Dec. 12, 2016
Donald J. Trump
President-Elect of the United
States of America
Trump Tower
735 5th Avenue
New York, NY 10022
Dear President-Elect Trump,
We, the bishops of the
Episcopal Church in Massachusetts, are glad to let you know that all of our 235
churches pray for you regularly in our liturgies with these or similar words:
“For those in positions of public trust, especially Barack our President and
Donald our President-Elect, that they may serve justice, and promote the dignity
and freedom of every person.”
We also pray: “Give us
reverence for the earth as your own creation, that we may use its resources
rightly in the service of others and to your honor and glory.”
The Episcopal Church stands
strongly for the protection of the environment. We respect the facts of
science. We support laws and policies that address the reality of climate
change. We are in the process of divesting our financial interest in fossil
fuels. Most recently our Presiding Bishop, the Most Rev. Michael Curry, joined
Native Americans at Standing Rock in their effort to protect their water and
their sacred land. Numerous other Episcopal Church leaders have likewise
traveled to Standing Rock.
Our respect for our
government leaders and our reverence for the earth as God’s creation impel us
to write you to express our dismay about your selection of Scott Pruitt to head
the Environmental Protection Agency. We wonder why a person who has
consistently and adamantly opposed all laws and policies that provide even
minimal “protection” to the environment should be entrusted with leading such
an agency.
President-elect Trump, you
have promised economic development. Like you, we value a stable and prosperous
economy. However, a thriving economy depends on a healthy environment.
The more we weaken and dismantle the E.P.A.’s vital protections of our natural
world, the more we threaten the common good.
You have also promised to
strengthen our national defense. Like you, we value national security.
However, our country’s top military intelligence have concluded that climate
change is a “threat multiplier” that is already creating instability around the
world and will likely create significant security challenges in the years
ahead. If someone who casts doubt on the reality of climate change
becomes the head of the E.P.A., our national security will be compromised.
As citizens of this beloved
country, we intend to write our members of Congress, urging them to block the
nomination of Scott Pruitt to lead the E.P.A. We will pray for a better choice.
And we will continue to pray
for you as you assume this office of tremendous responsibility for the good of
all.
Respectfully,
The Rt. Rev. Douglas J.
Fisher, Bishop Diocesan of Western Massachusetts
The Rt. Rev. Alan M. Gates,
Bishop Diocesan of Massachusetts
The Rt. Rev. Gayle E. Harris,
Bishop Suffragan of Massachusetts
The Rt. Rev. Barbara C.
Harris, Bishop Suffragan of Massachusetts (retired)
The Rt. Rev. Roy F.
Cederholm, Bishop Suffragan of Massachusetts (retired)
