"In October the association paved the way for broad-based advocacy on the environment when it adopted 'For the Health of the Nation: An Evangelical Call to Civic Responsibility,' a platform that included a plank on 'creation care' that many evangelical leaders say was unprecedented.

'Because clean air, pure water and adequate resources are crucial to public health and civic order,' the statement said, 'government has an obligation to protect its citizens from the effects of environmental degradation.'"