Highlights of the conference included:

• A stirring opening service with words from several faith traditions

• Updates on the major IPL campaigns including Cool Harvest, Cool Congregations, the Preach-In on Global Warming, and Carbon Covenant

• Workshops on messaging, fundraising, and “power-mapping” networks of influence through social media

• A Religious Environmental Resources Expo featuring tables from more than a dozen national religious environmental initiatives. The expo also included a rousing welcome for three cyclists from Pennsylvania Interfaith Power & Light who arrived at the conference after riding more than 200 miles to spread word of the importance of caring for Creation.

• Updates on the federal farm bill and the ongoing shale gas and oil boom, as well as a presentation on “Coal – Current Threats and Opportunities” from Mary Anne Hitt of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign

• A keynote speech from Eric Pooley, author of The Climate War, who quoted David Orr in urging participants to embrace resilience and hope (Orr: “a verb with its sleeves rolled up”) to continue working for a healthy Earth

• A message from EPA Deputy Administrator Bob Perciasepe, who said his agency’s aims “are consistent with the values of our country: that food should be free of chemicals that are harmful to people and that the air should be clean.”

The conference wrapped up with a day on Capitol Hill, where participants made more than 100 visits to lawmakers’ offices to ask for support for the Energy Savings & Industrial Competitiveness Act (S.1000) and the Smart Energy Act (H.R. 4017). Participants urged additional sponsors to sign on in anticipation of a House-Senate conference that will merge the bills and pass the strongest possible legislation to reduce energy consumption and protect God’s Creation.

Participants also emphasized the faith perspective on the EPA’s newly proposed New Source Performance Standards, which would ensure that all new power plants are built with the most modern pollution control technology available, ensuring a balance of clean air and good jobs. Fossil fuel-burning power plants currently emit more than two billion tons of carbon pollution and other toxic pollutants into the air each year. The new proposal would cut these currently unlimited emissions by 60 percent and lead to cleaner air and fewer harmful health effects, while stimulating new construction and utility jobs. Help us support the proposal and reach our goal of sending 10,000 comments from the Interfaith Power & Light community by sending your comment today.

The Rev. Canon Sally G. Bingham, President and Founder of Interfaith Power & Light, has issued the following statement in response to EPA’s proposed carbon pollution safeguards.

“Interfaith Power & Light applauds the EPA’s landmark action to limit industrial carbon pollution from new power plants. This is an important step toward safeguarding the health of our communities, our climate, and our children’s future.”

Act now to support this historic proposal.

Learn more about the EPA safeguard here:

Union of Concerned Scientists
Very good primer

USCAN Climate Action Network
Tracking all things Industrial Carbon Pollution Standards

Candlelight vigil in San Francisco

March 7, 2012 — (San Franicsco, Washington, DC; London, UK; Ottawa, Canada; Brussels, Belgium) Citizens and Faith Leaders gathered outside the Canadian consulate in downtown San Francisco, holding candles in a solemn action to call on the Canadian government to be a good steward of the environment. This was done in conjunction with similar actions at more than 20 Canadian diplomatic missions in the U.S. and European Union. Individuals voiced concerns and hopes that Canada will reverse its international lobbying on behalf of highly destructive and polluting tar sands oil industry. The vigils were held in conjunction with a new report documenting the Canadian government’s aggressive lobbying to promote tar sand and stop international climate action.

“Hundreds gathered at Canadian foreign missions to offer a prayer for peoples of all nations to remember that the land belongs to the future and is not ours to destroy,” said The Reverend Canon Sally G. Bingham, Interfaith Power & Light’s President. “We are concerned for our Earth, for she has a fever that will only be made worse by burning tar sands from Canada. We pray that people all over the world awaken to monumental climate-threats posed by the extraction and burning of tar sands oil.”

Michael Marx, the National Coordinator of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Oil Campaign, spoke about the dangers of Tar Sands extraction on the ecology of the Boreal Forest, the North American fresh water supply, and impacts on fisheries. He explained that the pollution of these resources is leading to increased cancer rates and will accelerate the global climate crisis.

The Reverend Justin R., Cannon of the The Episcopal Diocese of California and a member of Interfaith Power & Light, lead an interfaith vigil prayer.

Follow links for a list of other vigils and http://www.flickr.com/photos/drawtheline

“It feels strange to be protesting Canada, which is traditionally thought of as a strong environmental steward,” said Elijah Zarlin, Campaign Manager, CREDO Action. “Yet the Canadian Government is charging ahead with the astounding devastation of tar sands mining, and efforts like the Keystone XL pipeline, which would allow this oil to be mined and burned even faster, leading to catastrophic climate change. Canada must end this irresponsible practice.”

The new report, Dirty Oil Diplomacy – The Canadian Government’s Global Push to Sell the Tar Sands, outlines the changing domestic and international policies of the Canadian government as they work to expand the tar sands – Canada’s fastest growing source of greenhouse gas pollution. The report will be released March 8th by Climate Action Network Canada, Environmental Defence Canada, Equiterre, Greenpeace, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the U.S. Sierra Club.

