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NC Faith Leaders Support Clean Energy

By chris

Faith Leaders printed in the News & Observer Rev. Dr. Leonard H. Bolick Rev. Jonathan Brake Rev. Jill Staton Bullard Rev. Robin P. Coira The Rt. Rev. Michael Curry Rev. Richard […]

NC Faith Leaders Support Clean Energy

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NCIPL_Ad_0415_11x17poster

Faith Leaders printed in the News & Observer

Rev. Dr. Leonard H. Bolick
Rev. Jonathan Brake
Rev. Jill Staton Bullard
Rev. Robin P. Coira
The Rt. Rev. Michael Curry
Rev. Richard Edens
Rev. Keith Grogg
Rev. Steve Hickle
The Rt. Rev. Anne Hodges-Copple
Rev. Joe Hoffman
Rabbi Andrew Koren
Friar Michael Lasky
Rev. Dr. David Jordan
Rev. Randy Orwig
Rev. Dr. John Pollock
Rev. George Reed
Rev. Dr. Bill Reinhold
The Rt. Rev. Robert Skirving
Rev. Dr. T. Anthony Spearman
The Rt. Rev. Porter Taylor

Additional Faith Leader Support as of 4/21/15

 Rev. Jim Abbott – Asheville
Rev. Stephanie Allen – Raleigh
Rev. Jeanne Allen – Durham
Rev. Nancy Allison – Charlotte
Rev. Alvin Alston – Littleton
Rev. Thom Belote – Chapel Hill
Rev. Brent A. Bissette – Pinehurst
Rev. Brendan Boone – Raleigh
Rev. Dr. Bill Breedlove – Hayesville
Rev. Amy Brooks – Huntersville
Rev. Patricia Cabarga – Chapel Hill
Rev. Patrick Campbell – Hickory
Rev. Dr. George Clifford – Raleigh
Rev. James Cooke – Winterville
Rev. Dr. Jill Crainshaw – Winston Salem
Rev. Sheila M. Crump – Moncure
Brother G. Dillon Culbreth – Creston
Rev. Jim Curl – Rutherfordton
Rev. Christie M. Dalton – Mocksville
Rev. Myron Dice – Pinehurst
Rev. Barbara Dice – Pinehurst
Rev. Todd Donatelli – Asheville
Rev. Mindy Douglas – Chapel Hill
Rev. Thomas Droppers – Greensboro
Rev. Wayne Dubnansky – Garner
Rev. Lou East – Summerfield
Rev. Dr. Chris East – Greensboro
Rev. Jill Edens – Chapel Hill
Friar O.C. Edwards – Weaverville
Rev. Christina Ettesen – Charlotte
Rev. Deborah Fox – Raleigh
Rev. Louane Frey – Durham
Rev. Steve Halsted – Raleigh
Rev. Amy Huacani – Pinehurst
Rev. Bob Hudak – Greenville
Rev. Horace Hunt – Black Mountain
Rev. Wanda H. Hunt – Pinehurst
Rev. Nancy Huslage – Raleigh
Rev. John Jackman – Winston-Salem
Rev. Maj-Britt Johnson – Chapel Hill
Rev. Dr. Cureton Johnson – Fayetteville
Rabbi Raachel Jurovics – Raleigh
Rev. Pastor Linda M. Kelly – Weaverville
Rev. M. Jonah Kendall – Durham
Rev. Dr. Rhonda M. Lee – Durham
Rev. Lorraine Ljunggren – Raleigh
Rev. Douglas Long – Chapel Hill
Rev. Richard W. McBride – Hillsborough
Rev. Kathie McCutcheon – Garner
Rev. David McNair – Asheville
Rev. Lynn Michie – Asheville
Rev. Raymond L. Morris – Pinehurst
Rev. Dr. Cameron Murchison – Black Mountain
Rev. Thomas Murphy – Asheville
Rev. Linda Nelson – Laurinburg
Rev. LaVera Parato – Burgaw
Rev. Julie Peeples – Greensboro
Rev. Josho Pat Phelan – Chapel Hill
Rev. Dr. Conrad Pridgen – Whitsett
Rev. John Richardson – Wilson
Rev. Karen Richardson Dunn – Arden
Rev. John D. Rights – Winston-Salem
Rev. Susan Roddey – Charlotte
Rabbi Judith Schindler – Charlotte
Rev. Lisa Schwartz – Winston-Salem
Rev. Ken Sehested – Asheville
Rev. H. Stephen Shoemaker – Charlotte
Rev. Jenny Shultz – Chapel Hill
Rev. Shannon Spencer – Asheville
Rev. Chris Tuttle – Durham
Rev. Isaac Villegas – Chapel Hill
Rev. Dr. Richard Weidler – Hendersonville
Rev. Sally White – Morehead City
Rev. Maurice White – Louisburg
Rev. Terry Williams – Lillington

Click here to add your name to the prestigious list of NC faith leaders supporting clean energy for all North Carolinians.

