The Evangelical Environmental Network (EEN) has taken up the cause of climate change in Florida. The national group claims 600,000 members or supporters around the country with more than 100,000 of them in Florida. It's funded by donations and grants.
EEN is part of the Floridians for Solar Choice coalition, which is pushing a constitutional amendment that would allow Floridians to buy electricity directly from someone other than a utility company.
The network is led by president and CEO Reverend Mitch Hescox, who spent 18 years as a pastor in Pennsylvania. He says he’s been trying since last year to get a meeting with Gov. Rick Scott.
“I just wanted to meet with the governor, who’s an evangelical Christian, and say here’s the biblical perspective on climate change,” Hescox says.
Hescox spoke with us from his home in Pennsylvania.
Have you ever done any sermons that talk about climate change?
Absolutely, many of them. God commands us in [the Bible] to tend his garden, to care for it.
For us, it really morphs into caring about human life. With climate change, we are impacting every single person in God’s creation negatively, and I think the real key to talking to evangelicals is putting it in terms of how climate change impacts God’s children both nationally and internationally but also being honest enough to answer their questions about the science.
Where do you stand on climate change being a natural occurrence, being man-made, or both?
Well, it’s absolutely 99 percent a man-made occurrence, I think. The experts and the scientists are very clear that because of the industrial revolution we have increased the amount of carbon in the air. So what happens with carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases is they literally put a blanket over the top of the earth and keep the heat in, and that heat is causing tremendous problems.
Can you talk a little bit about personal experiences you’ve had in seeing the effects of climate change?
In the international ministry, I’ve literally been around the world and seen current impacts – trees blooming earlier, grass growing earlier, more extreme weather, violent thunderstorms. I’ve also been in Miami Beach and witnessed King Tide. I’ve watched in Pennsylvania where Lyme disease is literally growing exponentially because we have longer springs and longer falls.
Your group is supporting a ballot initiative in Florida that would allow consumers to buy electricity directly from someone other than a utility company. Why do you feel so strongly about this proposed constitutional amendment?
I think it’s energy freedom. I think that everyone should have the right to either install solar or buy their electricity from who they choose to buy it from.
