Acton Institute

Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty

Background

The Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty is a classical Liberal think tank founded in 1990 in Grand Rapids, Michigan by Robert A. Sirico and Kris Alan Mauren. The Acton Institute also maintains affiliates in Latin America, Africa, Europe, and an office in Rome.1Convissor, Kate (August 1999). โ€œThe Acton Institute: Of Morality & the Marketplace,โ€ย Grand Rapids Magazineย 36-37. The Acton Institute is a member of the Atlas Network,ย a global group of free market think tanks.2โ€œGlobal Directory: Acton Institute,โ€ Atlas Network.ย  Archived May 7, 2020. Archive URL:ย https://archive.vn/h8KjA

The Acton Institute’s stated mission is to โ€œpromote a free and virtuous society characterized by individual liberty and sustained by religious principles.โ€3โ€œAbout the Acton Institute,โ€ Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty. Archived May 7, 2020. Archive URL:ย https://archive.vn/Fn1Dc

In 2005,ย Mother Jonesย magazine listed the Acton Institute among a group of organizations who had received funding from ExxonMobil,4โ€œPut a Tiger In Your Think Tank,โ€ย Mother Jones, (May/June 2005).ย Archived March 2, 2016. Archive URL:ย https://archive.vn/BjDZ4 pointing to a $155,000 donation. ExxonSecrets reports that the Acton Institute has received at leastย $315,000 from ExxonMobil since 1998.5โ€œFACTSHEET: ACTON INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF RELIGION AND LIBERTY,โ€ย ExxonSecrets.

The Acton Institute appears to have connections with the Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation (formerly Interfaith Stewardship Alliance, or ISA), a group that believes Earth’s climate will be able to correct itself from any damage done by humans.6โ€œGlobal warming: a battle for evangelical Christian hearts and minds,โ€ SkepticalScience, October 2, 2014. The Acton Institute was present when the ISA announced the formation of the โ€œCornwall Network,โ€ which would provide โ€œsolidly Biblical information to religious leadersโ€ as well as โ€œsound scientific and economic informationโ€ regarding the environment and other issues.7(Press Release). โ€œISA Announces Launch of Cornwall Network at Senate Luncheon,โ€ Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation, April 19, 2006. Archived May 7, 2020. Archive URLhttps://archive.vn/wip/DgV8I

Stance on Climate Change

Julyย 2015

โ€œIs it clear that whatever agreement might arise out of the COP 21 meeting is morally obligatory for governments to adhere to and or churches to bless? Church advocacy to this effect would lead us to conclude as much. But it is not at all clear that there is only one morally acceptable path forward for different nations and peoples to undertake with regard to stewardship of the climate. So despite intentions to the contrary, this level of church advocacy only deepens the uncertainty surrounding climate change and responsible Christian stewardship.โ€ 8Jordan Ballor. โ€œChristian Reformed Church Backs UN Climate Change Agenda,โ€ Acton Institute, July 8, 2015. Archived May 7, 2020. Archive URLhttps://archive.vn/ukbUs

December 2013

โ€œ[A]s Butler and Morriss remind us, ‘our Creator also granted us energy stored in coal, oil, and natural gas, as well as embedding it within the bonds of matter, enabling us to meet our needs by responsibly using those sources of energy as well.’

While Bartholomew worries about the possible future harm of global climate change on those in poverty, I am far more concerned with the harm of poverty on the poor today. [โ€ฆ]โ€ โ€” Research Fellow Dylan Pahman.9Dylan Pahman. โ€œSolar Power Simplicity: A First-World Luxury,โ€ Acton Institute, December 4, 2013. Archived March 2, 2016. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/OmPBf

June 2010

โ€œUnfortunately, the public-policy response to global warming proposed by some evangelicals makes actually helping the global poor more difficult. [โ€ฆ]

โ€œTo hear a Western (i.e., rich!) evangelical environmentalist tell the poor that they must sacrifice the technologies that would improve the length and quality of life for them and their families in order to achieve a merely speculative benefit they will never see can only make the poor less likely to listen to the gospel that the evangelical brings. Such disillusionment will only deepen when it is realized that those evangelicals continue to enjoy the same lifesaving technologies they are effectively asking the poor to forego.โ€10Benjamin B. Phillips. โ€œEvangelicals and Global Warming,โ€ Acton Institute, June 23, 2010. Archived March 2, 2016. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/Bfrkd

