Dear Friends & Colleagues,

The times demand moral leadership for climate justice.

We are the first generation to feel the effects of climate change and likely the last to be able to do anything about it. The decisions the global community makes now about energy, extraction, transportation, food systems, and use of land will make or break the possibility of a livable climate on Earth. Climate change is an issue of human rights and justice.  It knows no national boundaries. The poor and most vulnerable are the first to suffer. Ultimately it affects us all.

As religious leaders, we have an essential role to play in the climate justice movement. We are called to lift up hope and faith as antidotes to despair and denial. We hold hope in the love that made this world, and hope that this crisis is an opportunity to incite the moral courage of our generation. We hold faith in the human spirit and faith in God to guide us to courageous and visionary action. We are not assured success. We only know we are called to play our part.

To have a chance for a livable climate, human beings need to stop burning fossil fuels and transition to an economy based on non-polluting, renewable energy. Yet there is currently a rapid worldwide expansion of new fossil fuel infrastructure, the construction of which will continue to encourage new extraction and burning and continue to feed the fire of the climate crisis.   All over the world, people are rising up to resist new fossil fuel infrastructure. This resistance is a major thrust of the global movement for a livable climate, and we must be an active voice in it.

As religious leaders, we oppose further development of fossil fuel resources and infrastructure in our nation. We envision a livable climate for our communities, for the poor, for our children, and for all life.  We call for immediate and robust public investment in climate solutions, including large scale renewable energy. We will resist new fossil fuel development through joyful, faithful, spirited, and nonviolent direct action.

Signed,

Institutions are added for identification purposes only

Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman, Temple Sinai, Brookline, MA
Rabbi Andrew D. Vogel, Temple Sinai, Brookline, MA
Rev. Fred Small, Climate XChange/Arlington Street Church
Rev. Dr. Jim Antal, Mass. Conference United Church of Christ
Rabbi David Jaffe, Kirva Institute and Gann Academy
Rev. Anne Bancroft, Theodore Parker Unitarian Church, West Roxbury, MA
Rev. Christine Elliott, Calvary Church, Arlington, MA
Rev. Dr. Margaret Bullitt-Jonas, Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts & Mass. Conference, UCC
Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld, Hebrew College, Newton, MA
Rabbi Dr. Arthur Green, Hebrew College, Newton, MA
Rabbi Rachel Saphire, Temple Beth Elohim, Wellesley, MA
Rev. Rob Mark, Church of the Covenant, Boston, MA
Rabbi Arthur Waskow, Ph. D., The Shalom Center
Rabbi Victor Reinstein, Nehar Shalom Community Synagogue, Jamaica Plain, MA
Rabbi Katy Allen, Jewish Climate Action Network and Ma’ayan Tikvah, Wayland, MA
Rev. John Gibbons, First Parish in Bedford, UU
Rev. Dan Smith, First Church Cambridge, UCC
Rajesh Kasturirangan, South Asian Center, Boston
Rev. Rali Weaver, First Church and Parish Dedham
Rev. Martha Niebanck, Minister Emerita, First Parish in Brookline
Cantor Roy B. Einhorn, Temple Israel, Boston
Rabbi Ronne Friedman, Temple Israel, Boston
Rabbi Elaine Zecher, Temple Israel, Boston
Rabbi Matt Soffer, Temple Israel Boston
Rabbi Suzie Schwartz Jacobson, Temple Israel Boston
Rev. Tricia Brennan, Interim Minister, First Parish Dorchester
Rev. Maria Cristina Vlassidis Burgoa, Minister First Parish in Brookline Unitarian Universalist
Rabbi Barbara Penzner, Temple Hillel B'nai Torah, West Roxbury
Rabbi Daniel Siegel, Vancouver, Canada
Cantor Jodi L. Sufrin, Temple Beth Elohim, Wellesley, MA
Rev. Mariama White-Hammond, Bethel AME Church, Jamaica Plain, MA