A good sermon: Join IPL

"The Rev. Dr. Barbara", who currently works as the Associate Pastor of Music and Family Ministries, posts her environment sermon on her blog.

The final points:

As a church community, we can join California Interfaith Power and Light which is a group of churches who have committed to caring for and about our environment to stop global warming.

In other words, there is much we can do. As a community of faith, as a community that has been charged by God to be responsible for our world and for God’s creation we can’t take this call lightly. It’s not just for the world and for creation that we do these things anymore. As I have said again and again we are all interconnected. I want a world in which my children can hike into the foothills to recenter, to meet God, to come home. I want a world where they can see the beauty of the earth. I want a world where the fish can live in healthy waters. I want a world where all can breathe clean air. But we’ve come to a point at which if we continue to ruin our world, not only will our children not view the glory we have seen, but they will be hard put to survive. Face it, we’ve come to a point in time where it isn’t just about our children anymore: if we don’t change our direction, if we don’t repent, if we don’t find a new way of being on this planet, we will not survive either. It is time for change. Thanks be to God that we are starting to see it: that we are listening and that it is not too late for us to change, to see that what God has created is good, to take responsibility and to work in partnership with God’s creation.

Amen!

The girl who silenced the UN for 5 minutes

Raised in Vancouver and Toronto, Severn Cullis-Suzuki has been camping and hiking all her life. When she was 9 she started the Environmental Children's Organization (ECO), a small group of children committed to learning and teaching other kids about environmental issues. They were successful in many projects before 1992, when they raised enough money to go to the UN's Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. Their aim was to remind the decision-makers of who their actions or inactions would ultimately affect. The goal was reached when 12 yr old Severn closed a Plenary Session with a powerful speech that received a standing ovation.

Here's what Severn is doing these days.

Caring for planet increasingly tied to faith groups

The Greensboro North Carolina News and Record writes:

"I would say connecting this to the Bible is important for some people," said Dr. Matthew Sleeth, a former hospital chief of staff who couldn't shake the faces of patients with seemingly increasing environment-related illnesses. So he quit his job, gave away half his belongings and began spreading the word on the urgency of people paying more attention to the environment.

Pointing out the symbolism of trees in Scripture has helped Sleeth link faith with personal responsibility. His book, "Serve God and Save the Planet: A Christian Call to Action," is in its seventh printing. Sleeth also has a prominent role in the publication of an upcoming "green Bible."

"The change has come when people who are strong in their faith, who might be against it," Sleeth says of the deterioration of the Earth, "then go look at the Bible with this in mind and they see a different story."

The statewide faith and environment conference that Sleeth will co-headline at Catawba College in Salisbury this month grew out of a meeting among Greensboro houses of worship at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church. Participants tried to broaden the conversation between the scientific and faith-based communities.

"When people realize that there is this direct tie between our own faith and being good stewards of this Earth," said John Wear, founding director of Catawba's Center for the Environment, "then it gives them a purpose that didn't exist before."

The event will focus on such subjects as lifestyle, sustainability and environmental policy and decision-making. N.C. Interfaith Power and Light, a program of the N.C. Council of Churches, is a co-sponsor.

The Bearable Beingness of Light

Gerry Hofstetter will be lighting Washington National Cathedral, May 9, 10, & 11.

Yale's Gus Speth on the Environment + Economy

From the Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies:

In his new book, The Bridge at the Edge of the World: Capitalism, the Environment, and Crossing from Crisis to Sustainability, Dean Gus Speth asserts that today's environmental reality is linked powerfully with growing social inequality and the neglect and erosion of democratic governance and popular control. Speth examines how these seemingly separate areas of public concern are intertwined and calls upon citizens to mobilize spiritual and political resources for change.

IPL in the News

The North Carolina News and Observer writes:

Alice Loyd, director of N.C. Interfaith Power & Light, a nonpartisan group that works with faith groups on climate change issues, said her group wants the next president to make climate change a top priority. "We want it to be treated like the emergency it is," Loyd said. "In the next five years, we've got to turn the corner and change the way we create energy and the way we use it."