May 2008

โ€œWe’ve seen 31,000 scientists just came out who are skeptical of global warming. And they’re worried that the policies people are proposing are actually going to harm the planet and they’re going to make people poorer. We also see some of the effects these regulations can have on the developing countries where serious poverty is a real problem.โ€ 

โ€œThere’s a lot of skepticism about global warming. One: Climate change. Is it happening? And most people say ‘yes, this is happening’, but how is it happening? You saw perhaps a new study that just came out predicting global cooling over the next 10 years based on ocean currents.โ€ [โ€ฆ]

โ€[โ€ฆ] Environmentalist policies that may or may not work, that are based on not certain data, could actually harm [the poor] and prevent economic development.โ€ โ€”ย Michael Miller, Director of Programs at the Acton Institute. ย 11โ€œJohn McCain and Climate Change,โ€ Acton Institute. Archived March 2, 2016. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/n723b

April 2008

โ€œClimate is changing all the time, the real question is if humans are causing it.โ€ โ€”ย Acton Institute’s Media Director, Jay W. Richardsย (Audio below):12โ€œAn Earth Day Review of Global Warming,โ€ Acton Institute.ย Archived September 1, 2010. Archived .mp4 on file atย DeSmog.

2001 (?)

โ€œGlobal warming, for instance, which remains speculative and based on incomplete computer models rather than on demonstrated science, might cost man and nature a great deal if we rush to impose dramatic limits on fossil-fuel use in a misguided attempt to solve a problem that may not even exist. Just twenty-five years ago, some of the current proponents of global warming were warning us about global cooling.33 Because ecology is still in its infancy, we need to utilize all that we know to help us find prudent solutions for these complex problems. We must also recognize that science alone is insufficient for resolving these matters, especially since these issues have moral implications. Thus, in recognizing that we will have to make unavoidable tradeoffs in striking a balance between human need and a clean environment, we must exercise prudence in addressing environmental concerns.โ€13โ€œThe Catholic Church and Stewardship of Creation,โ€ Acton Institute. Archived March 2, 2016. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/yyE97

Funding

The Conservative Transparency Project lists the Acton Institute’s funding as follows. Note that not all individual values have been verified by DeSmogBlog for accuracy. 14โ€œActon Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty,โ€ Conservative Transparency. Data retrived May 18,ย 2017.

*Note that Koch-controlled foundation values prior to 1998 cannot be independently verified by DeSmog, as original 990 forms are not available. Koch totals for 1997 and prior values via Conservative Transparency.

Note that some of the Acton Institute’s largest funders are DonorsTrust (DT) and its sister organization, Donors Capital Fund (DCF). It has also received funding from Koch-related foundations, the Sarah Scaife Foundation, ExxonMobil, and numerous other conservative and industry funders.

DonorsTrust has been described as the โ€œDark Money ATMโ€ of the conservative movement, and distributed over $80 Million to conservative causes between 2004 and 2013. By using โ€œdonor-advised funds,โ€ DonorsTrust and Donors Capital Fund can distribute funds without revealing the original source of the funds, providing a layer of secrecy for donors.15Andy Kroll. โ€œExposed: The Dark-Moneyย ATMย of the Conservative Movement,โ€ย Mother Jones,ย February 5, 2013. Archived Julyย 24,ย 2015.

990 Forms

Koch Funding

According to Greenpeace, the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty has received a grand total of $857,776 received from Koch foundations from 1997 to 2017. 16โ€œActon Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty: Koch Industries Climate Denial Front Group,โ€ GreenPeace USA.ย Archived May 1, 2016. Archive.is URL:ย https://archive.is/dFb9h

*Original tax forms prior to 1997 are no longerย available for verification. If you include these values, the grand total increases. See below for DeSmog’s analysis based on available 990 forms and archived data from the Conservative Transparency project.ย 17โ€œActon Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty: Koch Industries Climate Denial Front Group,โ€ GreenPeace USA.ย Archived May 1, 2016. Archive.is URL:ย https://archive.is/dFb9h

ExxonMobil Funding

Greenpeace’s ExxonSecrets Project reports that the Acton Institute has received at leastย $315,000 from ExxonMobil since 1998. 18โ€œFACTSHEET: ACTON INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF RELIGION AND LIBERTY,โ€ย ExxonSecrets. Archived March 24, 2016.

