We write as clergy and lay United Methodists to urge you to support General Conference legislation to screen fossil fuels from United Methodist investments.

From the release of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report of unprecedented agreement among scientists that continued warming will dramatically impact all life on this planet, to the journal, Nature’s recent prediction that without dramatic action, there will be massive sea level rise by the end of the century, it’s clear that clergy and lay people must join in sounding the moral alarm and call for action.

Despite clear scientific evidence of the dangers of business as usual, the fossil fuel industry continues to invest in exploration and new infrastructure while blocking policy that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions and obscuring the facts about climate change.

Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there your heart shall be also” (Matthew 6:21). Our hearts are breaking as we witness how the the fossil fuel companies in which we are invested are destroying communities and creation. As a matter of life, and because we believe in a just and loving Creator, we urge you to support legislation to add fossil fuels to The United Methodist Church’s socially responsible investment screens.