After its 200-year history devoted to climate change, the African Methodist Episcopal church has passed its first resolution in calling for a swift transition to renewable energy.
The resolution, which also points to research showing that African American children are four times as likely as white children to die from asthma, mentions “We can move away from the dirty fuels that make us sick and shift toward safe, clean energy like wind and solar that help make every breath our neighbors and families take a healthy one.”
The resolution was passed at the church’s general conference in Philadelphia, where more than 30,000 members gathered. The AME church, the oldest independent Protestant denomination founded by African American people in the world, has about 7,000 congregations and 2.5m members.
The Guardian quoted Bishop John White, president of the council of bishops of the AME church, as saying “Damage to our climate puts the health of children, elderly, and those with chronic illnesses at greater risk and disproportionately impacts African Americans. We believe it is our duty to commit to taking action and promoting solutions that will help make our families and communities healthier and stronger.”
According to the NAACP, African Americans emit far less carbon dioxide per person compared with white people and yet will bear the brunt of heat-related deaths, due to the concentration of African American people in cities.
Religious leaders in the world are announcing more stands and doing more actions after Pope Francis announced last that “we may well be leaving to coming generations debris, desolation and filth”.
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