A publication providing succinct biographical
sketches of environmental scientists, economists, "experts,"
and activists released by The National Center for Public Policy
Research.
The Evangelical Environmental Network (EEN) claims to be a
coalition of mainstream evangelical leaders concerned about the
environment. Closer examination of the EEN's connections reveal
there is nothing mainstream about it: When the EEN launched a
multi-million dollar public relations campaign in January 1996
to convince the American people that the Endangered Species Act
is the "Noah's Ark of our day," it was the Washington,
D.C.-based Fenton Communications that ran the group's media relations.
Fenton Communications has long been a favorite of the far left:
During the 1980s, for example, Fenton Communications had contracts
with the Christic Institute and the communist governments of Angola
and Nicaragua. Fenton Communications is perhaps best known, however,
for its role in creating the alar scare. It was Fenton that managed
to talk CBS's "60 Minutes" into reporting as fact an
unproven claim by the Natural Resources Defense Council that alar,
a chemical used to ripen apples, was a serious cancer risk to
children. Horrified parents across the nation quit purchasing
apples as a result of the report. But Fenton Communications isn't
the Evangelical Environmental Network's only questionable association.
According to The Washington Post, "the Environmental Information
Center, a Washington-based organization funded by the Pew Charitable
Trusts and other foundations" underwrote "the cost of
ad production" for the EEC's Endangered Species Act campaign.
The Environmental Information Center (EIC) is a "Who's Who"
of Democratic Party politics: Philip E. Clapp, the EIC's executive
director, served as a member of the national steering committee
of Environmentalists for Clinton-Gore; Mike Casey, the group's
media relations director, came directly to the EIC from the Democrat
Congressional Campaign Committee; and staffer Arlie Schardt served
as press secretary for Albert Gore's unsuccessful presidential
bid. Board members of the NIC include Francis C. Beineke of the
Natural Resources Defense Council and Douglas Foy of the Conservation
Law Foundation. EEN's own membership is also cause for alarm.
One of its key leaders is Ron Sider, president and founder of
Evangelicals for Social Action. Sider is one of the leaders of
"Call to Renewal," a religious coalition established
to counter the Christian Coalition. Sider has also been an outspoken
critic of the GOP's "Contract with America," telling
Christianity Today magazine that the GOP plans to "slash
$380 billion from programs for the poor" while giving "$245
billion in tax cuts to the rich and middle class" -- a statement
virtually indistinguishable from the White House line. The Evangelical
Environmental Network was co-founded by Calvin DeWitt, president
of the Christian Environmental Council and professor of environmental
studies at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. In a January
31 EEN press release, DeWitt said: "People in their arrogance
are destroying God's creation, yet Congress and special interests
are trying to sink the Noah's Ark of our day -- the Endangered
Species Act. Few legislative issues ought to be as clear for Christians
as this one. The Christian faith teaches respect for the works
of God..." A population control advocate, DeWitt obviously
forgot Genesis 1:28: "Be fruitful and increase in number;
fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and
birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on
the ground."
Selected Evangelical Environmental Network Quotes
"People in their arrogance are destroying God's creation,
yet Congress and special interests are trying to sink the Noah's
Ark of our day -- the Endangered Species Act. Few legislative
issues ought to be as clear for Christians as this one. Christian
faith teaches respect for the works of God, and the Endangered
Species Act offers real and fair protection of all of His creation,
including us." - Dr. Calvin B. DeWitt, co-founder of the
Evangelical Environmental Network in January 31, 1996 EEN press
release
"Increasingly we people are occupying the land to the exclusion
and extinction of the other creatures. This leads us to ask, 'Does
our God-given blessing of stewardship of creation grant us license
to deny creatures God's blessing of fruitfulness and fulfillment?'"
- Dr. Calvin B. DeWitt, co-founder of the Evangelical Environmental
Network quoted in "Are People the Problem? Part 3" Christianity
Today
"Evidence is mounting that faith-based service programs are
often more successful than other programs in correcting social
problems. [It is wrong] for government to demand that religious
nonprofits gut precisely that part of their program [funded through
tax dollars] that makes them so effective." - Ron Sider quoted
in Christianity Today, December 11, 1995
"We refuse the false choices urged on us between personal
responsibility or social justice, between good values or good
jobs, between strong families or strong neighborhoods, between
sexual morality or civil rights for homosexuals, between the sacredness
of life or the rights of women, between fighting cultural corrosion
or battling racism." - Excerpt of a "Call to Renewal"
press release, a group which the EEN's Ron Sider helps lead, quoted
in the Associated Baptist Press, February 2, 1996
Version Date: March 13, 1996
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