Resolution
for a Healthy Tomorrow
Approved by the 204th Annual Meeting, June 6-7, 2003, Mount
Holyoke College.
Proposed by the Environmental Task Force of the Commission for Mission and Justice
Ministries
WHEREAS, The 202nd Annual Meeting of the Massachusetts
Conference of the United Church of Christ voted to approve a Resolution
on the Environment and the Church, urging church members, congregations,
lay and religious leaders and the Commission for Mission of Justice
to be prayerful and mindful of our responsibility to care for the earth
and act in ways that lead toward the healing of God’s creation;
and
WHEREAS, In Leviticus Chap. 25, we as Christians
are called to care for the land and to respond as faithful stewards
by taking personal and collective actions to defend and heal the earth;
and
WHEREAS, Asthma, developmental disabilities, childhood
and adult cancer rates and other chronic disease and disorders have
reached epidemic proportions in the U.S. as toxic chemicals have proliferated
in our air, water and land (The Consensus Statement of the Collaborative
on Health and the Environment, signed by hundreds of health experts
and organizations, states “Scientific evidence increasingly indicates
a relationship between a range of environmental factors and these diseases
and conditions.”); and
WHEREAS, Children are among the most vulnerable in
our society, particularly to the effects of toxins present in our environment
(The CHE collaborative states, “The developing human fetus appears
to be uniquely at risk of harm from environmental toxicants, and such
damage can be profound and permanent.”); and
WHEREAS, Potential toxins were not usually tested
for safety before use, the government usually takes action only after
harm is proven and widespread, and certain levels of harm are accepted
and allowed by government authorities, and citizen action is necessary
to change government polices to better protect our health; and
WHEREAS, The Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow is a
coalition of Massachusetts citizens, scientists, health professionals,
workers, parents, cancer survivors and educators seeking to protect
vulnerable populations such as children, the ill, elderly, economically
disadvantaged, workers, and many of us who are exposed to dangerous
toxins on a daily basis; and,
WHEREAS, The Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow is working
tirelessly to correct fundamental flaws in government policy that are
damaging our health and our environment, causing real suffering and
loss; and,
WHEREAS, The national Justice and Witness Ministries
of the United Church of Christ encourages local churches, Associations
and Conferences to "engage in direct action for the integrity
of creation";
BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED, That the 204th Annual Meeting
of the Massachusetts Conference of the United Church of Christ:
- Requests that the Board of Directors join Alliance for a Healthy
Tomorrow on behalf of the Massachusetts Conference of the United
Church of Christ as a member organization and requests that the Commission
for Mission and Justice Ministries appoint a delegate/contact person
to be a liaison to the Alliance Board of Directors as financing allows;
and
- Encourages local churches and their members to become educated
about toxic threats to health and the environment, and to consider
participating in the Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow as advocates
for children, health, the environment, and environmental justice.
Background information:
“Today the most serious diseases confronting children in
the United States and in other industrially developed nations are
a group of chronic conditions… Examples include asthma, for
which incidence has more than doubled; childhood cancer, for which
reported incidence of certain types has increased significantly;
neurodevelopmental and behavioral disorders; and certain congenital
defects.”
“ We focus on lead poisoning, pediatric asthma, childhood
cancer, and neurobehavioral disorders because these conditions are
serious, common, and likely related at least in part to chemical
pollutants in the environment. Moreover, all of these diseases are
potentially preventable through public health efforts and pollution
prevention.”
Referring in this quote only to outdoor, nonbiologic pollutants
(i.e., not pollen) from sources amenable to abatement, “the
panel estimated that 30% of acute exacerbations of childhood asthma
(range 10-35%) are environmentally related.”
“The panel felt that no more than 10-20% of childhood cancers
could be attributed solely to genetic predisposition, and that extragenetic
factors, defined broadly, therefore caused or contributed to the
genesis of the remaining 80-90%.”
“ An expert committee convened by the U.S. National Academy
of Sciences (NAS) estimated in 2000 that 3% of neurobehavioral disorders
in American children are caused directly by toxic environmental exposure
and that another 25% are caused by interactions between environmental
factors, defined broadly, and genetic susceptibility of individual
children… Of the total 28% of neurobehavioral disorders thought
by the NAS to be caused wholly or partly by environmental factors,
we estimate that 10% (range 5-20%) are a least partly caused by toxic
exposures, not including alcohol, tobacco, or drugs of abuse.”
— Quotes from: Environmental Pollutants and Disease in
American Children: Estimates of Morbidity, Mortality, and Costs
for Lead Poisoning, Asthma, Cancer, and Developmental Disabilities
by Philip J. Landrigan, Clyde B. Schechter, Jeffrey M. Lipton,
Marianne C. Fahs, and Joel Schwartz, Environmental Health Perspectives,
Volume 110, No. 7, July, 2002
“ Chronic diseases and disabilities have reached epidemic
proportions in the United States, affecting more than 100 million
men, women and children, which is more than one-third of our population.
Asthma, autism, birth defects, cancers, developmental disabilities,
diabetes, endometriosis, infertility, Parkinson’s disease and
other diseases and disabilities are causing increased suffering and
concern.”
“ Scientific evidence increasingly indicates a relationship
between a range of environmental factors and these diseases and conditions.
One important contributor may be increased exposure to the wide array
of chemical substances that are used in modern industrial society,
including diverse synthetic chemicals, compounds, metals and related
elements such as lead, mercury and arsenic, as well as other pollutants
in food, water, and air. Since World War II, more than 85,000 synthetic
chemicals have been registered for use in the United States and another
2,000 are added each year, and few are adequately tested for their
potential impacts on health. Other forms of pollution are increasing
as well.”
“ The developing human fetus appears to be uniquely at risk
of harm from environmental toxicants, and such damage can be profound
and permanent.”
“ Many cases of some diseases and developmental disabilities
could likely be prevented if exposure to contributory environmental
factors before and after birth were lessened or eliminated. Where
the weight of plausible scientific evidence shows that contaminants
[toxic substances] are likely to contribute to increased disease,
exposures should be reduced or eliminated.”
— Quotes from: Consensus Statement of the Collaborative
on Health and the Environment, which was signed by hundreds of
health experts and organizations. See www.cheforhealth.org
For more information on the Campaign to Protect Child Health and
the Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow, call 617-338-8131 or visit www.healthytomorrow.org
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