The Deseret News notes:

If you're unwilling to pay $3.50 a gallon for gasoline, alternative fuels are already available and for sale in the Salt Lake Valley.

The same vehicle you drive today is probably available with a natural gas engine. Compressed natural gas has the same gas mileage, better torque, is about one-sixth the cost of gasoline and is available at eight filling stations in Davis and Salt Lake counties.

The biggest difference is the gas tank is in the trunk. Dealerships currently sell these vehicles (although some have waiting lists with up to 50 people on them), a tax rebate is available to cover the extra cost of these unique rides and the environmental impact is lower than gasoline, according to John Mitton, owner of CNGchat.com.

Compressed natural gas was just one type of alternative fuel discussed at a special event of the First Unitarian Church's Environmental Ministry lecture series Friday co-sponsored by Post Carbon Salt Lake and Utah Interfaith Power and Light. Several vehicles using natural gas, electricity and solar power were parked outside the building to demonstrate that options aren't just in development but are already available.

Maine IPL and Wind Watts

Maine Interfaith Power and Light Executive Director Harry Brown talks about Maine Wind Watts and the Mars Hill Wind Farm.



Maine Interfaith Power and Light has partnered with the Mars Hill Wind Farm in northern Maine to offer Maine Wind Watts renewable energy certificates (RECs).

Maine Wind Watts are created when wind power generated by the Mars Hill Wind Farm is "unbundled" or substituted for traditional power. Maine Wind Watts represent the environmental benefits or savings in carbon dioxide and other pollutants that occur when clean power from wind replaces burning fossil fuel.

Maine Interfaith Power and Light Wind Watts may be purchased to offset electricity or travel.

Colorado's Eco Audits

The Boulder Hub reports:

Stimulus checks from the federal government are to begin arriving in bank accounts this week. Volunteers at double-duty.org are urging Coloradans to make their money work overtime. By donating a portion of that money to local energy-efficiency and alternative energy initiatives, recipients can stimulate the economy while reducing planet-warming greenhouse gases.

The effort is endorsed by Colorado and national leaders. "Here's a way to stimulate the economy - and stimulate the fight against global warming at the same time," affirms Bill McKibben, the nationally noted writer and environmentalist.

[snip]

Colorado Interfaith Power and Light assists faith communities that want to become more sustainable, offering "Eco Audits™" that reveal how money can best be saved through efficiency upgrades like compact fluorescent lighting and building improvements such as insulation or new windows. COIPL targets congregations and individuals where the need is greatest- those with limited resources and older, inefficient buildings.

Podcast interview w/ Sally Bingham

The Studio Upstairs podcast interviews Sally Bingham.

The interview begins about half way through the cast, when the dog pictures stop and the Lighten Up! logo appears.

LISTEN HERE

It's a pretty interesting chat about how congregations are deepening the connection between ecology and faith.

May 15: Free Online Training for Congregations

The EPA will be hosting a FREE Internet-based training session on topics useful to congregations for reducing their energy costs and improving their energy stewardship.
Please follow the link to register in advance for the session:

https://energystar.webex.com/mw0304l/mywebex/default.do?siteurl=energystar

Thursday, May 15

The session starts at 11:30 am, Eastern Daylight Time, and last one hour.

Thursday, May 15: Portfolio Manager 101 for Congregations
This session provides an overview of the functionality of Portfolio Manager and includes a review of the on-line tool, Portfolio Manager. The purpose of this training is to provide users with a step-by-step understanding of Portfolio Manager to provide them with the knowledge to benchmark their current energy use; track savings; share their data with master accounts; enter upgrades; and understand the outputs shown on the Statement of Energy Performance.

Heads up from New York Interfaith Power and Light.

Fight Coal

Support A Clean Energy Future for Virginia: Sign the “Mile Long” Petition

Congregations, citizens, and both Greater Washington IPL and Virginia IPL have been putting up a strong fight against Dominion's proposed Wise County coal plant.