Passover & Climate Change: Continuity with the Future

By reuben

By Joelle Novey, director of the Greater Washington Interfaith Power & Light (DC.MD.NoVA) “In every generation one must look upon herself as if she personally came out of Egypt.” On Pesach, we are told to […]

Passover & Climate Change: Continuity with the Future

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Joelle Novey
Joelle Novey

By Joelle Novey, director of the Greater Washington Interfaith Power & Light (DC.MD.NoVA)

“In every generation one must look upon herself as if she personally came out of Egypt.”

On Pesach, we are told to feel as if we personally went free from Mitzrayim, and the rituals of the seder help us cultivate that “memory” in many ways: we eat not only the unleavened bread that the Israelites ate in their haste, but also foods symbolic of their experience: bitter herbs, salt water “tears”, and haroset “mortar.” We tell the story of the Exodus aloud, engaging the youngest and oldest at the table. At some seders, the participants “lash” each other with scallions, reenacting slavery, and come to the table with bags packed for a journey.

Jewish tradition has developed a suite of experiential rituals for ensuring that we personally experience the Exodus in every generation.

Our generation of Jews, free from slavery, now faces a new burden along with the entire human family. 97% of scientists have concluded that our burning fossil fuels is pouring heat-trapping climate pollution into the atmosphere, causing our Earth to warm.

One reason people have been slow in responding is that we’re wired to focus on more immediate threats. The human brain is “a beautifully engineered get-out-of-the-way machine … for things out of whose way it should right now get,” writes Daniel Gilbert in the Los Angeles Times. “… then, just a few million years ago, the mammalian brain learned a new trick: to predict the timing and location of dangers before they actually happened … But this innovation is in the early stages of development …”

Tragically, writes Gilbert, human beings “haven’t quite gotten the knack of treating the future like the present it will soon become.”

Perhaps the Jewish knack for connecting with the past can help us. The Haggadah insists that we experience continuity with generations that experienced the Exodus in the past. The climate crisis asks us to feel a sense of personal continuity with generations in the future.

What if we used the seder not only to feel as if we personally were present in the Passover story, but also to experience ourselves in the world our grandchildren will live in, in the climate we are damaging now?

If, in this generation, we looked upon ourselves as sitting side-by-side with those who’ll gather around our families’ seder table in two or three generations … what would we be doing about climate change now?

Author bio:

Joelle Novey is the director of Interfaith Power & Light (DC.MD.NoVA), which works with hundreds of congregations of many traditions across Maryland, DC, and Northern Virginia to save energy, go green, and respond to climate change. She davens at Tikkun Leil Shabbat and Minyan Segulah.

We Are “Springing into Action”!

By reuben

Though the week’s main events have passed, it’s not too late to be involved. Click here to join NCIPL’s virtual advocacy campaign and send a message to your representatives asking them to support clean energy […]

We Are “Springing into Action”!

Though the week’s main events have passed, it’s not too late to be involved. Click here to join NCIPL’s virtual advocacy campaign and send a message to your representatives asking them to support clean energy for North Carolina!

Faith Voices for Clean Energy Advocacy Day
NCIPL leaders with state senator Josh Stein

 

Thank you to everyone who helped make our Spring Into Action kickoff week a success! You participated from all over the state, listening in to our webinar, sending messages to your representatives through our virtual advocacy campaign, and traveling in person to enjoy our Spring Into Action Celebration and participate in our inaugural Faith Voices for Clean Energy advocacy day. It’s been quite a week!

Greg Andeck, EDF
Greg Andeck, EDF

We started things off last week with an Advocacy Webinar, co-hosted with Greg Andeck from Environmental Defense Fund, where we talked about the current state of clean energy policies, the legislative process, and how to put our faith into action through advocating with compassion. Check out that webinar here.

