March 16, 2005

WASHINGTON, DC – We express profound grief at the Senate's decision to include drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as part of the budget resolution. Rather than reduce our consumption of oil and begin to move our nation toward clean energy alternatives, our elected officials are once again charting a course that is both unjust and unsustainable.

Sacred scripture teaches us unequivocally that we have a responsibility to care for God's creation and to be good neighbors. As people of faith, we also bear witness to the Biblical mandate to care for the least among us. Drilling for oil in such a fragile place contradicts both of these Scriptural commandments.

Our call to protect all of God's creation extends to communities such as the Gwich'in that would suffer the most from this Senate decision. To risk the destruction of both an untouched wilderness and an ancient culture violates all that Western civilization understands as our Christian responsibility to people and planet.

We call on the Senate to prevent the passage of any legislation that includes the possibility of drilling in one of the Creator's most precious places.

National Council of Churches