February 20, 2008

Faith community supports a “Green” Perspective on Carbon

Vancouver, BC—Evidence that the environment is no longer an “issue of the few”, the Environmental Unit of the Anglican Diocese of New Westminster announced its support of a carbon tax and a green perspective in managing BC put forward by BC Environmental groups and highlighted in today’s Provincial Budget.

"As people of faith, the Environmental Unit of the Anglican Diocese of New Westminster supports the establishment of fair and equitable financial measures to meet the goals of substantial greenhouse gas reduction set by the provincial government in 2007,” says Bob Worcester, Chair of the Environmental Unit of the Diocese of New Westminster. “Certainly we would not want to see any of our community unduly bear the burden of this tax, so we were glad to see that addressed in the BC Government’s budget. A price does need to be put on carbon and we need to be making different decisions around the use of carbon, decisions that will benefit future generations.”

Faith groups across BC are taking steps to green their operations and to answer their congregations’ concerns about the environment. A conference called “Faith and the Environment” is being held on April 28^th of this year to help encourage faith communities and their leadership to address climate change.

“With this budget, BC has put itself in leadership role in addressing climate change in North America and is to be commended,” said Lisa Matthaus, Campaigns Director with the Sierra Club BC. “A revenue-neutral carbon tax, combined with transit investments and other incentives to make climate-friendly behaviour changes, put BC firmly on the path to achieving its bold commitments to reduce carbon emissions.”

“Catastrophic climate change is a critical issue for those who care for the beauty of the earth and its future generations,” added Worcester. “Wise government action and the efforts of all citizens are required to address this critical issue and we are pleased to join with other environmental groups and faith communities in calling for this action."