Key People

Board of Directors

Name200019โ€œBoard of Directors,โ€ Acton Institute. Archived August 23, 2000. Archive.is URLhttps://archive.is/zT4jN200120โ€œBoard of Directors,โ€ Acton Institute. Archived December 21, 2001. Archive.is URLhttps://archive.is/kZ45J200221โ€œBoard of Directors,โ€ Acton Institute. Archived June 15, 2002. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/Uj5FG200522โ€œBoard of Directors,โ€ Acton Institute. Archived September 1, 2005. Archive.is URLhttps://archive.is/uGLgk200623โ€œBoard of Directors,โ€ Acton Institute. Archived September 27, 2006. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/M1sAP200924โ€œBoard of Directors,โ€ Acton Institute. Archived June 25, 2009. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/XKNL7201025โ€œBoard of Directors,โ€ Acton Institute. Archived December 24, 2010. Archive.is URLhttps://archive.is/kySdK201126โ€œBoard of Directors,โ€ Acton Institute. Archived December 25, 2011. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/EYTzD201327โ€œBoard of Directors,โ€ Acton Institute. Archived February 14, 2013. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/BQUxy201428โ€œBoard of Directors,โ€ Acton Institute. Archived December 20, 2014. Archive.is URLhttps://archive.is/WgVTr201629โ€œBoard of Directors,โ€ Acton Institute. Archived March 2, 2016. WebCite URLhttp://www.webcitation.org/6fiOuQIu5Description
Alejandro A. ChafuenYYYYYYYYYYYAtlas Economic Research Foundation. Senior Fellow, Acton Institute
Alejandro Garza-LagรผeraYYYYY      Savia, S.A., Pulsar International
Barry Conner YYYYYY    America’s Home Place
Bernard T. LomasYYY        Albion College (ret.)
Betsy DeVosYYYY       Treasurer. The Windquest Group, Inc.
Carol Erickson Martino   YY      Consultant, Ambrosetti Group
David C. Humphreys         YYTamko Building Products, Inc.
David H. PaddenYY         Padden and Company
David Humphreys YYYYYYYY  Tamko Building Products, Inc.
David Milroy   YYYYY   Chief Administrative Officer
Edwin J. Feulner,  Jr.YYY        Jr, The Heritage Foundation
Elsa D. Prince Broekhuizen        YYYEDP Management
Frank J. Hanna,  III YYYYYYYYYYHanna Capital, LLC
Gaylen J. Byker     YYYYYYPresident Emeritus, Calvin College
George W. Strake,  Jr.YY         Strake Trading Group, Inc.
J.C. Huizenga   YYYYYYYYNational Heritage Academies
James C. Rahn         YYKern Family Foundation
Jeff D. SandeferYYY        Chairman. Sandefer Capital Partners, Inc.
John C. Kennedy III     YYYYYYAutocam Medical
John Crowe      YYYYYPresident, John P. Crowe Co.
John M. Gordon,  Jr.       YYY Gordon Food Service
Kenneth J. Muraski     YYYYY Kent Manufacturing Co.
Kris A. Mauren      YYYYYExecutive Director, Acton Institute
Leonard P. LiggioY          Atlas Economic Research Foundation
Ren Broekhuizen   YYYYY   Pastor (Retired), Ridge Point Community Church
Robert A. SiricoYYYYYYYYYYYPresident, Acton Institute
Robert Costello YYYYYY    Americans for Limited Government
Sean M. Fieler        YYYEquinox Partners
Sidney J. Jansma,  Jr.   YYYYY   Wolverine Gas and Oil Corporation
Wade Fetzer IIIYY         Goldman Sachs

