‘Where are the ears to hear and the eyes to see?’ are the words of the President of Interfaith Power and Light following the U.S. Senate leadership’s announcement yesterday on climate change legislation. After months of work to craft legislation, the Senate will not take up a comprehensive energy and climate bill before the August Recess. Courtesy of Clean Energy Works, here is the Rev. Canon Bingham’s statement in full:
“‘Where are the ears to hear and the eyes to see?’ This year we have witnessed an oil spill of epic proportions inflicting tragic environmental and economic devastation throughout the Gulf of Mexico. We have seen yet another deadly coal mining tragedy, and we have lived through the hottest six months on record. But instead of moving to address climate change and support clean energy alternatives, our senators have allowed the oil and coal lobbies to once again stall meaningful action.
“Where is the moral integrity of our elected officials? Is our representative democracy so broken? Are our elected representatives incapable of addressing the greatest environmental crisis of our generation? People of faith have urged our senators to act, and to invest in alternatives to burning oil and coal. Polls indicate Americans want a strong climate bill that addresses global warming, but our leaders are not listening, and they are not seeing. We are still waiting, and indeed, the world is waiting.
“During the August recess, Interfaith Power and Light will mobilize thousands of people of faith to demand that our senators not give up. Our senators and President Obama have a responsibility not just to do what is easy, or what is politically expedient, but to do what is right. It is time for moral leadership. They must go back to Washington in September, roll up their sleeves, and pass a cap on global warming pollution. Our future, and the future of all of creation, depends on it.”