We were lucky to have a special guest for this week’s activities, the Rev. Sally Bingham, founder and President of Interfaith Power & Light. She helped kick things off this past Tuesday with a special call to action announcing NCIPL’s Spring Into Action campaign; click here to view her message.

Rev. Sally Bingham
Rev. Sally Bingham
NCIPL EWG
John Seymour, NCIPL Energy Savings Analysis Auditor, receiving his award.

Tuesday evening we had our very first Spring Into Action Celebration, which featured a reception at the Museum of Natural Sciences.  Rev. Bingham shared a very moving account of her personal journey to this work, and we honored of John Seymour, one of our main auditors for our Empowered Energy Program which provides energy savings analysis for faith communities at no charge.  John has performed over 100 of these energy savings analyses.  Thanks to those involved and the many friends who came out for this fun evening!

We were also lucky to have Dayna Reggero and the Climate Listening Project with us. Check out the short video they made about the event at their facebook page.

Spring Into Action Celebration
Enjoying the Spring Into Action Celebration

Our final event was NCIPL’s inaugural Faith Voices for Clean Energy, a day of advocacy at the state legislature. We had 30 people come and take part in 27 meetings with key legislators throughout the day. NCIPL is extremely grateful to all those who took part in this momentous event. We shared our vision with over two dozen representatives, letting them know that people of faith across the state yearn for sustainable energy and a clean, healthy North Carolina.

Faith Voices for Clean Energy Advocacy Day
Advocacy Day participants start the day off with a prayer

We could not have done it without a lot of support.   First off, thank you to everyone who took part in our events this past week and who support our work year round. We were also glad to have so many friends from groups we work with in attendance, including those from the Creation Care Alliance of Western North Carolina, Audubon North Carolina, and the Southern Environmental Law Center. We would also like to extend a special thanks to the Raleigh office of the Environmental Defense Fund who were integral in helping put on the week’s events. Finally, we would like to thank the Rev. Sally Bingham for her inspiring presence and leadership which helped make these events successful.

Faith Voices for Clean Energy Advocacy Day
Scott Hardin-Nieri, Bruce Clarke, Veronica Shingleton, Jane Laping, and the Rev. Thomas Murphy

It’s also not too late to get involved! You can still take part in our Spring Into Action Campaign through our virtual advocacy page, where you can send a message to your representatives asking them to support clean energy for North Carolina.

We hope you stay tuned and stay in touch! We can’t wait to have more special events like these and move creation care to the forefront of our spiritual and political lives.

NCIPL’s Advocating with Compassion Webinar with Environmental Defense Fund’s Greg Andeck

By reuben

We have created a pre-advocacy day webinar covering logistics for Faith Voices for Clean Energy Advocacy Day, how to talk to elected officials, and a briefing on clean energy policies.  […]

NCIPL’s Advocating with Compassion Webinar with Environmental Defense Fund’s Greg Andeck

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We have created a pre-advocacy day webinar covering logistics for Faith Voices for Clean Energy Advocacy Day, how to talk to elected officials, and a briefing on clean energy policies.  You can view the recorded webinar here.

Greg Andeck, EDF
Greg Andeck, EDF

Thank you to those who took part in our Advocating with Compassion webinar yesterday, and a special big thanks to Greg Andeck from the Environmental Defense Fund’s Raleigh office. Greg was one of the presenters and provided a lot of helpful updates about current policies affecting clean energy in North Carolina.

Susannah Tuttle and Veronica Shingleton also shared, Susannah about putting our faith into action through incorporating compassion into our political change efforts, and Veronica with an in-depth but accessible explanation of the political process.

This webinar was a fun kick-off to next week’s Inaugural Spring Into Action Celebration and our very first Faith Voices for Clean Energy Advocacy Day. Tuesday’s Spring Into Action Celebration will feature a reception and remarks from Interfaith Power & Light founder and President Rev. Sally Bingham. During Faith Voices for Clean Energy Advocacy Day, we will meet with members of the General Assembly to hear their vision for North Carolina and express support for new and existing clean energy policies; Rev. Bingham will also be accompanying us during this event.

We’re looking forward to more exciting events next week and hope you can take part!

McCrory must lead effort away from coal

By nancy

Op Ed in Citizen-Times by Jane Laping, interim coordinator of the Creation Care Alliance of Western North Carolina, NCIPL’s western regional partner. As a Christian, I believe that creation is […]

McCrory must lead effort away from coal

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Jane LapingOp Ed in Citizen-Times by Jane Laping, interim coordinator of the Creation Care Alliance of Western North Carolina, NCIPL’s western regional partner.

