Christians concerned that the presidential debates between Barrack Obama and GOP candidate Mitt Romney are not addressing important environmental concerns are stepping up their efforts to be heard as Election Day draws near.

The Young Evangelicals for Climate Action group, a relatively new organization formed in Feb. 2012, gathered outside Hofstra University during the second presidential debate on Oct. 16 to pray for more discussion focused on the growing threat of climate change. The group says that its mission is to take action against what it sees as an upcoming climate crisis, a calling which is part of their Christian discipleship and witness.

Ben Lowe, a spokesman for the group, has called climate change "one of the biggest global challenges facing my generation" in a piece published by E&E News. more >>

Three colleges affiliated with the United Methodist Church were put on a bimonthly Sierra Club publication's list of the greenest universities in the United States.

Of 96 listed on Sierra Magazine's Sixth Annual "Cool Schools" list, Allegheny College placed 55th, Green Mountain College was 11th, and Duke University was 7th.

Jane Ellen Nickell, college chaplain at Allegheny, told The Christian Post that she was "proud" that the college was "recognized for its commitment to sustainability initiatives." more >>

T. Boone Pickens, the energy billionaire who has invested heavily in wind, solar and natural gas projects, has criticized President Obama for not having an energy plan. He hinted that he is likely to back Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election.

"I will support the one that has the energy plan for America," Pickens told Fox News on Sunday. "I think that Romney will show up with the plan is what I think; I have seen Obama, I have heard what he says, but he never has a plan, he has never come forward with a plan for energy for America."

Pickens' announcement may not be a big surprise given the fact he has never supported a Democratic presidential candidate. In 2004, he gave large sums of money to what became known as the "Swift Boat" campaign that targeted Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), the Democratic nominee who ran against President Bush. more >>

A NASA-sponsored expedition has made a startling discovery of diverse biological plant life at the depths of the Arctic Ocean, which is raising potential concerns for marine life.

The findings, which are being compared to "finding a rainforest in the middle of a desert," include waters richer in microscopic marine plants than any other ocean region on Earth. They were collected over a period of two years from 2010-2011 by a NASA-led oceanographic expedition.

Impacts of Climate on EcoSystems and Chemistry of the Arctic Pacific Environment, or ICESCAPE, explored the Arctic Ocean in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas along Alaska's western and northern coasts on board a U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker ship. The expedition used optical technologies to look for impacts of environmental change in the Arctic region. more >>

WASHINGTON -- An evangelical leader whose organization sponsored a prayer event on environmentalism believes that global poverty is strongly connected to man-made climate change.

Evangelical Environmental Network President Mitch Hescox, who worked in the energy business before becoming a pastor, told The Christian Post that combating man-made climate change is where his desire to evangelize and to care for the poor meet.

"God called me to it because I have a desperate passion for caring for evangelizing people and for caring for the poor," said Hescox. "How we care about creation care determines how we care about human life. Because the impacts of poverty, of disease, water shortages, is all related to how we steward the creation." more >>

A professor at an evangelical university in Southern California claims that evangelicals are becoming more convinced of the evidence for man-made global warming ahead of Earth Day this Sunday.

Mark McReynolds, assistant professor of Environmental Science at Biola University, said, "Evangelicals, like the rest of our society, are coming around to the real evidence of global climate change. It is a big, complicated topic, with many implications for us in the U.S."

"Climate scientists are in near unanimity that the evidence speaks loudly for human-caused climate change and the general public is slowly understanding the issue and its implications." more >>