Any Americans opposed to coal can help their efforts by signing on the “Mile Long Petition” to Dominion.



If built, the plant would be a giant step backwards for Virginia's environment and energy policy, harming creation, the poor, and the vulnerable. Though Dominion is billing the plant as "state-of-the-art,"

• it's not carbon-capture compatible,
• would emit at least 50 times more mercury than similar plants do,
• and barely even meets the requirements of the Clean Air Act.

Residents of South West Virginia will deliver the petition to Dominion's Headquarters in Richmond on May 8th.

See previous work here and here on this issue by VA and GW IPL leaders.

Colbert on Ethanol

Ethanol solves the energy crisis. Is there any problem alcohol can't solve?

Kentucky Interfaith Power & Light

The Courier-Journal serving Kentucky and Southern Indiana writes:

Now a new group, Kentucky Interfaith Power & Light, is working to answer that call and help mobilize the state's religious community to act against global warming.

"As people of faith we have a strong sense that anything we do to address the climate change is not just something we ought to be doing, it's something we're called to be doing by God, to be good stewards of the Earth and that which we have been given," said the Rev. Joel Weible, associate pastor at Highlands Presbyterian Church and a member of the group.

The group, formed in December, is the local branch of the national Interfaith Power & Light movement. Such groups exist in 26 states, with about 4,000 congregations of nearly all faiths participating.

[snip]

The Rev. Joe Mitchell, a Passionist priest and director of the center, said stewardship has always been a key component of the Christian understanding of humanity's relationship to creation, but the consensus of what it means has been shifting toward kinship and caring for the Earth.

The Rev. Jerry Cappel, priest at Resurrection Episcopal Church on Southern Parkway, said many people may have more desire to help than knowledge about what they can do. The group offers a way to turn that desire into action, he said.

"There is a growing awareness of both the urgency and the necessity for the religious faith community to get involved," he said.

Clergy urged to speak on environment

The North Carolina News & Observer interviews Sally Bingham.

The Rev. Sally Bingham is the godmother of the environmental movement in the religious community.

Back in the 1990s, when religiously based environmentalists were still viewed as nature worshippers, she founded Episcopal Power & Light. Now called Interfaith Power & Light, the nonprofit organization has 27 chapters across the United States, including North Carolina. The mission of the organization is to mobilize a religious response to global warming through the promotion of renewable energy and conservation.

Bingham, the president of Interfaith Power & Light and the environmental minister at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, met with 20 religious leaders at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Raleigh last week. She said religious communities have made remarkable strides in addressing the intersection of faith and global climate change, and she encouraged them not to give up.

"You clergy need to talk about it," she said. "I think it should be in every single sermon."

We caught up with her on the occasion of Earth Day on Tuesday to ask her about the progress religious people have made on the issue.

Q: How are churches becoming more active in environmental issues?

A: Environmental issues were once political issues. They didn't belong in the church. Now it's integral to mainstream religions in ways unimaginable five years ago. ... We're seeing changes in the liturgy to reflect care for creation. That's huge because in the Episcopal Church there's a deep tradition that resists change.

I am seeing clergy take this responsibility seriously enough to actually say that care for creation belongs with love, justice and peace. You hear the term "JPIC," or justice, peace and integrity of creation. It's putting care for creation on parallel with love, justice and peace ... We have a green mosque in Washington, D.C. We have hundreds of Protestant churches with solar panels on the roof. We have two large cathedrals with geothermal systems -- in Boston and in Cleveland, Ohio. The Catholic Cathedral in Los Angeles in solar.

Q: How has Interfaith Power & Light changed?

A: We now have an office in San Francisco and a staff of seven. We coordinate this national campaign. That means we help the state programs get started ... One of the important things we do is make sure the Interfaith Power & Light campaign doesn't get sidetracked. We don't want to be viewed as the Sierra Club at prayer. We're not political. We're not Republicans or Democrats. Our message is rooted in theology. It's different from an environmental organization. We want to be seen as conservative people coming from a theological perspective. We don't love trees more than people.