Board of Advisors

Name200030โ€œBoard of Directors,โ€ Acton Institute. Archived August 23, 2000. Archive.is URLhttps://archive.is/zT4jN200331โ€œAbout the Acton Institute,โ€ Acton Institute. Archived August 1, 2003. Archive.is URLhttps://archive.is/8snuj200432โ€œAbout the Acton Institute,โ€ Acton Institute. Archived August 20, 2004. Archive.is URLhttps://archive.is/Rs4eR201033โ€œBoard of Directors,โ€ Acton Institute. Archived December 24, 2010. Archive.is URLhttps://archive.is/kySdKDescription
Alejandro A. Chafuen  Y Atlas Economic Research Foundation. Senior Fellow, Acton Institute
Alejandro Garza-Lagรผera  Y Savia, S.A., Pulsar International
Barry Conner  Y America’s Home Place
Betsy DeVos  Y Treasurer. The Windquest Group, Inc.
Carol Erickson Martino  Y Consultant, Ambrosetti Group
David Humphreys  Y Tamko Building Products, Inc.
David Milroy  Y Chief Administrative Officer
Doug BandowYY YCitizen Outreach
Edmund OpitzYY  Foundation for Economic Education (ret.)
F. Joseph BradleyYY YBradley Enterprises, LLC, dba Investors Hotline
Frank J. Hanna,  III  Y Hanna Capital, LLC
Harry VeryserYY YUniversity of Detroit Mercy
Hon. William E. SimonY   John M. Olin Foundation
J.C. Huizenga  Y National Heritage Academies
James C. HollandYY YShepherd College
James L. JohnstonYY YAmoco Corporation (ret.)
James SadowskyYY YFordham University
James V. SchallYY YGeorgetown University
Jennifer Roback MorseYY YSenior Fellow in Economics
John Michael BeersYY YPontifical College Josephinum
Joseph GanssleYY YMarian Associates
Leonard P. Liggio Y YAtlas Economic Research Foundation
Michael NovakYY YAmerican Enterprise Institute
Rabbi Daniel LapinYY YToward Tradition
Ren Broekhuizen  Y Pastor (Retired), Ridge Point Community Church
Robert A. Sirico  Y President, Acton Institute
Robert Costello  Y Americans for Limited Government
Rocco ButtiglioneYY YInternational Academy of Philosophy
Ronald NashYY  Reformed Theological Seminary
Rufus FearsYY YUniversity of Oklahoma
Sidney J. Jansma,  Jr.  Y Wolverine Gas and Oil Corporation
Sr. Connie DriscollYY  St. Martin de Porres House of Hope
Steve HankeYY YJohns Hopkins University
William B. AllenYY YMichigan State University

Staff

As of Marchย 2016, the following staff members were listed on the Acton Institute’s website. 34โ€œActon Institute Staff,โ€ Acton Institute. Archived March 2, 2016. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/CoOFr

See the attached spreadsheet for the Acton Institute’s complete staff list (.xlsx).

Executive

  • Rev. Robert A. Sirico โ€” President
  • Kris Alan Mauren โ€” Executive Director
  • Holly Rowley โ€” Executive Assistant
  • Katharine Harger โ€” Executive Assistant
  • David Milroy โ€” Chief Administrative Officer
  • Jim Healy โ€” Advisor to the President
  • Ken Larson โ€” Advisor to the President
  • Diane Baum Verploegh โ€” External Relations Associate

Instituto Action

  • Kishore Jayabalan โ€” Director of Istituto Acton
  • Michael Severance โ€” Operations Manager
  • Rita De Vecchi โ€” Special Projects Coordinator

Research

  • Samuel Gregg โ€” Director of Research
  • Jordan Ballor โ€” Research Fellow and Executive Editor, Journal of Markets & Morality
  • Charissa Reul โ€” Conference and Program Manager
  • Julie Dudderar โ€” Conference Coordinator
  • Dylan Pahman โ€” Managing Editor of JMM, and Research Fellow
  • Anthony B. Bradley โ€” Research Fellow
  • Alejandro A. Chafuen โ€” Senior Fellow
  • Marvin Olasky โ€” Senior Fellow
  • Jennifer Roback Morse โ€” Senior Fellow in Economics
  • Kevin E. Schmiesing โ€” Research Fellow
  • Glenn Sunshine โ€” Research Fellow
  • Andreas Widmer โ€” Research Fellow in Entrepreneurship
  • Jonathan Witt โ€” Research Fellow
  • Michael Matheson Miller โ€” Research Fellow, Producer of Poverty, Inc.

