In January, some of the most prominent religious organizations active in the United States wrote an open letter to then U.S. President-elect Donald Trump urging him to continue helping developing countries adapt and mitigate the devastating effects of climate change.
“It is the moral responsibility of our nation, and our sacred task as people of faith, to protect our ecosystems, work for environmental justice, and address climate change,” they wrote.
But when the groups took the letter to a number of Senate offices on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C, they were told in no uncertain terms that they now need to start speaking about what is in the U.S.’ national interests, recalls Jasmine Huggins, a senior policy and advocacy officer at the Church World Service, one of 32 faith-based organizations that signed the letter “in peace.”