Contacts:

Michelle Myers, SF Bay Chapter, Sierra Club, (415) 646-6930
Andree Duggan, Interfaith Power & Light, (415) 561-4891, (860) 395-7283
Elijah Zarlin, CREDO Action, (415) 369-2014
Eddie Scher, Sierra Club, (415) 977-5758

The Reverend Justin R., Cannon of the The Episcopal Diocese of California and a member of Interfaith Power & Light, lead an interfaith vigil prayer.

Learn more and sign the petition

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., January 18, 2012 — President Obama has just announced his decision to support the State Department’s recommendation to deny a Presidential permit for TransCanada to build the proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. What follows is a reaction by Interfaith Power & Light’s President, The Rev. Canon Sally G. Bingham:

“Interfaith Power & Light applauds President Obama for demonstrating leadership in denying the permit for the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. His actions today will help to ensure a clean, healthy and safe world for our children. Transporting dirty tar sands oil through the heartland of America will unnecessarily risk catastrophic damage to ecosystems and aquifers that millions of people depend upon for their livelihood. People of faith are called to be good stewards of God’s Creation, and to love our neighbors and take care of the vulnerable among us.

“For months, faith leaders have been speaking out against the Keystone XL pipeline at State Department hearings and in letters to the Administration and Congress. It is of great concern that Keystone 1 has had many more leaks than expected, and the 1 million gallon tar sands oil spill into Michigan’s Kalamazoo River in 2010 was a national tragedy. An EPA spokesperson said he has never seen anything like it – a heavy crude mixed with chemicals that sinks instead of floats, greatly hampering the multi-year clean-up effort.

“Our nation is on the cusp of a clean energy revolution. According to a Brookings report released in 2011, more than 2.7 million people are working in the U.S. clean energy economy right now. Bloomberg New Energy Finance reports that in 2011, America surged ahead of China on clean energy investments. The new proposed fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks will save 2.2 million barrels of oil a day by 2025 – about double the amount the proposed Keystone XL pipeline would have delivered, and without the risk.

“People of faith strongly believe that we need an urgent response to the climate crisis through continued implementation of better clean air safeguards, construction of a renewable energy grid, and more robust energy efficiency and renewable energy standards. The Keystone XL would only slow the pace of this clean energy transition, continue with business worse than usual, and hasten global warming. We can and must model a way forward for the world, create jobs, and care for God’s Creation. Thank you Mr. President for making the right and moral choice to set us in that direction.”

# # #

Interfaith Power & Light has 39 state affiliates and is mobilizing a religious response to global warming in more than 14,000 congregations through the promotion of energy conservation,energy efficiency, and renewable energy.

Contact:
Andrée Duggan
Interfaith Power & Light
(415) 561-4891 x11
andree@theregenerationproject.org

“This is good news for the religious community across America. The finalization of the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards shows us that the 40-year old Clean Air Act is still an invaluable tool to carry out our call to be stewards of God’s Creation and to serve the least among us.

“Clean air is something people of faith have a responsibility to maintain. Thousands of clergy and communities of faith representing Interfaith Power & Light’s network of 14,000 congregations turned out at public hearings or wrote postcards to the EPA urging them to adopt these safeguards. We are delighted that our voices have been heard. The Mercury and Air Toxics Standards are long overdue, and we commend this Administration for making clean air a priority. These safeguards are an important and critical step in reducing harmful pollution and protecting human health. Not only will they keep us healthier, but additionally they will help to stabilize the climate that we most certainly need to protect.

“Addressing emissions of mercury and other toxics will help prevent as many as 17,000 premature deaths, 11,000 heart attacks and 120,000 asthma events every year . These safeguards will mean significantly less human exposure to toxic mercury, which poses particular risks to children. Each year, more than 300,000 children born in the U.S. have levels of mercury in their blood high enough to impair performance on brain development tests and permanently affect intelligence. The finalization of the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards is welcome news and upholds the commandment to love God and love our neighbor. Loving our neighbor means extending care and concern for our children and future generations who have, as yet, no voice of their own. We applaud you, Administrator Jackson and President Obama, for doing the right and moral thing.”

Similarly, while the delegates agreed to set up a Green Climate Fund to help poor nations deal with climate change and reduce deforestation, they could not agree on how to fund it. For developing nations on the front lines of climate change impacts that are happening RIGHT NOW – an empty fund and a promise of action in 2020 is cold comfort. Let’s hope that negotiations leading up to COP 18 in Qatar in 2012 can help close the “ambition gap” between what is being contemplated and what is needed.

Click to read posts from Charles Agboklu of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Ghana, and leader of one of IPL’s Carbon Covenant projects.

