energy

The energy in the air on Sunday, September 17th, was palpable. That weekend, I joined the March to End Fossil Fuels. 

North Carolina Interfaith Power & Light was one of the sponsors that empowered over 55 Duke University students to attend this historic event. After driving up with the students, we were met with over 75,000 people who marched alongside us down the streets of New York City.

As a young climate activist working at the intersections of faith, energy, and environmental justice, I knew I needed to contribute where I could: I volunteered as marshal, guiding many more than the expected 4,000 people inside the youth section of the march. I acted as a concerned citizen, seeking a better future for frontline communities, younger generations, and people of faith and conscience. I marched to end Mountain Valley Pipeline Southgate, the Willow Project, and the climate crisis that’s perpetuating Canadian wildfires, filling the air from where we stood with toxic fumes. I marched to have President Biden listen to the people he has sworn to serve… We marched to end the era of fossil fuels.

Our demands were simple:

1. President Biden should declare a climate emergency.
2. Stop all federal approvals for new fossil fuel projects.
3. We must phase out production of fossil fuels on federal public lands.
4. We need to create a just transition with a clean energy future.

The sheer magnitude of the climate crisis sends shockwaves through our natural systems. 

We have fought the sinking reality of our situation, like a dying man in quicksand, as we increasingly begin to feel its effects in our communities each passing day. This is why we march. I kindly urge President Biden to take the actions needed to properly prepare for the climate emergency. It’s time for the United States to take more responsibility. We can no longer sit in silence and shroud ourselves in ignorance, as hurricanes and heatwaves devastate our nation.

On Sunday, it is likely over a million people witnessed or participated in this demonstration. This will serve as the catalyst for the change we so desperately need. Moreover, it didn’t end with just the demonstration. When the march was over, a congregation of people had gathered from all over the country. We were greeted with some of the most powerful voices in our lifetimes: Congresswoman AOC, UN representative Vanessa Nakate, and North Carolina’s very own Amber and Danger with Seven Directions of Service. Each speaker touched on the urgency of now and the insanity of the situation we have put ourselves in. The climate crisis is not something we can ignore. Frontline communities know that, young people know that, and as we marched on one of the high holy days of the year, Rosh Hashanah, so too do people of faith and conscience. 

The urgency to end fossil fuels is felt everywhere, and this weekend, tens of thousands of people were there to prove it.

On Friday, July 7th, Governor Cooper vetoed HB 488. As people of faith, we applaud his leadership and understanding of how this piece of legislation will negatively impact the people and environment of North Carolina.

The impacts of HB 488 will hinder the progress of crucial updates to the state’s building energy conservation codes, which have been under consideration by the North Carolina Building Code Council for the past two years. Currently, the Council is deliberating an update that would align the codes with the 2021 standards, representing a significant improvement over the existing codes established in 2009. Regrettably, certain members of the N.C. General Assembly are actively attempting to impede these much-needed updates through House Bill 488.

NC Interfaith Power & Light, the NC Council of Churches energy justice program, has collected signatures from individuals and congregations endorsing an expert editorial opposing HB 488. We are now praying that those members of the N.C. General Assembly, who possess a deep sense of conscience and genuine concern for our communities, will sustain the veto and allow the NC Building Code Council to complete the necessary and overdue update to the NC Building Codes. 

According to independent analysis and results from homebuilders who are already incorporating provisions of the proposed code, these updated Codes will save new residential homeowners an average of $399 (18.7%) a year in utility costs. Updating the codes in line with the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code will create thousands of new jobs, boost the North Carolina economy, and result in $5.3 billion in savings to residential consumers over a thirty-year period.¹

If the Governor’s veto is overturned, House Bill 488 will throw out these savings and two years of work by the NC Building Code Council.  Instead of new codes taking effect in January 2025, they would be delayed until 2031. This would mean new homes in North Carolina would be built to 20-year-old code standards that are less efficient and more expensive for occupants to operate during a time of significant utility rate increases and lead to our state missing out on federal FEMA funding.

If the current Building Code Council is allowed to finish its work, the economic benefits to the 10 million people of North Carolina will be: $5.3 Billion in utility bill savings over the next 30 years², plus increased tax revenues, more manufacturing jobs, and job training programs that will give more North Carolinians a living wage, and homes that are more likely to survive hurricanes.

This bill is truly a justice issue that impacts the people and environment of North Carolina. Please use your “power & light” from within and help protect the Veto on HB 488 and contact your members of the North Carolina General Assembly today!

¹Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of the 2024 North Carolina Energy Conservation Code, Page 2, PNNL-180509. March 24, 2023.
²Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of the 2024 North Carolina Energy Conservation Code, Page 2, PNNL-180509. March 24, 2023