Q: What is the spiritual message you offer?

A: I see it as part of the commandment to love God and love your neighbor. If you love your neighbor, you don't pollute your neighbor's air. We are called to serve one another. If you see that your behavior is harming your neighbor and your neighborhood, other species, flora and fauna, or the next generation, it's a direct disobedience to the commandment. Jesus said what you do to the least of these you do to me. If vulnerable and poor communities are harmed by our behavior, we're insulting God.

Q: Would you call environmental degradation a sin?

A: If you knowingly drive a Hummer that gets 13 miles on the gallon and you don't care because you're big and important, that's a sin. These days, there are people who can afford to drive a Hummer but are buying a Toyota Prius. People want to do the right thing.

Q: How did Interfaith Power & Light get started?

A: I was on a mountaintop in Massachusetts with Steve MacAusland in 1996. We were both members of the Episcopal Ecological Network. We were on a trail walking, and frustrated that our committee never tackled any problems. We just talked about them. We knew that both California and Massachusetts were getting ready to deregulate electricity, and everybody would get to choose [their electric carrier]. We decided it was a great opportunity to show people where their electricity comes from. In this conversation, we thought 'Let's get the Episcopal Church to buy renewable energy.' That's how it began.

N.C. Survey: Public Would Pull Plug on Duke Energy’s Proposed Coal-Fired Power Plant

Support in North Carolina for plans by Duke Energy to build a dirty coal-fired power plant at Cliffside is weak, according to a scientific survey of 600 state residents conducted by the Opinion Research Corporation (ORC) for the independent Civil Society Institute, a nonprofit and nonpartisan think tank located in Newton, MA.

The survey of North Carolina residents found that about four out of five North Carolina residents (79 percent) –- including a bipartisan 74 percent of Republicans, 84 percent of Democrats and 82 percent of Independents -- agree that “North Carolina should focus on increased energy efficiency and conservation steps and more use of sustainable energy to reduce demand for electricity before it goes ahead with a new coal-fired power plant.”

Alice Loyd, executive director, North Carolina Interfaith Power and Light in Raleigh, said:

“What the poll shows would certainly be true for the people we’ve met as we make presentations in faith congregations over the state. They see that emitting the kind of pollution this plant would create is just wrong. Recently Pope Benedict XVI named environmental pollution as a sin. Jim Rogers’ coal plant is not what people want, and building it at this time of climate crisis would fall into the category of moral failure.”

Environment Quiz

Test your environmental knowledge over at The Atlantic's 10 question Earth Day online quiz.

Here are the first four questions:

1) How many degrees Fahrenheit did the global temperature rise in the last century?

1 degree

6 degrees

15 degrees

40 degrees

2) According to a 2005 National Academy of Sciences study, how much will the ocean rise in the next 100 years?

15 to 20 feet

6 to 11 feet

4 inches to 3 feet

1 to 3 inches

3) Which one of the following areas is NOT likely to be made more hospitable by global warming?

Sub-Saharan Africa

Europe

Siberia

Washington, DC

4) What source is responsible for 18% of greenhouse gas emissions?

livestock

SUVs

Tractor-trailers

airplanes

Click here to take the quiz.

Earth Day News Round Up: IPL Everywhere!

Sister Joan Brown writes in the Gallup, NM, Independent:

I invite you to a hatching action. The New Mexico Interfaith Power and Light, an organization always open to new member churches, synagogues and faith communities throughout the state, is stepping up education and action around global warming. We are conducting a campaign of Hands Across New Mexico this year beginning with “Our Children’s Future Is In Our Hands: Stop Global Warming: Mother’s Day Gift of Hands Across New Mexico.”

We are collecting 5,000 hands outlined on paper that expresses our concern and care, and can let public policy makers know that New Mexicans are concerned about the children and the future. You can download information and offer a Hand by going to www.nm-ipl.org or www.1skynewmexico.org. Deadline is before Mother’s Day.

