The Green New Deal for Seattle is good for everyone
Seattle is blessed with clean air, healthy forests, living waters, and strong neighborhoods. Faith communities have a major role to play in protecting these good gifts from the threat of climate change. We know that if we don’t act now, the climate crisis will only get worse and cause more harm to all of life, especially to those who have contributed the least climate pollution and yet are most affected by it.
Earth Ministry is proud to be part of the coalition of over 200 organizations that have endorsed a Green New Deal for Seattle. Faith leaders are joining with labor unions, advocates from low income and communities of color, tribal nations, faith leaders, health care providers, businesses, environmental advocates, and clean energy experts.
We share a vision of a transformative Green New Deal for Seattle that will eliminate our city’s climate pollution by 2030, address historical and current injustices, and create thousands of good, green, well-paying, unionized jobs.
Why are so many supporting this effort? We know that the climate crisis is real, it is now, and it affects all life on Earth. We need to mobilize public resources to help us transition from an economy built on exploitation and fossil fuels to one driven by dignified work and clean energy.
Like the original New Deal, the Seattle Green New Deal will require multiple strategies: some will be implemented from the start and others that will be added as political will and funding become available. Seattle must do our part to reverse climate change, both for our own sake and to show that cities can make a huge difference, even if national efforts are stalled. Every reduction in climate pollution will save lives and pay dividends across the world’s economies.
Why do people of faith support the Green New Deal?
The climate crisis is a moral emergency. Our religious traditions call us to be good neighbors and good stewards of the land, air, and water under our care. Yet human-caused climate change is already killing between 150,000 to 400,000 people every year and is pushing species and ecosystems to extinction. In the Catholic tradition, Pope Francis’ encyclical, Laudato Si’, makes the case clearly that care for the Earth and care for the most vulnerable among us are two sides of the same coin. A Green New Deal for Seattle will address each of these concerns.
Your house of worship can work with Earth Ministry to support the Green New Deal for Seattle!
1. Personally sign and share Earth Ministry’s faith petition in support of the Green New Deal for Seattle – anyone and everyone living in the City of Seattle can sign!
2. Ask your rabbi, pastor, imam, or other clergy to sign the community leader endorsement letter. The full text of the letter can be found here.
3. Begin a conversation within your congregation about endorsing the Green New Deal.
4. Gather supporters’ names on Earth Ministry’s faith petition.
Earth Ministry created a packet of materials to make it easy for you to bring the Green New Deal for Seattle to your faith community. Email maddie@earthministry.org to let us know if your congregation wants to get involved!