Programs and Education

  • Chris Robertson โ€” Program Outreach Coordinator
  • Mike Cook โ€” Manager of Programs; Acton Lecture Series and Acton University
  • Michelle Hornak โ€” Programs Assistant and AU Coordinator
  • Mel Flikkema โ€” Senior Advisor, Abraham Kuyper Translation Society

International

  • Todd Huizinga โ€” Director of International Outreach

PovertyCure

  • Jonathan Moody โ€” Managing Director of PovertyCure
  • Patrick Oetting โ€” PovertyCure Strategy & Engagement Manager

Communications

  • John Couretas โ€” Director of Communications, Executive Editor, Religion & Liberty
  • Sarah Stanley โ€” Communications Associate
  • Bob Thomson โ€” Web Developer
  • Marc Vander Maas โ€” Audio/Visual Manager
  • Joe Carter โ€” Senior Editor
  • Raymond J. de Souza โ€” Editor at Large, Religion & Liberty

Past People

  • Jay W Richards โ€” Media Director.

Actions

June 2016

The Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Libertyย was among organizations named in a Massachusetts subpoena looking for communications between ExxonMobil and organizations denying climate change, reports The Washington Times. 35Valerie Richardson. โ€œExxon fights Mass. AGโ€™s โ€˜politicalโ€™ probe into climate change dissent,โ€ The Washington Times, June 15, 2016. Archived June 24, 2016. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/GepbJ

Organizations named in the Massachusetts subpoena include the following: 

This latest inquiry by Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey is one in a series of investigations into what ExxonMobil knew about climate change and when, started by a coalition of attorneys general in the US. 36Ben Jervey. โ€œState Investigations Into What Exxon Knew Double, and Exxon Gets Defensive,โ€ Desmog, April 1, 2016.

January 2015

Prior to the release of Pope Francis’s Encyclical and the Environment, the Acton Institute released a โ€œLetter from Romeโ€ addressing friends of Istituto Acton. 37Kishore Jayabalan. โ€œLetter from Rome: What will Pope Francis say about the environment?โ€ Acton Institute, January 7, 2015. Archived March 2, 2016. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/ZhPYv

In the letter, Kishore Jayabalan (Director of the Acton Institute) suggests โ€œCatholic environmentalistsโ€ have found environmentalism as a โ€œsubstitute for their religious faithโ€:

โ€œIt is probably not surprising that some Catholic environmentalists are less interested in traditional religious matters such as what one believes about God and how one practices the faith than in making sure the birds and fish of the planet were protected from greedy industrialists. In fact, some have a hard time in calling God ‘Father’ because of its patriarchal significance. I got the distinct feeling that environmentalism was at least a large component if not a substitute for their religious faith.โ€

Jayabalan concludes by calling for Pope Francis to โ€œavoid the Scylla of no-growth environmentalism and the Charybdis of technological conquest of nature.โ€

Michael Sean Wintersย criticizes Jayabalan’s letter at the National Catholic Reporter. 38Michael Sean Winters. โ€œAnother ‘Prebuttal’ of Pope’s Encyclical on Environment,โ€ย National Catholic Reporter, January 8, 2015. Archived May 17, 2023. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/bNL6P

โ€œIt is pretty difficult to believe that there is not an organized effort among Catholic conservatives to rebut in advance whatever Pope Francis might say in his forthcoming encyclical on the environment, what we might call a ‘prebuttal’,โ€ Winters writes. 