The Stamford, Connecticut Advocate notes:

"Environmental problems are getting obvious and worse," said Rabbi Andrea Cohen-Kiener, director of the Interreligious Eco-Justice Network, a Hartford-based environmental advocacy group. "People feel that when they look outside."

One of the Eco-Justice Network's projects is Connecticut Interfaith Power and Light, which is part of a national campaign that promotes renewable energy, with more than 25 states participating.

Over the last two years, Connecticut Interfaith Power and Light has helped organize the program This Old House of Worship, which assesses the energy efficiency of churches, synagogues and other religious buildings. A new workshop will focus on homes.

"I think people are coalescing around it," Cohen-Kiener said. "We're building community with it."

Religious environmentalism is not new. The Interfaith Power and Light effort began 10 years ago.

Today, the Burlington VT, Free Press reports:

Burlington Mayor Bob Kiss will kick off a city-wide effort to reduce household-level carbon emissions at 12:15 p.m. Tuesday on the top block of Church Street.

Kiss will be joined at the kick-off by other partners in the effort; the City of Burlington’s Legacy Project, Seventh Generation, Vermont Interfaith Power & Light, the 10% Challenge, and several other Burlington-based partners. The Arts Forte Players will also be on hand with music, dance and humor from the global warming musical, “Beat the Heat.”

I love the title of this class, reported by the Deseret News:

Holladay United Church of Christ and Utah Interfaith Power & Light will present "Global Warming — Changing CO2urse" from 6 to 8 p.m. each Wednesday through May 7 at the church, 2631 Murray-Holladay Road.

The course, developed by the Northwest Earth Institute, aims to help people explore how their values and habits relate to climate change, to help them understand the history and science of global warming and to empower them to take action to curb it.

David Chapman, a professor of geology and geophysics at the University of Utah, teaches the course.

Austin Chronicle features Bee as a Green Leader!

Texas Interfaith Power and Light reports:

The "Green Crush" issue of this week's Austin Chronicle contains an article that features Bee Moorhead, Executive Director of Texas Impact/TXIPL. The article discusses the efforts made by Texas Interfaith Power & Light for our environmental sustainability by reaching out to the faith community of Texas. Take a look at some of the things congregations and people of faith are doing around Austin to really build an ongoing relationship with creation!

Who Loves Mountains?

Our friends at Appalachian Voices recently completed their 3rd Annual Mountaintop Removal Week in Washington DC. They had 125 volunteers from more than 20 states in attendance.

They met with members of Congress and asking them to co-sponsor the Clean Water Protection Act (H.R. 2169) and to take action to stop mountaintop removal coal mining.

Appalachian Voices has been working with Interfaith Power and Light leaders in Georgia and California and is eager to work with more.



Sandra Diaz, National Field Coordinator for Appalachian Voices says that they are scheduling visits in Florida, PA, Texas & Ohio between now and mid-June and would love to coordinate with local IPL leaders and congregations. Phone: 828.262.1500

Earth Day sermons, music can win money

The Deseret News reports:

A Utah nonprofit, Interfaith Power and Light, is awarding money to a few faith communities that celebrate Earth Day with words or music.

It will give up to $400 for sermons or musical compositions on climate change, stewardship of creation and/or sustainability.

Faith communities must use the money to purchase insulation, ceiling fans, energy-efficient appliances, or by making other earth-friendly improvements.

Click here.

Senator Ensign and the Media Makes the Connection

This article is significant because a Senator, John Ensign (R-NV), who co-sponsored the Renewable Energy Act, notes the influence of grassroots environmental advocacy.

Last week, the Las Vegas Review-Journal wrote:

The approval that came finally on Thursday followed a big push by industry groups. A letter signed by 246 groups representing business, environmental concerns, organized labor, nonprofits, investors organizations, trade associations and utilities was circulated in Capitol Hill calling for passage of the Cantwell-Ensign amendment.

Groups such as the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life, and Interfaith Power and Light, a ministry advocating "a religious response to global warming" signed the letter.

