c. 1996 Religion News Service

WASHINGTON (RNS)-Saying the environment is a creation of God that must be protected, a group of evangelicals announced Wednesday (Jan. 31) a million-dollar media campaign to urge Congress not to weaken the Endangered Species Act.”Human beings are called to be stewards of God’s gorgeous garden,”Ron Sider, president of Evangelicals for Social Action, said at a news conference.”We are here today as ambassadors of the Creator. … America, let’s save endangered species because they are from the loving hand of the Creator.” Sider is a member of the advisory council of the Evangelical Environmental Network, which plans to sponsor public service announcements in 18 states in coming months in support of the 23-year-old act. Sider said the campaign is being funded by foundations and individuals, but he did not name them.

The evangelical movement generally has not made environmental concerns a high priority in the past, but Sider said that is changing. He cited polls indicating that a majority of the nation’s 35 million to 50 million evangelicals are concerned about environmental issues.”If (members of Congress) think a majority of evangelicals want the Endangered Species Act gutted, they’re wrong,”Sider said.

Relating the Endangered Species Act to the biblical accounts of Noah’s Ark-a rescuer of threatened wildlife-officials of the evangelical network planned to bring their concerns to House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., but the meeting was canceled because of federal budget priorities.

Before the news conference, network representatives met with Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt.

The Endangered Species Act, signed by President Nixon, protects rare animals, plants and fish. Legislation has been introduced in both the House and the Senate that would overhaul the measure.

Critics say proposed bills would gut the legislation, but Steve Hansen, spokesman for the House Resources Committee, denied those claims.

Hansen said that under a bill proposed by Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska,”any essential habitat for endangered species could not be disturbed.” Hansen said he believes religious groups opposing changes in the act are being fed misinformation.”Probably what these groups are doing is forming their opinions based on information from (Interior) Secretary Babbitt and the national environmental groups,”said Hansen.

In a statement, the interior secretary praised the evangelical leaders’ efforts while condemning the plans of those he called”extremists in the new Congress”to rewrite the legislation.”I wholeheartedly support the active, hands-on approach and hard work of these religious leaders who help us live up to the values embodied in the Endangered Species Act,”said Babbitt.”They are at the forefront, extending our ethical obligations not only to our fellow humans, and to our communities, but to the land and water and forests and plants and animals that live from our Creator.” Other efforts planned by the evangelical network include placing a full-page advertisement in Roll Call, the official Congressional newspaper on Capitol Hill, and encouraging congregations to take part in environmental projects.

Sider acknowledged that other faith groups have been more actively involved on the environmental front than evangelicals. He cited Catholic and Jewish groups that have sent educational packets to individual congregations and initiatives formed in the last couple of years by the Eastern Orthodox Church and historically black churches.

While some evangelicals, such as Calvin DeWitt, co-founder of the Evangelical Environmental Network, have been engaged in environmental work for years, Sider said many evangelicals have been slow to become active.”I think we need to confess that,”he said.”I’m sorry that that’s the case.”

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