โ€œ[โ€ฆ] I would add that the libertarian, spread eagle capitalist right which calls Acton its home is right to be worried about the issue of environmentalism because their variety of capitalism has precisely no solutions to problem of environmental degradation and has, in fact, been a large part of the problem.โ€

Jayabalan responded to Winters, who he groups with โ€œthe high priests of leftist Catholic environmentalism,โ€ saying that โ€œContrary to what Winters assumes, I am not recommending that Catholic social teaching worship Hayek or laissez-faire economics.โ€ 39Kishore Jayabalan. โ€œChristian Stewardship or UN Sustainability?โ€ Acton Institute, June 3, 2015. Archived March 2, 2016. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/2yiOd

Jayabalan adds he was โ€œdisinvited from the recent Vatican seminar on climate change because of a false rumor that the Acton Institute was involved with a Heartland Institute parallel event.โ€

May 2008

Michael Miller, Director of Programs at the Acton Institute, appeared on Jacksonville’s progressive talk radio station, AM 1460 WZNZ, to discuss โ€œGlobal Warming and how Republican presidential candidate John McCain plans to address it.โ€40โ€œJohn McCain and Climate Change,โ€ Acton Institute. Archived March 2, 2016. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/n723b

Miller comments on McCain’s Cap and Trade proposal and moves to the topic โ€œwhether or not modern environmentalism is pantheistic, and a discussion of the dangers of a moral system based on pantheism,โ€ the event description notes. 

Excerpts:

โ€œWe’ve seen 31,000 scientists just came out who are skeptical of global warming. And they’re worried that the policies people are proposing are actually going to harm the planet and they’re going to make people poorer. We also see some of the effects these regulations can have on the developing countries where serious poverty is a real problem,โ€ says Miller.

โ€œThere’s a lot of skepticism about global warming. One: Climate change. Is it happening? And most people say ‘yes, this is happening’, but how is it happening? You saw perhaps a new study that just came out predicting global cooling over the next 10 years based on ocean currents.โ€ [โ€ฆ]

โ€œAnd then there’s debate. These 31,000 scientists say it’s not happening. You have other scientists say it is happening. and McCain has said a long time ago that the science is settled. Well, I think there is an underlying political problem that is very interesting here. And that is that he, in the way he used his rhetoric, he basically put out of the picture any very serious person who’s concerned about the environment but is skeptical about global warming. So that becomes an impossible thing.

Now that’s very interesting also because Alexis de Tocqueville, the writer of Democracy in America, wrote two things. He said what sometimes happens in democratic societies is that, it’s not in a totalitarian way where you’re punished for it, but the limits of discussion become very narrow. And we’re seeing this happen with global warming where you can’t even have a serious discussion about what to do because ‘the science is settled’ according to  McCain. When, in fact, the science is not settled.

Second, Tocqueville predicted that democratic societies would move towards pantheism. When we see this global warming, what we’re seeing really is this view that somehow humans are a scourge on the planet. It’s an economic fallacy because it only sees humans as consumes and not also as producers and innovators, including being innovators of alternative technology sources which we see the market doing without government intervention [โ€ฆ]โ€

โ€[โ€ฆ] Environmentalist policies that may or may not work, that are based on not certain data, could actually harm [the poor] and prevent economic development.โ€

April 16, 2008

Jay W. Richards, the Acton Institute’s past Media Director, presented at an Acton Institute lecture titled โ€œIs it Hot In Here? What Should Christians Think About Global Warming?โ€ 41โ€œIs it Hot In Here? What Should Christians Think About Global Warming?โ€ Acton Institute, April 16, 2008. Archived December 3, 2010. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

April 19, 2006

The Acton Institute co-hosted a special Capitol Hill luncheon titledย โ€œPulpits, Pews and Environmental Policy: How the Cornwall Declaration is helping define the mandate of Biblical stewardshipโ€ where the Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation (formerly the Interfaith Stewardship Alliance, or ISA) announced the creation of the โ€œCornwall Network.โ€ 42(Press Release). โ€œISA Announces Launch of Cornwall Network at Senate Luncheon,โ€ Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation, April 19, 2006. Archived May 7, 2020. Archive URL:ย https://archive.vn/DgV8I

The ISA/Cornwall Alliance describes the Cornwall Network as โ€œa nationwide network of churches which are partnering with the ISA on biblical stewardship and environmental issues.โ€ย 43(Press Release). โ€œISA Announces Launch of Cornwall Network at Senate Luncheon,โ€ Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation, April 19, 2006. Archived May 7, 2020. Archive URL:ย https://archive.vn/DgV8I

