What’s the best book for Christians who want to learn about climate change? It isn’t the book written by the Nobel-prize winning author who appeared in the Academy-Award winning movie a few years back. After all, that author, though smart, was not a climate scientist, and because he was a polarizing political figure, he didn’t appeal to most Christians who don’t share his political views.

It also isn’t the massive tome, Global Warming: The Complete Briefing , by evangelical scientist and world-renowned climate expert Sir John Houghton. It’s very good, VERY complete, very thoughtful–it really lives up to its name. But it is quite an investment, not just of time but of money. If you’re looking for Climate Science 101, this isn’t it. (I think of how my kids sometimes ask my wife questions about environmental science. She’ll answer them, and then ask “but why didn’t you ask your father that question?” To which they reply, “Well, Mom, we didn’t want to know that much about it.”)

No, the book you should read this Christmas, and buy for your skeptical friends and family, is written by an evangelical husband-wife team–climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe and pastor/teacher Andrew Farley. A Climate for Change–Global Warming Facts for Faith-Based Decisions is a great resource for connecting with conservatives (like me) who are skeptical about the science (as I was for the first ten years of environmental teaching and research). It’s readable, understandable, scientifically accurate and theologically sound.

It’s also a good refresher course on the science and impacts of climate change, replete with great illustrations and ideas for communicating what we know and what we don’t know. It is obvious that the authors have spent many, many hours patiently and winsomely explaining these concepts to interested but skeptical audiences.

Things that I noted immediately–the science and theology behind creation care, as they presented it, do not require a commitment to an old earth or to theistic evolution. They tackle that issue head on. Moreover, they build a strong case for why creation care should be a priority even for those who believe (like many of us) that the Earth will one day pass away, to be replaced by a New Heaven and New Earth.

Together, Hayhoe and Farley walk through the basics of what any citizen should know about God’s creation and the climate system. They don’t drift into politics; they instead concentrate on informing us about what we need to know BEFORE we get into policy considerations.

You can order it now on Amazon: A Climate for Change–Global Warming Facts for Faith-Based Decisions by Katharine Hayhoe and Andrew Farley. I’m a curmudgeon who doesn’t like most climate books, but this one I recommend to everyone I meet.

Other resources:
To those who want a more in-depth “guidebook” to global warming science, I recommend the Rough Guide to Climate Change. Be sure to get the second edition, since it contains information from the last IPCC assessment in 2007.

Of course, climate science has continued to unfold since the last IPCC summary of the science nearly three years ago, and many of the predictions have proven to be outpaced by the rate of change on the ground. For a summary of recent science, look at the Copenhagen Diagnosis, written by leading climate researchers, which also corrects some of the enduring misconceptions about climate change science.

The website for the book A Climate for Change is pretty cool too. You can follow Katharine Hayhoe on Twitter and get great up-to-date analysis of breaking climate news.

Rusty Pritchard thinks climate change is happening and that people are causing part of it, but his views are his own and not those of his parent organization, Flourish. Flourish believes every Christian should be caring for creation, no matter where they come down on the climate issue.

Does caring for the environment
always come at the expense of jobs? Is creation care something that
must be traded off against people care? I'm reading a great book right
now that addresses just that issue. I'm reading it with my pastor,
Leroy Barber, because we care about the beautiful but broken South
Atlanta neighborhood our church calls home. Leroy is president of Mission Year and is a speaker at this year's Flourish Conference for church leaders on creation care.

The book is Van Jones' The Green Collar Economy. Van Jones is the founder and president of Green For All,
and his work is significant for Christians who want to do community
development in environmentally-friendly ways and for those who want to
find ways out of the "environment vs. jobs" debate. Jones points out
the many ways in which solving environmental problems can be done with
justice. His position is that as long as we're going to all the trouble
to create a clean energy economy, we might as well make a renewed
effort to tackle discrimination and inequality, too.

He addresses
the involvement of faith communities directly and challenges the
"so-called progressives [who] snarl the word 'Christian' as if it were
an insult or the name of a disease." He presses activists to become
problem-solvers, to become more about "proposition" than "opposition."
In a short list of principles for a new movement, Jones advocates fewer
"issues," more solutions; fewer "demands," more goals; fewer "targets,"
more partners; and less "accusation," more confession.

Leroy's recent post on Sojourners blog captures how he thinks about environmental issues:

Is
it possible to create a new economy in the hood that would create jobs,
lower energy costs, reduce the carbon footprint of an urban
neighborhood, and allow neighbors to get to know one another at the
same time? I think there just might be a way to make this a reality. I
would like to green my hood.

The problem in
urban neighborhoods is that they are some of the most dangerous places,
environmentally speaking. Trash dumps, tow lots, expressways, and
chemical plants create places that are quite unsafe. Our neighborhoods
can begin to help themselves and lower some of the risk by starting their own green projects.
We could hire and train people to do home audits for seniors and
families in homes that are full of lead paint, leaky windows, clogged
gutters, and uninsulated water heaters. This training would give jobs
to people and lower energy bills for residents, as well as reduce the
carbon footprint of the neighborhood.

We can grow neighborhood gardens and farmers’ markets, which would offer places for neighbors to have better access to nutritious food
and vegetables that are otherwise very costly. When we make
neighborhoods walkable and livable, neighbors can get around without
driving, and that means less asthma-causing air pollution, fewer
emergency room visits, and fewer sleepless nights for worried parents. Caring for the environment has hit the hood and is now a major urban issue,
and people of faith have opportunity to offer good news in a new way.
This is no longer just an issue of global warming and saving rain
forests — it is about protecting some of our most vulnerable citizens.

Clothing
the naked, visiting the prisoner, and feeding the hungry now needs to
include providing clean air, safe streets, and healthy neighborhoods
for our poor urban neighbors. I am committed to greening my hood for a
number of reasons. If you want to learn more about it, you should check
out The Green Collar Economy, by Van Jones. This is his idea, and I have become a fan.

Leroy and I are searching for other Christians who have read The Green Collar Economy—or the related work by Thomas Friedman, called Hot, Flat and Crowded
(Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008)—and who have ideas and stories to
tell about environmental actions that create rather than threaten jobs,
especially in this economy. Please write me if we can feature your work or the work of others you know.

To meet Leroy Barber and other Christian leaders who are looking at environmental issues in a new way, check out the Flourish Conference, May 13-15, 2009 in Atlanta.