Hospitable Planet Faith, Action, and Climate Change

Environmental professional with a strong grounding in the Old Testament Approaches environmental issues from both scientific and faith perspectives Addresses a growing concern for earth among people of faith The book seeks to enroll a hitherto under-represented, though large and influential, portion of the U.S. population in addressing climate change: committed American Christians, of all denominations. Most books about climate change that include a religious argument do not address what individuals can do to help our society transform from fossil fuel use, other than changing personal behavior—and readers suspect that will likely not suffice. Thus, some readers are left feeling disheartened. In contrast, books that primarily address the environmental issues have limited appeal to people motivated more by faith than science, thereby leaving out many who could constitute the tipping point for full American engagement on the issue. Hospitable Planet: Faith, Action, and Climate Change, seeks to fill the gap in religious and secular texts by providing both a compelling biblical case for action on climate change and by identifying substantive measures to mitigate climate change and how to achieve their implementation. The book describes quite clearly what actions to undertake, how to accomplish them, and why this course of action can attain its objectives. The book lists the major steps needed to slow climate change, drawn primarily from writings of James Hansen and Amory Lovins that, regrettably, do not reach a general audience. In addition, the book recommends an environmental rights movement, akin to the civil rights movement, as a way to implement the recommended actions. Audience: Environmentalists; those interested in learning why climate change is a religious, as well as an environmental, issue; congregations ready to take a more active role in lessening their carbon footprint Read the first chapter. Author: Environmental professional with a strong grounding in the Old Testament Approaches environmental issues from both scientific and faith perspectives Addresses a growing concern for earth among people of faith The book seeks to enroll a hitherto under-represented, though large and influential, portion of the U.S. population in addressing climate change: committed American Christians, of all denominations. Most books about climate change that include a religious argument do not address what individuals can do to help our society transform from fossil fuel use, other than changing personal behavior—and readers suspect that will likely not suffice. Thus, some readers are left feeling disheartened. In contrast, books that primarily address the environmental issues have limited appeal to people motivated more by faith than science, thereby leaving out many who could constitute the tipping point for full American engagement on the issue. Hospitable Planet: Faith, Action, and Climate Change, seeks to fill the gap in religious and secular texts by providing both a compelling biblical case for action on climate change and by identifying substantive measures to mitigate climate change and how to achieve their implementation. The book describes quite clearly what actions to undertake, how to accomplish them, and why this course of action can attain its objectives. The book lists the major steps needed to slow climate change, drawn primarily from writings of James Hansen and Amory Lovins that, regrettably, do not reach a general audience. In addition, the book recommends an environmental rights movement, akin to the civil rights movement, as a way to implement the recommended actions. Audience: Environmentalists; those interested in learning why climate change is a religious, as well as an environmental, issue; congregations ready to take a more active role in lessening their carbon footprint.

Author: Stephen A. Jurovics holds BS and MS degrees from Columbia University and a PhD in Engineering from the University of Southern California. He has had about 20 technical papers published over the years and given numerous presentations at professional conferences. Aspects of climate change mitigation have been the focus of his engineering work for more than two decades. The increasing severity of environmental problems led him, out of spiritual curiosity, to research the environmental teachings in Genesis-Deuteronomy, what Jesus called "the law" in English translations, particularly exploring whether they contained instructions relevant to contemporary issues such as greenhouse gas emissions, preserving biological diversity, treatment of the land, and sustainability. The abundance of applicable teachings, and a desire to discuss ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions significantly, motivated him to write this book.

Read the first chapter: https://www.churchpublishing.org/siteassets/pdf/hospitable-planet/hospitable_planet_fc.pdf