Click here for “Religious voices advocate for climate justice at Durban” – World Council of Churches report on interfaith efforts at COP 17.

As a well-traveled mechanical engineer, I have lots of respect for the scale of our earth: the continents and oceans; vast forests and mountain ranges; incredibly powerful events like hurricanes and volcanoes. The immensity of our natural surroundings can make us feel small and insignificant. So for many years I was highly skeptical that our coal plants could make an impact on a truly global scale.
But during the years I was in denial of human-induced climate change, I slowly realized two things. First, I didn’t really know the science at all – I was relying on my intuition and believing the people who lined up with it. Second, most of the smart people I knew or read about who really did know the science… were becoming very worried.

I’m smart enough to know that I can be wrong. So beginning around 2004 I started reading about “global warming” and “CO2 trends from Mauna Loa” and “Hubbert’s peak oil theory” and “temperature records from ice cores and brain coral” and “ocean acidification”.
It was the ocean acidification that got me.

I’m a scuba diver, and have been lucky enough to dive in some incredibly beautiful areas such as the Caymans, Belize, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, Martinique, and the Bahamas. The data is very clear regarding how increasing CO2 effects the oceans, and coral reefs in particular. There is very little debate about it. Coral reefs around the world are dying, and some expert believe our grandchildren may grow up in a world where the only thriving reefs are in aquariums. Just the possibility this might be true was enough for me.

Since then I’ve become more and more involved in climate change, volunteering to develop our town’s first greenhouse gas inventory and more recently starting a new career in the “clean tech” industry. I also spend a lot of time discussing these issues with good friends who are still skeptical. I bring up coral reefs pretty frequently, and occasionally they do the trick.

Optimistically,
Steve Schmidt
Founder & President, High Energy Audits, Inc.

In a long awaited move, EPA has announced important new safeguards that will save thousands of lives by cleaning up some of the most polluting industrial emitters. EPA’s proposed standards will specifically address industrial incinerators and boilers, most of which are found in oil refineries and chemical plants, and which emit toxic air pollution from soot to mercury to lead. These emissions contribute to cancer, learning difficulties in children, and heart problems.

Boilers are powered by a variety of fuels including coal, oil, natural gas, and biomass, and generally power heavy machinery or are used to heat buildings.  It’s remarkable that most of the pollution from this sector comes from a small fraction of the facilities — EPA estimates less than 1% of boilers will need new pollution controls. But these facilities create enough pollution to cause thousands of asthma attacks, heart attacks and even deaths.  Another 195,000 smaller boilers would be able to meet the rule through routine tune-ups.

Incinerators are used to burn solid waste, and the proposal would tighten the types of waste that can be burned.

Interfaith Power & Light applauds the EPA for doing the right thing in the face of industry opposition, which has kept this standard from being updated for two decades. Since the new rule was released last year, EPA has provided additional flexibility to industry, cutting the cost of compliance in half. After a 60 day public comment period which is expected to begin in early January, we hope these safeguards will be finalized and implemented without further changes or delay.

Here are some tips for a holiday meal that will keep your family healthy and your carbon footprint low.

1. Eat less meat or choose organic
   Most grocery stores now offer free-range organic meat options. These are from animals that are fed grains or grasses that are organically grown and free of synthetic pesticides, and thus require less fossil fuel energy. Look for the USDA Organic label. This ensures that the meats were not produced with pesticides, irradiation, hormones, antibiotics, or bioengineering. Find local, free-range, or organic meats near you.
2. Buy local, organic produce in season.
   Long-running studies show that organic farming is far more effective at removing greenhouse pollution from the atmosphere and fixing it as beneficial organic matter in the soil than current industrial farming practices. Eating organic local produce in season also reduces the number of “food miles” necessary to get food onto the table. Fewer miles means less greenhouse pollution. Consuming a 30-mile salad has a much lower carbon foodprint than a 3,000 mile salad. Use the Eat Well Guide to find local, organic, sustainably produced food.
3. Reduce Packaging.
   Overly processed and packaged foods take a lot of energy to produce. Choose foods with eco-friendly packaging. Get in the habit of bringing your own reusable produce and shopping bags to the store. When done eating and cooking, recycle packaging as best you can.
4. Reduce Waste, Share Leftovers. 
   Did you know that nearly half of all food in the United States is thrown away before it’s consumed. Per capita food waste has progressively increased by about 50% since 1974. It’s now estimated that 25% of all freshwater and 4% of all fossil fuel burned in this country are used to produce food that is never eaten. Get in the habit of buying only what you plan to eat. Make a plan for the leftovers! Organize a potluck with your congregation on Thanksgiving weekend, or deliver leftovers to a local soup kitchen. Learn how to waste less food.
5. Try some sustainable holiday recipes this year.
   This holiday season, consider replacing your traditional meat dish with creative alternatives. Here are some ideas from the New York Times.

For more on the connection between food and global warming, visit our Cool Harvest page.