Be an advocate for God's creation

It's important for our churches' institutional lives and the personal lives of their members to be models of environmental stewardship. But there are limits to what an individual institution or individual can do. For example, you might want to ride your bicycle to work - but there may not be safe bike paths for you to use. Other issues, such as drilling in the Arctic, require us to defend God's creation against powerful economic interests. There are many other examples of such dilemmas. We need to be advocates to heal and defend God's creation.

SPEAKING OUT -- Jaydee R. Hanson, a staff executive of the United Methodist Board of Church and Society, speaks in opposition to oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska during a rally outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington. A UMNS photo by Vince Isner, Board of Church and Society.

ENVIRONMENT -- United Methodist Bishop Melvin G. Talbert, ecumenical officer for the United Methodist Council of Bishops, addresses about 200 people rallied for environmental justice on the east lawn of the U.S. Capitol building May 22. A UMNS photo by Erik Alsgaard.

Take Action!

Do you want to influence the direction of environmental policies? Do you wonder how one person can know enough about complicated environmental issues to be able to make a judgment about proposed legislation and regulatory policies? How can a busy person even know when important issues arise? If you have access to the internet, the answer may be to subscribe to environmental news and action alert lists.

What's an Action Alert List? There are many organizations that provide information about upcoming legislation or proposed regulatory policies. Many of these organizations have alert lists to which you can subscribe. They will email you when important issues arise and provide background information, information about whom to contact, and critical dates. Some offer an editable email that can be sent to the appropriate people with the click of a button. Others provide the background information and ask that you write, call, or email your own response. Here are some of the more prominent organizations that offer this service.

Faith-based action alerts

UNITED METHODIST CHURCH: General Board of Church and Society's U-M Power

Use your U-M Power! Sign up to receive timely action alerts by email on current issues. There is background on the issue, the text of the letter, background on the issue, and the United Methodist position on the issue. This is an easy and effective way to take action - just type in your zip code, and email letters will be sent to the appropriate officials. If your UM Conference has a daily email newsletter, why not submit the text of the action alert with a link to U-M Power so that fellow United Methodists have an opportunity to learn about the issue and to respond. In addition, there is information on issues and legislation, elections and candidates, and a media guide. 

Secular action alerts

CENTER FOR A NEW AMERICAN DREAM
Home page: http://www.newdream.org

For action items, click on What’s New and go to Take Action. You can sign up for Step-by-Step: Connecting Our Dreams and Actions, a monthly email with an inspirational quote and suggests simple actions with concrete results. 

ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE ACTION NETWORK
Home page: http://www.environmentaldefense.org

LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS
Home page: http://www.lcv.org

You can sign up for email updates on political and policy matters and learn about environmental votes within 24-48 hours of when they are cast.

Also at this site: 
This website provides a scorecard which grades each Member of the U.S. House and Senate on the most important environmental votes cast throughout the year. The Scorecard also provides an easy way to send to your representatives based on their voting record.

NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY
Home page: http://www.audubon.org

At "Activism and Conservation" (http://www.audubon.org/campaign), you can click on the program(s) of interest to you or go directly to the pages listed below for each topic.

Wetlands Campaign at http://www.audubon.org/campaign/wetland
You’ll find an update for critical wetlands issues for the current month, what you can do to take action, and any pertinent deadlines for comment periods.

Endangered Species at http://www.audubon.org/campaign/esa

NATIONAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL
Home page: http://www.nrdc.org

You can subscribe to an action email list. This is also the home of EarthSmartCars.

NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION
Home page:  http://www.nwf.org

Subscribe to an email action list and join the action network. You'll also be learning about the many issues confronting wildlife today.

SOUTHERN UTAH WILDERNESS ALLIANCE
Home page: http://www.suwa.org/

Anyone who has ever visited Utah will want to protect this incredible area so that our children and grandchildren will also be able to be inspired by the scenery. This area faces a lot of challenges from ORVs (off-road vehicles) to mining industries and the like. To access the most recent alert, click on "Alert" or subscribe to their email action list.

SIERRA CLUB
Home page: http://www.sierraclub.org

At this site, you can take action on a number of issues, including sprawl, forests, environmental health, global warming and others.

WILDERNESS SOCIETY
Home page:  http://www.wilderness.org

Click on the Take Action tab at the top. You can also subscribe to Wild Alerts on this website.

WORLD WILDLIFE FUND
Home page: http://www.worldwildlife.org