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Church of the Nativity, Raleigh Awarded $10,000 Grant

By chris

The Episcopal Church recently announced the awarding of 16 grants totaling $123,910 in the second round of grantmaking managed by the Advisory Council for the Stewardship of Creation and approved […]

Church of the Nativity, Raleigh Awarded $10,000 Grant

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The Episcopal Church recently announced the awarding of 16 grants totaling $123,910 in the second round of grantmaking managed by the Advisory Council for the Stewardship of Creation and approved by the Executive Council.

Among the recipients is Nativity, Raleigh, awarded $10,000 toward its work, Becoming the Good Soil, of reducing the serious effects of climate change by engaging in regenerative agriculture through carbon farming, specifically by supplementing land with compost. In simple terms, one goal of carbon farming is to increase soil organic matter (SOM) to help draw carbon out of the atmosphere and sequester it in the ground.

In addition to the implementation of carbon farming to local soil, Nativity will work to help educate individuals and congregations learn more about regenerative agriculture through, among other channels, the development of a white paper to be made available to all churches.

From Nativity:

“Caring for Creation has deep roots in our spiritual lives at Church of the Nativity, and for many years we have supported and been a local voice for North Carolina Interfaith Power & Light (NCIPL) in seeking hopeful solutions for climate change. To avoid severe climate change, reducing emissions from burning fossil fuels will not be enough. Carbon must also be withdrawn from the atmosphere and sequestered into the soil.”

Nativity’s four main goals are 1) educating and encouraging individuals and churches in the Episcopal Diocese of NC to make compost from organic waste, 2) building a statewide organization of the primary stakeholders within government, the private sector, and the farming and academic communities with the goal of launching large scale carbon farming in NC, 3) planning and hosting a NC Carbon Farming Summit meeting that will produce a comprehensive strategy for the project, and 4) publishing a white paper that will summarize the rationale and strategy for the project. 

Join us in congratulating Church of the Nativity and all the hard working individuals seeing this through!

For more information visit http://nativityonline.org/

More wind energy, not less please!

By chris

It is becoming a national trend for politicians to “divide and conquer” by attacking the wind industry while supporting other forms of clean energy. This is fracturing the renewable energy community as folks […]

More wind energy, not less please!

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It is becoming a national trend for politicians to “divide and conquer” by attacking the wind industry while supporting other forms of clean energy. This is fracturing the renewable energy community as folks are being forced to take positions that do not support one another. As Director of NCIPL I pray that we do not take sides and instead continue to support all sources of renewable energy without pitting one against another.

NCIPL is a member of the NC Sustainable Energy Association (NCSEA). Below is their statement on HB 589 and a summary of the legislation.

NCSEA’s Statement on the Passage of House Bill 589

NCSEA supported the original version of House Bill 589, which passed the House on June 7, and was the result of an extensive, 9-month-long stakeholder process and negotiations. This legislation would have been a bipartisan compromise that was overall good for consumers, industry and utilities. Unfortunately, the final negotiations that occurred late last night between the House and Senate on HB 589 became tarnished with the inclusion of an unnecessary 18-month moratorium on the permitting of wind projects through December 31, 2018, which was ultimately sold to legislators without any urging from the military. We are very disappointed in this outcome and are determined to take immediate steps to lessen this blow to our growing and diverse clean energy economy – and, by extension, all North Carolina consumers and business investors who would have otherwise certainly benefited from additional wind energy development. NCSEA is working now to ensure all participants in the stakeholder process leading up to this disappointing vote take any and all available action to remedy this reckless adoption of an otherwise strong policy.

Final Bill Summary: House Bill 589 
Below is a summary of the final version of HB 589, passed this morning after midnight, including the wind provision.

  1. Restarts Duke Energy’s Green Source Rider program, allowing large customers to work directly with renewable energy developers to purchase the type of renewable energy that makes the most sense for their businesses, customers, and employees;
  2. Legalizes the leasing of renewable energy systems and allows Duke Energy to participate in the leasing market;
  3. Creates a new rooftop solar rebate program that will offer Duke Energy’s residential and commercial customers rebates for 20 MW of solar per year for five years, for a total of 100 MW – at least tripling the amount of rooftop solar in North Carolina over the next five years.
  4. Requires Duke Energy to create a modestly-sized 40 MW community solar program;
  5. Directs a study to understand the values and benefits that energy storage can provide to North Carolina’s grid; and as of last night,
  6. Imposes an 18-month moratorium on permitting issuance for all wind energy projects, effective January 1, 2017*.

