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“What is climate change other than a failure to love?”
This question from climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe cuts to the heart of the Christian response to our warming world. As co-founder of Science Moms, a nonpartisan group of climate scientists and mothers, Hayhoe challenges believers to reframe climate action as an expression of Christ’s love.
In this exclusive interview, she explains why climate change is a profoundly human issue that demands a faith-driven response.
How does climate change intersect with Christian values and concerns?
No matter what we care about, whether it is the future of our children or our ability to pay for insurance, climate change is making these issues worse. A study recently found that over a third of premature births across the planet can be attributed to the mother being exposed to pollution from fossil fuels. Another just revealed that a mother being exposed to pollution decreases the effectiveness of IVF by 40 percent.
How are we not out at the front of the line demanding action on this issue?
Why do you think many Christians, particularly in the US, seem hesitant to engage with climate issues?
Responses to climate change are entirely driven by political ideology to the point where, for some people, their statement of faith is written first by their politics and only a distant second by the Bible. If the two come into conflict, they’ll go with political ideology.
White evangelical Protestants and white Catholics are some of the least concerned about this issue. But when you do an analysis that controls for political ideology, that religious correlation disappears.
How can Christians approach climate change from a biblical perspective rather than a political one?
The most illuminating book I have ever read on the topic was The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind by Mark Noll. He tracks how, over the history of America, religion has become more intertwined with politics for the benefit of power and money, not for the benefit of our beliefs.
Until the late 1980s and early 90s, climate change was still seen as a future issue that seemingly posed no threat to the power and wealth structures of the world. 90 companies were responsible for 70 percent of the problem–and they knew it. Their scientists had been doing all the research for decades. But instead of addressing the problem, the fossil fuel industry wanted to prolong the research, on the chance that it wasn’t as dire as their data indicated.
For many Christians, the politicized and polarized messaging on climate change has led to a misguided theological position. This view interprets “dominion” as permission to exploit the earth, essentially leaving it to burn while saying, “Come, Lord, come.” However, this isn’t the type of dominion God calls Adam and Eve to exercise in Genesis 1.
The Hebrew word for ‘dominion’ is rāḏâ, which is also used in Psalm 72. There, it describes God’s justice and kingship in terms of delivering the needy, taking pity on the weak, and saving the oppressed from death. This portrayal offers a more accurate biblical model for approaching climate change: as image-bearers of God, we’re called to care for our neighbors who are vulnerable to a warming earth.
In what ways does climate change disproportionately affect vulnerable populations?
There is tremendous inequity in how people are impacted by these unnatural disasters. During a heat wave, low-income neighborhoods can be up to 15 degrees hotter than high-income neighborhoods due to a lack of green space. And that lack of green space is due to historic racist redlining practices.
Who lives in the areas where you need flood insurance? Who lives in the areas that have much more air pollution from burning fossil fuels that lead to premature births, failure of IVF, learning disabilities in children, and dementia in older adults? It’s the people who can’t afford to live somewhere else.
The people who are on the front lines are the people who Jesus referred to as the least of these. When disaster happens, Christians are the first to be there to help out, and that’s wonderful, but it’s getting to the point where nobody has the resources to meet all of the disasters that are increasing every year.
How can Christians move from understanding climate change to taking meaningful action?
Most people are vaguely worried about climate change but don’t understand it. They haven’t made what I call the head-to-heart connection. They still need to see how it pertains to the things, places, and people they care about. When people finally understand how bad it is but don’t know what to do, they often spiral into despair and anxiety.
My favorite verse in regards to climate change is not about nature or the lilies of the field but 2 Timothy 1:7: “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, love, and a sound mind.”
What is climate change other than a failure to love? When we are called to love others and be recognized by our love for others, that is a failure of the church today. And I feel like that’s the frame through which I look and talk about this issue more than anything.
What role do you see for the church in addressing climate change?
Throughout history, people of faith have played an outsized role in major societal changes — from the abolition movement to civil rights. The church can play a similar pivotal role in addressing climate change.
As believers, we’re called to be parts of a body, each with unique skills and resources. Our work begins by breaking the silence. Let’s start talking, not about the polar bears or the ice sheets, but about our kids getting heat stroke, rising home insurance rates, and food waste.
These conversations are opportunities to love others, which as Christians, we’re uniquely equipped to do. We don’t need to change who we are—we’re already the perfect people to care—we just need to live it out.
God designed us to be motivated by hope, not dread. By working together as people loved by God, expressing that love for him, each other, and creation, we can make a real difference.
Ready to start? Engage with Science Moms’ conversation guide to learn more and begin meaningful discussions with your friends and neighbors about climate change. Together, we can turn understanding into action and hope into positive change.
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