โ€œNot only does it answer the Bibleโ€™s call for Godโ€™s image bearers to care for the earth,โ€ Dr E. Caliven Beisner, national spokesman for ISA said, โ€œbut also it shows that a growing number of people are reaching the level of economic security that permits them to focus on such concerns. For most poor people, environmental problems might pose significant threats to their well being, but their own poverty prevents them from paying very much attention to them.โ€

โ€œOur aim with the Cornwall Network is to provide solidly Biblical information to religious leaders,โ€ he explained, โ€œcoupled with sound scientific and economic information, to help point laypeople toward creation care that recognizes Godโ€™s extraordinary gifts to mankind, enlists those gifts to enhance the environment, and puts top priority on promoting human well being, especially among the worldโ€™s poor.โ€

According to the event description, โ€œThe briefing featured top theologians and policy experts who articulated a vision of Biblical stewardship, based upon the Cornwall Declaration, which has been signed by over 1,500 clergy, theologians, scientists, economists and other people of faith.โ€

Speakers at the event included:

The Cornwall Declaration is the founding document of the Interfaith Stewardship Alliance/Cornwall Alliance and expresses concern over the โ€œunfounded or undue concernsโ€ of environmentalists such as โ€œfears of destructive manmade global warming, overpopulation, and rampant species loss.โ€44โ€œThe Cornwall Declaration on Environmental Stewardshipโ€ (PDF), The Cornwall Alliance. Archived .pdf on file atย DeSmogBlog.

2001 (?)

The Acton Institute released a public policy document titledย โ€The Catholic Church and Stewardship of Creation.โ€ The publication date is not listed, however the earliest it was archived online was April, 2000.45โ€œThe Catholic Church and Stewardship of Creation,โ€ Acton Institute. Archived March 2, 2016. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/XMcCJ

According to the document, regulations to reduce carbon dioxide emissions are a โ€œmisguided attempt to solve a problem that may not even exist.โ€

The following โ€œEditorial Boardโ€ is listed at the end of the document:

  • Father J. Michael Beers, Ph.D., S.S.L., Associate Professor in Historical Theology, Pontifical College Josephinum
  • Dr. Russell Hittinger, Warren Professor of Catholic Studies, University of Tulsa
  • Father Matthew Lamb, S.T.L., Professor of Theology, Boston College
  • Father Richard John Neuhaus, President, Institute for Religion and Public Life
  • Dr. Robert Royal, President, Faith and Reason Institute
  • Father Robert A. Sirico, President, Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty

The Acton Institute’s document refers to โ€œEnvironmental Stewardshipโ€ 13 times. Notably, this term was also used in the Cornwall Alliance’s โ€œCornwall Declaration on Environmental Stewardshipโ€ which similarly presents doubt about man’s influence on climate, and whether action needs to be taken regarding global warming.46โ€œThe Cornwall Declaration on Environmental Stewardshipโ€ (PDF), The Cornwall Alliance. Archived .pdf on file atย DeSmogBlog.

Acton Institute Contact & Location

The Acton Institute listsย the following contact information on its website:47โ€œContact,โ€ Acton Institute. May 7, 2020.ย Archive URL:ย https://archive.vn/wip/WqROQ

Headquarters
The Acton Institute
98 E. Fulton Street
Grand Rapids, MI 49503

Phone: 616.454.3080
Fax: 616.454.9454
Toll Free: 1.800.345.2286
E-mail: [email protected]

Rome Office
Istituto Acton Italia
Corso Vittorio Emanuele II (Map)
No. 294
00186 Roma, ITALY

Tel: (+39) 06.688.92500
Fax: (+39) 06.682.14003
E-mail: [email protected]

Social Media

Other Resources

  • โ€œActon Institute,โ€ SourceWatch profile.
  • โ€œActon Institute,โ€ Wikipedia.
  • Cory Andrews. โ€œActon Institute,โ€ American Conservatism: An Encyclopedia (2006), Wilmington, DE: ISI Books.

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