*While still unacceptable, it should be noted that the 18-month wind permitting moratorium is less severe than the 4-year moratorium proposed in the Senate earlier, which sought to ban “consideration of applications for a permit”and “the issuance of permits” for wind energy facilities and wind energy facility expansions. The final, 18-month version still allows preliminary consideration of wind projects, all the way up to the permitting issuance.

Click here to see how your representative voted on this energy legislation.

The Governor has three options right now: to sign the bill, to veto the bill, or to let it become law without his name attached. I have confidence that the Governor and his team of experts will do their best to make the most appropriate decision for the current state of politics in NC.

Prayers for the future of clean energy in our state,

~S*

—
*Susannah Tuttle, M.Div
Director, NC Interfaith Power & Light

Rising Up With Richmond County

By chris

“Biomass” may sound like a clean idea, but it actually means cutting down and turning trees into fuel pellets to be burned for energy — creating more carbon pollution than […]

Rising Up With Richmond County

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“Biomass” may sound like a clean idea, but it actually means cutting down and turning trees into fuel pellets to be burned for energy — creating more carbon pollution than coal, accelerating global warming and driving climate chaos.

North Carolina’s former governor opened the floodgates to the wood pellet export industry, which is tearing down our special forests to make wood pellets for export where they are burned in power stations to generate electricity.

Rescind the Enviva Richmond County Wood Pellet Mill Air Permit Now

Enviva, the world’s largest wood pellet exporter, already operates three mills in North Carolina. These mills have been the subject of mounting scientific and community evidence documenting that wood pellets are bad for the climate and a dirty and destructive fuel. As with other dirty fuel industries, the wood pellet industry disproportionately impacts our most vulnerable, including low-income and communities of color.

Now Enviva is proposing to build their fourth wood pellet biomass facility in the town of Hamlet in rural Richmond County. 50 acres of forests a day in North and South Carolina would be turned into pellets and then shipped to Europe to burn for electricity. This community is already dealing with pollution and environmental injustice due to other polluting industries and has been ranked 90 out of 100 counties in the State of North Carolina for health outcomes.

The air permit issued to Enviva under the last administration by the NC Department of Environmental Quality contained false information regarding the plant’s location and violated air quality regulations, yet no public hearing was ever held and the citizens in the affected community were not given proper notice or opportunity to comment.

Rise up with Richmond County and say “NO!” to Enviva and the biomass wood pellet industry.

Neither the local citizens, nor the state of North Carolina needs another wood pellet mill. The health and economic impacts would be devastating, and the community doesn’t want it. A victory in Richmond County is a victory for the South, for the forests, and for all the communities in the South who face environmental injustice.

In addition to NC Interfaith Power & Light’s support for clean energy we recognize we must put the protection of our forests and the health, safety and prosperity of our most vulnerable communities at the forefront of North Carolina’s climate agenda.

Click here to sign a letter to Governor Roy Cooper and DEQ Secretary Michael Regan to show we faithfully stand with the citizens of Richmond County to stop this facility from being built.

Earth Day, Science March, Creation Care

By chris

This year on Earth Day, thousands will gather in Washington, D.C., and in cities across the country to march for science and protect the deeply held value for truth and […]

Earth Day, Science March, Creation Care

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This year on Earth Day, thousands will gather in Washington, D.C., and in cities across the country to march for science and protect the deeply held value for truth and facts. They are marching to defend the vital role science plays in our communities and our world. They are marching because science is not partisan; it is not liberal or conservative. And they are marching to demonstrate that our nation values the scientists and the scientific agencies working to make our world safer, cleaner and healthier.

Why should a science march matter to people of faith?

To care for creation and to serve the most vulnerable among us are mandates shared by all major religions.  The accelerating climate crisis and the consequences of global warming are the most urgent and dangerous symptoms of a failure by people of faith to fulfill this universal mandate.

The word conscience is defined as “the faculty by which distinctions are made between right and wrong; ethical judgment or sensibility.” It is in this single word that we can find the meeting point of science and religion, and the purpose in our future.

The climate crisis threatening our very existence is fostering an emerging dialog between science and religion. A crucial piece is the emerging awareness of our dependence on the environment and the fact that we are not only called to care for God’s creation, we are part of it.

In the words of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, the 20th Century French Jesuit paleontologist:

The day will come, when after harnessing Space, the wind, the tides, and gravitation, we will harness for God the energies of Love.  And on that day, for the second time in the history of the world, we shall have discovered Fire.

