Objectives and Foundational Thoughts

The problem

Human-caused global warming is a devastating environmental threat to our existence and the lives of other species. It has already started to seriously disrupt ecosystems.

Our objective

Take actions to slow down global warming today and lay the foundation for future generations to stop it.

To accomplish our objective will require both individual actions on a wide scale and institutional actions, government and corporate.

Scientific foundations

  • The major cause of global warming is excess carbon dioxide produced by humans burning fossil fuels.
  • Transportation and home heating and electrical use are the main individual sources of this carbon dioxide.
  • The best solutions are reducing consumption and increasing efficiency when carbon fuels must be used.

Human behavior foundations

  • People must become aware of a problem before they will voluntarily take any action to solve it.
  • People will not normally make wholesale changes in their behavior all at once; changes are usually step-by-step.
  • People are often motivated to take action in a supportive group setting that they might not take as individuals.
  • Individual actions usually precede institutional actions.

Faith foundations

Almost all denominations have addressed environmental stewardship and global warming. If you don't know your denomination's or faith's position on this issue, it's worth exploring!

For example, the United Methodist Church has addressed this issue in its Energy Policy: "The Scripture that provides the motive for our action in the present energy crisis also lays the foundation for the values that we seek to realize. These values underlying the policies we advocate are justice and sustainability. 

The Unitarian Universalist Church's Seventh Principle is the “respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.” Global warming is a direct threat to this interdependent web of existence. For ourselves and all future generations, we have a moral imperative to address it now.

 If you would like to have a very short summary of your denomination's statement on this issue included on this page, email me with a short statement and a link to the source.

This page is from the 1-2-3 Response to Global Warming Campaign developed by the 1st Unitarian Church, Portland OR