(A)moral dilemma: Conservation in the Holy City and perception of the environment by Charleston religious leaders

The City of Charleston, SC has recently seen dissenting attitudes towards environmental legislation, especially by the religious right in the form of the Tea Party. In order to understand the potential roots of this type of reaction, I have interviewed Charleston religious leaders and performed a content analysis of opinion pieces in the local newspapers. It was found that Charleston religious leaders do not typically make statements about politically charged issues such as climate change and environmentalism, despite sharing similar environmental morals to those in the environmentalist movement. However, those who wrote in to newspapers often advocated for environmental legislation and action, citing their faith as being their driving motivation. Results suggest that despite the religious leaders' inaction, some religious people in Charleston still feel that they must act.