As people of faith we cannot continue to rely on our intellectual understandings of the most critical issues of our time.  It is time to act.  We must realize our role in the interdependent web of creation.  We must walk in leadership towards sustainability.  Through the lens of faith, hope trumps despair.

May the re-discovery of fire be the chalice we light to re-connect.


Susannah Tuttle, M.Div
Director, NC Interfaith Power & Light

NC Interfaith Power & Light (NCIPL) works with faith communities to promote the Creation Care practices of carbon mitigation, energy efficiency, and clean renewable energy opportunities as a moral imperative. NCIPL is a program of the North Carolina Council of Churches. This role provides access to the Council’s membership of over 6,200 congregations. The North Carolina Council of Churches is comprised of 25 distinct judicatories from 17 denominations with 1.5 million congregants across the state.

 

Faith Voices for Clean Energy Advocacy Day 

By chris

Thursday, April 6, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. NC General Assembly 16 West Jones Street, Raleigh Join NC Interfaith Power & Light’s lay and faith leader network for our Advocating with […]

Faith Voices for Clean Energy Advocacy Day 

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Thursday, April 6, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
NC General Assembly
16 West Jones Street, Raleigh

Join NC Interfaith Power & Light’s lay and faith leader network for our Advocating with Compassion Day at the North Carolina General Assembly. Meet with your elected officials to hear their visions for NC’s future and to express your support for new and existing clean, renewable and energy efficient policies. Click here to find the contact information for your state legislators. An advocacy toolkit can be found by clicking here.

Michelle Peedin, NCIPL Program Associate will be staffing a registration & resource table in the 1000 QUAD. Use the main entrance on Jones Street and turn right at the bottom of the red stairs, NCIPL’s table will be in that front right quadrant. Please text Susannah Tuttle, NCIPL Director 919-612-5526 if you have any trouble finding the table.

If you are unable to come to Raleigh, please call your representatives and let them know you are aware that NC Interfaith Power & Light is having this advocacy day and that you support clean energy as a moral imperative!

NCGA House Contact Info – click here    NCGA Senate Contact Info – click here 

Contact info@ncipl.org with any questions!

Sol Train Connects Climate and Faith with Solar Power

By chris

Many people want to take meaningful action on climate change, but don’t know where to start. Taking a big step, like switching to solar, doesn’t have to be hard. Any […]

Sol Train Connects Climate and Faith with Solar Power

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Many people want to take meaningful action on climate change, but don’t know where to start. Taking a big step, like switching to solar, doesn’t have to be hard. Any change is easier when you

have a guide to point you the right way and when your community is on the same journey.

NC Congregations are hosting events from Winston-Salem to Wilmington to help individuals and communities find out if solar is right for you. NCIPL has partnered with two mission-driven, locally-owned solar installation companies and at each event stop our solar experts will help you learn everything you need to know about solar and answer all of your questions.

This is what the Sol Train is all about. Our team of climate change advocates, energy specialists, and solar installers are working together to make solar simple. And when you spread the word, our impact on climate change grows.

NCIPL Director Susannah Tuttle says, “We can no longer be complacent about the dangers that come with burning fossil fuels. We have witnessed smog-filled skies and bursting coal ash ponds.  Greenhouse gases are warming our planet and as a result the natural places we love and our very livelihood are threatened. Every week we hear of another beach town or port city underwater due to  rising seas and extreme flooding. Inland, farmers struggle to bring food to market amidst harsh drought, severe storms, and unprecedented fluctuations in weather. This crisis will continue to worsen, unless we take action now. The call to care for those in need is central to our faith. As climate change impacts lives and livelihoods throughout the world, we have the power to translate our compassion into action.  In a time when partisanship and politics paralyze conversation; people of faith have the opportunity to inspire and empower Americans with hope-filled climate solutions. For the first time in generations, we have a choice. We no longer need to be reliant on fossil fuels. More than a million Americans power their homes with clean, reliable, solar energy. You can too with NCIPL’s newest emPOWERed program that makes it simple for homeowners to switch to solar.”

Kathy Miller, Co-Founder and CEO of Yes Solar Solutions added, “We are honored to partner with the NC Interfaith Power and Light and Next Climate in this message of hope and the power of solar.”

Click here for more information about when, where, and how to get on board the Sol Train!

Sol Train is a partnership between NC Interfaith Power & Light and NextClimate, a non-profit empowering communities to take action on climate change. Yes Solar Solutions and Southern Energy Management are the North Carolina solar installation companies that were selected by NextClimate for the Sol Train project and have provided discounted pricing on installation and components.