Inspired by the Rev. Jim Antal’s book Climate Church, Climate World: How People of Faith Must Work for Change, a group of churches in Mobile, Alabama created a faith-based coalition to respond from our disparate faith traditions to climate-related threats to our area. As a coastal community we are on the front lines of sea level rise and the impacts of a warming climate, but the culture of our region discourages public discourse on the topic of climate change. As a result, there is no sense of urgency to address issues such as rising sea levels, reducing reliance on fossil fuels and increasing access to sustainable energy. The group is convinced that the first step in acknowledging the huge challenges we face is to effect a spiritual transformation so that people come to recognize the climate crisis as a moral and theological one and to realize that the crisis of climate change will amplify every issue of social justice. To that end, we are forming an interfaith coalition and inviting environmental organizations to share their expertise and programming that is already in place.
Business-as-usual in the Mobile area includes local governments that simply won’t engage on the issue of climate change, including planning for mitigation or adaptation; a statewide public service commission that allows the primary electricity provider to impose a solar tax that serves as a deterrent to home solar installations; a state government that doesn’t allow road taxes to pay for improvements to mass transit; and a state environmental management department that will not take a stand on the threat of coal ash contamination to our delicate ecosystem and back-up drinking water supply.