Grassroots Organizations’ Climate Solidarity Statement

Over the past few years, the U.S. Climate Network and Oxfam have been tracking nationwide grassroots organizations and uprisings focused on local & global climate issues.  The two organizations are spearheading an effort to awaken members of Congress to the extent of this groundswell calling for swift action to confront the urgent and real dangers of the climate crisis.  MESA was invited to sign onto the letter (see attached).  It is an ambitious and impressive project, and we feel honored to have signed on behalf of Mormon Environmental Stewardship Alliance.

Here is a copy of the full page letter to be published in “Roll Call”, a journal read by many policy makers in DC.  The same letter will later be published with more signatures in other, more widely distributed publications.  (The specifics as to which ones those will be has not yet been released.)

Dear President Elect Trump and Congress:

Communities here at home and around the world are reeling from more extreme and unpredictable weather events, sustained drought, dramatic floods, and unprecedented wildfires. While we will all be impacted, it is the poorest and most vulnerable among us who stand to lose the most. The climate crisis is undeniably here, now.

World leaders recognize the gravity of this challenge. In an unprecedented act of global unity and leadership more than 190 countries joined together in Paris last year to take action and reverse course.

We stand here today with one simple message: the world is united and moving ahead. We urge you to stand together with world leaders who understand the climate crisis and are willing to take action.

In the US, leaders stand together to continue the fight across every faith tradition, communities of color and low income communities, anti-poverty organizations, healthcare professionals, parent groups, environmental advocates, youth, and labor unions. The climate movement is growing larger, broader, and stronger. People are standing up to support and respect the sacred lands at Standing Rock. In their own communities, they are coming together to oppose fossil fuel infrastructure, build a clean energy economy, and protect people’s right to clean air and clean water.

We stand strong and we stand united for climate justice, for the environment, for better jobs, for clean and healthy communities, and for human rights. Our determination to step up as Americans in the global campaign for solutions—for survival—is and will continue to be unwavering. There is too much at stake to turn back now.

Sincerely,

350.org,  ActionAid, USA Advocates for Snake Preservation,  Agricultural Missions, Inc.,  Alaska Wilderness League,  Alliance for Affordable Energy America, Verde American Jewish World Service, American Values Network. Arise for Social Justice, Breathe Utah, Brighter Green. Center for Biological Diversity, Center for Climate Protection, Center for Food Safety, Center for International Environmental Law, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Christian Reformed Church in North America, Clean Water Action, Climate Generation: A Will Steger Legacy Climate Law & Policy Project, Climate Nexus, Climate Reality Project, Climate Solutions, Creation Care, Alliance of Western NC DC, MD, NoVA, Interfaith Power & Light, Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, Earth Action, Inc.,  Earthworks, Elders Climate Action,  Elders Rising, Endangered Species Coalition, Environmental Protection Information Center, Environmental Working Group, Faith in Place, Fall-line Alliance for a Clean Environment, Food Tank, Franciscan Action Network,  Georgia Interfaith Power & Light, Georgia WAND Education Fund, Glynwood Green, Chalice of the Disciples of Christ, Greenpeace USA, Gulf Coast Center for Law & Policy, Health Care Without Harm, Heifer International, International Fund for Animal Welfare, iMatter Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. Interfaith Power & Light, International Marine Mammal Project, Earth Island Institute, Iowa Interfaith Power & Light, Kentucky Conservation Committee, Kentucky Environmental Foundation, Kingdom Living Temple,  Klamath Forest Alliance, Kyoto USA, Labor Network for Sustainability, League of Women Voters,  Minnesota Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, Moms Clean Air Force, Montana Environmental Information Center, Mormon Environmental Stewardship Alliance, Native Plant Conservation Campaign, NC WARN, Near East Foundation, New Alpha Community Development Corporation, New Energy Economy, New Mexico Interfaith Power & Light, North Carolina Council of Churches, North Carolina Interfaith Power & Light, Nuclear Information and Resource Service, Oil Change International, OneAmerica, Oxfam, America Pacific Environment, Pennsylvania Interfaith Power & Light, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Oce of Public Witness, Quaker Earthcare Witness, Rachel Carson Council, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, Sachamama Safe Climate Campaign, Salt Lake Arts Academy, San Juan Citizens Alliance, Save the Frogs, Save the Manatee Club, Sierra Club, Small Planet Institute, South Carolina Coastal Conservation League, Southern Oregon Climate Action Now, Sustaining Way, SustainUS, The Environmental Justice Center at Chestnut Hill, United Church, The Power Shift Network, The Resource Innovation Group, The Whitney M. Slater Foundation of South Carolina, Turtle Island Restoration Network, Unitarian Universalist Justice Florida, United Church of Christ, United Methodist Caretakers of God’s Creation, Uranium Watch, Utah Moms for Clean Air, Utah Valley Earth Forum, Voces Verdes, WaterAid, WE ACT for Environmental Justice, West Michigan Environmental Action Counci, Western Environmental Law Center, Western Nebraska Resources Council, Western Watersheds Project, Wild and Scenic Rivers, Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network, Women Veterans and Families Network, Woods Hole Research Center, World Concern, Young Evangelicals for Climate Action