When you first see the Great Salt Lake from an airplane window, the receding shoreline alerts you to a problem before anyone in Utah says it aloud. The salt flats are now farther apart than they were. Boats are seated higher. The sermons also sound different these days.
There has been a change in Utah’s religious communities for some time now, but it has been happening quietly and without the kind of fanfare that typically accompanies cultural change in this state. Language that would have seemed inappropriate ten years ago can be heard when you enter a Catholic parish in Ogden or a ward house in Provo. guardianship. invention. the inheritance of the land. It’s still wrapped in scripture and uses cautious language, but it exists. It’s also expanding.
| Information | Details |
|---|---|
| Investigation Subject | Faith communities across Utah and their evolving response to climate change |
| Primary Publication | Deseret News Editorial Board coverage |
| Geographic Focus | Wasatch Front, Salt Lake Valley, rural Utah counties |
| Key Faith Groups Involved | LDS Church, Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City, Episcopal, Jewish, Muslim, evangelical congregations |
| Cited Research | 2020 study linking religious affiliation to greenhouse gas patterns |
| Land Ownership by Faith Institutions | Roughly 8% of habitable land globally |
| Notable Local Voices | KUER reporting series, BYU environmental scholars, interfaith forum participants |
| Reference Reporting | KUER’s week-long climate series from November 2021 |
| Movements Mentioned | Creation Care Initiative, Green Ramadan, GreenFaith, Sacred Earth |
| Editorial Stance | Faith groups can shift the climate debate from politics to principle |
In 2019, the editorial board of Deseret News stated bluntly that because religious organizations are not partisan, they could serve as the moral compass on climate change. Something is involved in that. Even the most cautious bills die in committee due to Washington’s calcified climate politics, while religious leaders—at least those who are paying attention—seem to be quietly preparing their congregations for a different dialogue. One that begins with something older rather than carbon credits or international agreements. Perhaps accountability. or shame.
The smoke from western wildfires hangs over the alfalfa fields in Cache Valley in late summer like a warning that no one asked for. Climate talk is now mentioned in passing, almost reluctantly, by farmers who used to dismiss it as coastal handwringing, much like you would mention a sick relative. Even in a 2016 BYU study that used a sample from Logan to examine Mormon attitudes toward the environment, the picture was more nuanced than outsiders might have thought. The doctrine always included stewardship. Over time, the interpretation simply continued to narrow and then widen.
It’s difficult to ignore how the younger generation is largely responsible for this. For many years, BYU students have organized sustainability circles, sometimes with faculty support and other times without it. The most obvious finding of KUER’s thoughtful series from November 2021, which examined Utah’s approach to the climate crisis from a religious perspective, was that the traditional dichotomy of science versus scripture was disintegrating more quickly than anyone had anticipated.
The figures clarify why this is important outside of Utah. Nearly 8% of the world’s livable land is owned by religious organizations, which also make up one of the biggest groups of investors worldwide. The effects of a denomination’s decision to insulate its meetinghouses, plant trees on church property, or divest from fossil fuels extend beyond a single congregation. In a 2018 speech at the G20 Interfaith Forum, Cardinal Pedro Barreto referred to the earth as a common house. The phrase has endured in part because it avoids the political pitfalls that nearly everyone else falls into.
It’s still unclear if any of this results in quantifiable change. The drought in Utah has not abated. The lake isn’t full again. Furthermore, there is a serious chance that all of this moral rhetoric will ultimately fill the void left by action, which is what moral rhetoric frequently does. However, as you watch this develop from the Wasatch foothills, where the haze now settles in early on most evenings, you get the impression that something strong is beginning to take shape. Gently. imperfectly. the typical course of faith.
