摘要：In most developed countries, a wide consensus exists among opinion leaders, mass publics and the media regarding the basic science behind human-induced climate change and the need to act, at least in the abstract. However, in the United States, the debate over the legitimacy of the global warming hypothesis and related responses rages on. One major source of division that has fueled this dissonance has been the inability of secular left leaning environmental social movement organization (SMO) opinion leaders and politically, religiously, and socially conservative evangelical elites to find common ground on this issue. This broader conflict is often overshadowed by the fact that there is also a related discussion going on within the evangelical community itself about how to respond to environmental threats. A growing group of evangelical environmentalists, commonly referred to as “creation care” activists, support stronger initiatives to deal with pressing environmental issues. Accepting the basic science on global warming and other environmental threats, they have come to the realization that environmental destruction is just as much a moral imperative as other core evangelical issues including the right to life, serving the poor, conversion and salvation, gay marriage, etc. However, this growth in environmental awareness is not without its skeptics. The purpose of this case study is to examine the continuing debate going on within the evangelical tradition over how to respond to environmental challenges. It concludes that prospects for the spread of creation care thinking, especially among rank and file evangelicals, are good. However, opposition among skeptics remains strong, and continues to slow environmental activists’ efforts to push their theological and political agendas, both within their own denominations and in the broader political arena.