"Don't discount outside groups and their importance in this project," Ensign said.

Yep, making the connection. In fact, Interfaith Power and Light generated almost 2500 letters on this bill with our early April, Tell Your Senator: Don't Be a Fossil Fool campaign. Good job, IPL team!

Nationwide IPL Round Up

Seacoast Online writes:

"Carbon Free Homes" is designed to help Maine householders cut their use of electricity and heating fuels, switch to clean electricity, and become a part of the solution to global warming by reducing their output of carbon dioxide. Schlegel, a PUC utility analyst, will help members of the audience calculate their homes' carbon footprint. She suggests that attendees bring a recent electric bill and knowledge of how much heating fuel their household uses in a year. . .

"Carbon Free Homes" is a collaboration of the PUC, Maine Partners for Cool Communities, Maine Interfaith Power and Light, and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. For information, visit www.CarbonFreeHomes.org

Environmental Working Group's EnviroBlog writes:

Most of the nation's major environmental groups are in the new 50 Simple Things, but there are plenty of groups I was glad to learn about, like CoolCities and 1Sky. My favorite (non-EWG) group in the book: Interfaith Power & Light, run by EWG board member the Rev. Sally Bingham.

North Carolina is spreading hope.

North Carolina Interfaith Power & Light has scheduled a Greensboro-area Hope Workshop presenter training for Saturday, May 3, from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. (lunch provided).

The workshops offer practical, hope-filled solutions available to individuals and congregations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and encourage them to advocate for clean energy policies, according to the organization. They are typically presented at adult religious education classes and fellowship circles.
Teams exist in Asheville, Chapel Hill, Charlotte, Durham, Raleigh and Winston-Salem, and presenters work in pairs.

A Unity Earth Care blogger on Oregon IPL and local UU witness:

Here in Portland I am constantly confronted by the Unitarian-Universalist effort, which is now headquartered in a new, LEED-gold building attached to their old downtown church. They are putting out research, certifying congregations, and building awareness rapidly and effectively. They are cooperating with – even spearheading – Interfaith Power and Light, and they have reached a point where they are making a difference in the world at large. I look forward to us moving down this road with speed and urgency even as I realize that we have our own road first to discover and then to travel. I know we will do that with integrity and effectiveness for our own community world-wide.

Iowa IPL is Cooling Congregations all over Cedar Falls.

50 Simple Things You Can Do To Save the Earth

It's back! The 1989 classic has been updated with the best resources around for caring for creation. And Interfaith Power and Light is number 14. This is the best guide for converting congregational enthusiasm into practical action, from food to cell phones, animals to saving gas.

Check out the resource-full 50 Simples Things site. Buy the book from Powell's here. Last time it sold 5 million copies.

Sally's Thoughts on the Compassion Forum

I watched, I listened, I was there.

Overall both candidates were terrific in their responses and I was glad to be there and shake Obama's hand.

I thought that some of the gotcha questions were embarrassing. I wanted to ask my question about how to mitigate the climate problem for poor communities both here and around the world and I got put off and put off until there was no more time.

While some of you may blame the candidates for answers that took too long, CNN was the producer. They paced the event, they ran the microphones and told the moderators who to call on. Judging by who got to ask questions, it looks like America's religious leaders are all male!

The audience cheered EVERYTIME the issue of saving Creation (the planet) came up. Luckily my friends Richard Cizik (see below) mentioned global warming in his question.

This would have been the perfect opportunity to follow up with the question that I was holding: (how to provide for poor communities who are already hardest hit by climate change). Alas, it wasn't to be...this time.

But now I'm even more aware of the role that the media plays in deciding the faith and justice voices that America hears in public life.

Keep the faith,
Sally

Richard Cizik asks Sen. Obama about creation care

Richard Cizik is Vice President for Governmental Affairs of the National Association of Evangelicals.

Grassroots Compassion Forum Reactions

Here are some Interfaith Power and Light grassroots members' reactions to Sunday night's Compassion Forum.

