The abject poverty of the widow in 1 Kings 17 represents the daily life of millions of our poorest neighbors.

Lost in much of the legislative debate is the effect that policies like cap and trade have on our very poorest neighbors. We would do well to remember.

In one of the most poignant stories in the Old Testament (1 Kings 17:8-24 ), God sends the Prophet Elijah, endangered by wicked King Ahab and Queen Jezebel, to live in Zarephath with a widow and her son. On arriving, Elijah finds the widow “gathering sticks” and asks her to give him water and a little bread. “As the LORD lives,” the widow replies, “I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.” God stretches the widow’s food supply and then, when her son gets sick and dies, raises him from the dead, confirming through these miracles that Elijah is His prophet.

Although most people in the wealthy West aren’t aware of it, the life–and death–described in that story remains true today for hundreds of millions of women and children around the world, who spend hours every day gathering sticks or dried dung to cook their food and warm their huts. Smoke from the dirty fuels causes tuberculosis and other respiratory diseases that lead to 2 million or more premature deaths and billions of lost work hours every year–magnifying the poverty these people experience.

In the absence of miracle-working prophets, these people need abundant, affordable energy to spare them from such tragedy. That’s why the WeGetIt.org Declaration says, “With billions suffering in poverty, environmental policies must not further oppress the world’s poor by denying them basic needs. Instead, we must help people fulfill their God-given potential as producers and stewards.” Ask your friends to join you in signing the Declaration today.