Recently, there has been considerable academic attention given to the role that religious institutions play in pressuring companies and industries toward greater corporate social responsibility (CSR). One area of concern for religious institutions is the behaviour of extractive-industry companies. In this paper, I discuss how religious institutions — specifically particular Christian denominations in the US — have sought to define CSR for extractive industries. After briefly reviewing the history of religious institution involvement in direct corporate dialogue and CSR activism, I discuss how members of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility have sought to define CSR upward in the extractive industries (focusing on both mining and oil exploration), in terms of environmental justice (EJ). I conclude with an analysis of how religiously oriented activism regarding environmental responsibility might change in the future and how different religious traditions either lend support to, or oppose, environmental responsibility.