This interesting article in the Christian Science Monitor describes the growing strength of environmentalist ideas within the evangelical movement. Notice how the fight against “global warming” is being cast in moral terms, yet leads to very similar policy prescriptions as the leftist environmentalists. Here are some excerpts:

…[T]he Rev. Gerald Durley had long thought of himself as enlightened and involved when it came to issues that hurt people’s lives. He felt he was fulfilling his responsibilities to others. Until, he says, he saw the film “The Great Warming” last May.

“My total perspective on environmental issues and life in general was drastically altered,” says the pastor of Providence Missionary Baptist Church. “This went beyond any political, racial, or gender issues — it is a moral crisis.”

…Richard Cizik, Washington spokesman of the National Association of Evangelicals, urges action based on the biblical demand for “creation care.” Rev. Cizik had his own change of heart after listening to an Evangelical scientist from Oxford University lay out the scientific consensus.

…”It’s not just individuals turning off the lights, but whether industries continue to pump pollution into the atmosphere,” says Tony Campolo, cofounder of a nonpartisan group, Red Letter Christians. “Unless government starts controlling industry better than it has, we are not going to have a solution to this problem.”

With global warming affecting poor countries more than the developed world, Dr. Campolo says, there is a biblical imperative for a wealthy America, responsible for at least 25 percent of global carbon emissions, to act.