Thank you for letting us know about the program. I announced it in church this morning (Pilgrims' United Church of Christ, Fruitland Park, Florida). The program was excellent and both candidates were most impressive.

- John in Florida

I am from NYIPL and just watched the "Compassion Forum". I have to say while both candidates stated that their faith formed a basis for moral and ethical decision-making both for them personally and in their political lives, I felt neither had an opportunity to make any in-depth statement regarding the moral or spiritual side of climate issues.

I was hoping also that there would be more questions about the morality of war and torture which was only briefly mentioned. At least poverty was addressed in a bit more depth.

I am appalled that Jon Meacham from Newsweek asked Senator Hillary Clinton if she felt God wanted her to be in the White House. What an idiotic question! I resented him being so pandering and I have to admit after that I had little patience for the show. I also thought Campbell Brown was aggressive and caustic to both candidates at times. Entirely too much emphasis was made on the issue of abortion and when life begins, instead of issues, such as global warming and war, which will impact the entire planet.

Thank you for your participation. I'd hope to see you asking a REAL question - like Christian Nielsen-Palacios's suggestion - like "do you know your own carbon footprint and what are you doing to reduce it?"

-Susan in New York

I did watch the program, and I greatly appreciated hearing the candidates discussing global warming and other issues. However, I don't take campaign promises that seriously. Like most people, I want to wait to see what the new president decides to make a priority. My hope is that global warming will be impact all issues of economic development and energy considerations.

-Rev. Ted in Pennsylvania

I thought the candidate responses were “measured” and were reflective of being leery with the Church – State separation.

-Ed, Executive Director of New York Interfaith Power and Light

I watched all of the CNN program. I appreciate the thoughtful questions from the participants. I certainly hope "a big deal about global warming" is pursued.

-Corinne, Coalition for Health Concern, Kentucky

This was a great concept to have this conversation. It is time we talk "real" vs. only "political" in regard to our candidates. If we can uplift ourselves from the negative attacks that have come to characterize our political process, our country will begin a wonderful transformation.

-Mary in Utah

Earth Day Sermons & Resources

By Rev. Pat Watkins, Staff Director, Virginia Interfaith Power and Light

Earth Day is the annual celebration of God's Earth each year on April 22.

A new Web site, www.earthsermons.org, is dedicated to collecting and making Earth Day resources and sermons available for congregations and faith leaders who strive to be in right relationship with God and with God's creation.

Sponsored by a grant from The Regeneration Project, earthsermons.org was developed by Virginia Interfaith Power and Light and the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy. Visit earthsermons.org to find inspiration for your message, share your resources and post and share your sermon.

Faith and the Challenge of Global Warming

Virginia Interfaith Power and Light, a local arm of The Regeneration Project has released its response to the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change report. You can find that response, "Faith and the Challenge of Global Warming," a link to the original report, and a range of other Earth Day resources at www.earthsermons.org.

Compassion Forum: Eboo Patel asks about climate change

Muslim interfaith youth leader, Eboo Patel asks Sen. Hillary Clinton if Americans can address climate change successfully without changing their standard of living.

Compassion Forum Update

As happens, the politicians and media folks talked too long and so CNN ran out of time. Unfortunately, our Sally and a couple of other faith leaders didn't get to ask their questions. Sally was sitting next to Rev. Jim Wallis and her head was visible a couple of times toward the end of the broadcast. (fwiw: I try to grab the video.)

Nevertheless, it's a net positive that climate change got attention during this interfaith forum on issues of human compassion. Our friend Rev. Richard Cizik, of the National Association of Evangelicals, raised a key question about creation care and the role of scientific knowledge in how people of faith should respond to global warming.

It was good that Sally was able to attend this Compassion Forum as a member of the emerging voice of American religion. Beyond a politician's words, our 4000 interfaith congregations and our amazing grassroots leaders are actually acting to help Americans of all backgrounds unite to address the moral issues surrounding global warming.

More Compassion Forum Buzz

For more on this, scroll down.