As a Christian, I believe that creation is a gift intended to sustain life. The earth has an intricately balanced system that relies on clean air, clean water and fertile land to nourish and sustain plant and animal life of all kinds, including our own.

Along with a growing number of people of faith and conscience, I am concerned that the energy sector is putting this sacred balance at risk by continuing to rely on burning fossil fuels that pollute our air, water and climate. And I believe Gov. Pat McCrory must lead the effort to do something to change that.

Last year a Duke Energy coal ash storage pond broke and spilled up to 39,000 tons of coal ash into the Dan River, contaminating some 70 miles of downstream water.

But that’s not all. The citizen’s group, Asheville Beyond Coal, recently released a report stating that once every 3-4 days for the past several years, air pollution from sulfur dioxide at Duke’s Asheville plant is 3 to 3.5 times higher than what our Environmental Protection Agency has said is safe for public health. This poses another potentially serious health risk to the citizens of Western North Carolina from burning coal.

There are limits to the amount of pollution that our planet can process through its own natural systems. These systems are under threat everywhere, and the changes to our climate are happening now. Floods and fires, huge storms and wild fluctuations in temperatures are now common across the United States, including here in WNC.

Power plants in the U.S., like Duke’s Asheville plant, produce 38 percent of the carbon pollution that is principally responsible for the disruption to our climate that we are all witnessing.

The EPA recognizes that the energy sector is the largest contributor of carbon dioxide. Last year, the EPA released the first carbon pollution protections to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. This summer, the protections will be finalized to reduce pollution from power plants and address the skyrocketing carbon dioxide emissions that are contributing to climate change.

The EPA will allow individual states flexibility to develop plans to reduce carbon emissions from power plants like Duke Energy’s Asheville plant. McCrory must lead the effort to develop and implement a strong clean power plan for our state, and include community groups in the process. We deserve a plan that will protect the health of the residents and the environment of North Carolina and limit the devastating effects of climate change that we are already experiencing.

God’s creation is too great, too wonderful and too precious to do anything less.

Jane Laping, M.S., M.P.H., is interim coordinator of the Creation Care Alliance of Western North Carolina.

Spring Into Action with IPL Founder & President, Rev. Sally Bingham

By albert

NCIPL’s Inaugural Spring Into Action Celebration with Rev. Sally Bingham Tuesday, March 24, 6 p.m. – 8 p.m. North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences 11 W. Jones Street, Raleigh NCIPL’s […]

Spring Into Action with IPL Founder & President, Rev. Sally Bingham

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Rev. Sally Bingham

NCIPL’s Inaugural Spring Into Action Celebration with Rev. Sally Bingham

Tuesday, March 24, 6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences
11 W. Jones Street, Raleigh

NCIPL’s inaugural Spring Into Action Celebration features a reception and remarks from Interfaith Power & Light’s founder and president Rev. Sally Bingham. Rev. Bingham has brought widespread attention to the link between religious faith and the environment through her work, including with The Regeneration Project and as lead author for Love God, Heal Earth. She serves as Canon for the Environment in the Episcopal Diocese of California. The event is free and open to the public but registration is required.

Faith Voices for Clean Energy Advocacy Day

Wednesday, March 25, 8:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
NC General Assembly

Interfaith Power & Light founder and president Rev. Sally Bingham will join NCIPL at the NC General Assembly in Raleigh for the Faith Voices for Clean Energy Advocacy Day. We will meet with members of the General Assembly to hear their vision for North Carolina and to express support for new and existing clean energy policies. NCIPL has recorded a webinar on the policy issues we are watching, what to expect during Advocacy Day, and to answer questions. For those who cannot join in person, they can log on and send emails to General Assembly members starting the evening of March 24. Click here to register.

Human Face of Environmental Inequality Symposium

Thursday, March 26, 1 p.m. – Friday, March 27, 2:45 p.m.
Benson University Center, Wake Forest University
1834 Wake Forest Road, Winston-Salem

Human rights and the humanities are vital lenses for understanding the unequal impacts of climate change and environmental degradation as well as the values that shape our responses. This symposium features several prominent speakers, including Interfaith Power & Light founder and President Rev. Sally Bingham, along with panels on values and morality, local engagement, and impacts on indigenous peoples. The symposium is free and open to the public. Click here to register.