cooperation and overcome partisanship at both the national and international levels.
 
In the spirit of these principles, we urge you to consider the following policy recommendations:
 
POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

• Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Implement sector-wide greenhouse gas emission reduction strategies that mitigate the effects of climate change and preserve our clean air. We have strongly supported the Environmental Protection Agency’s carbon pollution standards for power plants under the Clean Air Act and the standards’ fair and equitable implementation. We urge you to uphold those standards. Work with Congress on bipartisan legislation that significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Swiftly and dramatically reduce methane pollution from existing and future sources, including landfills, coal mines, agriculture, and oil and gas operations. Ensure that transportation and infrastructure investments prioritize emissions reductions.

• Energy: Promote policies and programs that lead our nation towards a clean energy economy. Specifically, prioritize investments in renewable energy, including research and development, economic incentives, and grid modernization. Advance policies that promote energy efficiency in our buildings, appliances, vehicles, and in our industrial operations. Provide incentives for human ingenuity and the development of new technologies for caring for and stewarding God’s creation. By doing these things, you can create jobs in local communities that grow our clean energy economy and protect our common home.

• Just Transition and Job Creation: Ensure that affected communities, including low-income and communities of color, coal regions in transition, and communities on the front lines of climate impacts, are meaningfully involved in the transition to an energy efficient, climate resilient, and clean energy economy. Clean energy solutions rooted in local communities can be an engine of job creation. Invest in U.S. renewable energy, clean transportation, and sustainable water infrastructure to create jobs, deploy clean energy for all, protect our health, and increase resilience, putting a priority on fairness and economic opportunity for the most affected Americans.

• Climate Finance: Ensure that current federal funding commitments to climate finance mechanisms are fully met today and increased in the future, in order to protect the most vulnerable communities from the harmful effects of climate change. Promote transparency, monitoring, and accountability within these funds to ensure that the commitment to finance climate adaptation for the most vulnerable is achieved. Prioritize climate finance within U.S. government agencies and U.S. supported development banks. Ensure meaningful involvement of impacted nations and communities in project selection, design, and implementation. 

• International Climate Commitments: Play a leading role in the international community by fulfilling our Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Paris Agreement. Increase global ambition by advocating for stronger NDCs in subsequent years. Continue to seek bilateral agreements to strengthen the exchange of knowledge about clean technologies and climate resilience. Implement the U.S. mid-century emissions reduction strategy to galvanize the international community to keep global temperatures from rising more than 1.5 C°.

• Public & Sacred Lands: Protect federal public lands by keeping them publicly-owned, preserving biodiversity and helping ecosystems adapt to climate change. Manage public lands and waters to meet our climate and conservation goals, particularly by rapidly phasing down federal fossil fuel extraction, while accelerating the development of responsibly-sited clean and renewable energy that creates jobs and cuts pollution. Engage the diverse peoples of our nation in our National Parks and monuments. Provide legal protection and protect Native American sacred sites on public lands.

• American Indian and Alaska Native Rights:  Safeguard tribal sovereignty, ensuring that any decisions about the tribes concerning their lands, property, and citizens are made in consultation with their full participation. While preserving the rights of the Alaska Natives under the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA), ensure access to lands for subsistence and development opportunities to ensure economic and cultural sustainability facilitating just transition. Stand in solidarity with the Alaska Native Gwich’in people by supporting the strongest possible protection for the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

• Endangered Species: Champion and protect efforts to safeguard God’s creatures from extinction, including through the Endangered Species Act.

• U.S.-Mexico Border Policies: Ensure that border security strategies are humane and protect fragile ecosystems, endangered species, clean water, and sacred sites of the borderlands. Encourage land managers and border patrol officials to work together to find common sense solutions that do not needlessly harm our public lands along the border.

• Water: Implement measures to protect water bodies from pollutants and environmental degradation. Restore and maintain all the components of our watersheds, to ensure clean drinking water and healthy ecosystems. Water is a source of life for all creation. Access to clean, safe, and affordable drinking water should be a right afforded to all, especially the most vulnerable in the U.S. and globally.  Fully fund USAID programs that promote water, sanitation, and hygiene in the Global South. Manage water resources effectively, to prevent water shortages and crises that disproportionately affect people of color and low-income communities both in the U.S. and globally.

 
 
We would appreciate the opportunity to meet with your staff to discuss these recommendations. Please let us know your staff’s availability to meet in Washington, DC.
 
We urge you to promote bipartisan dialogue as you seek solutions to the environmental challenges facing our nation today and into the future, challenges which are inherently nonpartisan. There is bipartisan, bicameral political will in Congress to advance legislation that will invest in clean energy, protect vulnerable communities, and mitigate and adapt to climate change. We urge you to seek common ground and partner with congressional, private sector, non-profit, and community leaders to foster strong U.S. action.
 
Our faiths make clear that we must act together for the common good of all people and the future of the earth. As Pope Francis noted in his recent encyclical addressing all humanity, we each must concern ourselves with the fate of our common home, and “cooperate as instruments of God for the care of creation, each according to his or her own culture, experience, involvements and talents.”
 
We call on you to embrace this common responsibility through a commitment to the principles of stewardship, sustainability, justice, and dialogue. We pray that you will use your leadership role to act together in solidarity with God’s earth and in hope for our shared future.
 
In peace,
The Bhumi Project
Church World Service
Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach
Creation Justice Ministries
Disciples Center for Public Witness (Disciples of Christ)
Earth Ministry
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Franciscan Action Network
Friends Committee on National Legislation
GreenFaith
Hazon
Interfaith Power & Light
Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States
Leadership Conference of Women Religious
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns
Mennonite Central Committee U.S. Washington Office
National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd
NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice
Office of Social Justice, Christian Reformed Church in North America
Pax Christi USA
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Quaker Earthcare Witness
Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary, Western American Province
Sisters of Mercy of the Americas’ Institute Justice Team
Sojourners
Union for Reform Judaism
Unitarian Universalist Association
Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC)
United Church of Christ, Justice and Witness Ministries
United Methodist Caretakers of God’s Creation
The United Methodist Church - General Board of Church and Society
Young Evangelicals for Climate Action