CARE OF CREATION
The work of California Interfaith Power and Light is energized by the
understanding that every major faith tradition call on us to be
stewards
of Creation. We have a responsibility to protect the earth for our
children and future generations. For CIPL members, faithfulness to
the
care of Creation is a spiritual mandate. We continually strive to
nourish
our commitment to the goal of living as responsible stewards. In so
doing, we draw from the wisdom of Creation's many faith traditions.
“Today, the dramatic threat of ecological breakdown
is teaching us the extent to which greed and
selfishness, both individual and collective,
are contrary to the order of Creation, an order
which is characterized by mutual interdependence.”
Pope John Paul II, "On the Ecological Crisis "
HOT TOPICS
Let the Arguments Cool
A "hot topic" is one that is debated, one that has controversy fueled by differing opinion.
Presumably, there are two sides to the issue and supporting evidence for either side or at least two or more ways of interpreting the evidence. If the causes of global warming have qualified as hot topics, the time for debate is over. In a current study that examined more than seven million observations of temperature, salinity and other variables in the world's oceans, the causes of global warming were irrefutable. The study found that natural variation in the Earth's climate, or changes in solar activity or volcanic eruptions, which have been suggested as alternative explanations for rising temperatures, could not explain the data collected in the real world. Models based on man-made emissions of greenhouse gases, however, matched the observations almost precisely. Dr. Tim Barnett, of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California explains that climate change has affected the seas in different ways in different parts of the world. Only the greenhouse models replicated the changes that have been observed in practice. "The fact that this has gone on in different ways gives us the chance to figure out who did it," said Barnett. "All the potential culprits have been ruled outÖ. except one. The conclusions of the study are so compelling that they should end controversy about the causes of climate change." Simply stated, the increases in global temperature are the result of human activity. So what else is new?
(Rewritten from an Article Entitled "New Proof That Man Has Caused Global Warming" by FROM MARK HENDERSON, SCIENCE CORRESPONDENT, IN WASHINGTON: FEB. 18, 2005)
There's More...
The U.N. sponsored, four-year, 24 million dollar study, the "Millennium Ecosystem Assessment," found that humans have strained our planet's ecosystems and have caused heavy damage or depletion of portions of the world's farmlands, forests and water supplies. "This report is essentially an audit of nature's economy and the audit shows that we have driven most of the accounts into the red," Jonathan Lash, a member of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment board, said in London. This bewilderment of the earth's ecosystems is more extensive in the last fifty years than in any other time in human history, according to the assessment's director, Walter Reid. The study, which was compiled by 1,360 scientists from 95 nations, warns that the human population of 6 billion inhabitants place demands for food, clean water and fuel that could speed the disappearance of forests, fish and fresh water reserves and lead to more frequent disease outbreaks over the next 50 years. "These changes have resulted in a substantial and largely irreversible loss to the biological diversity of the planet," Reid said.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has urged nations to take the recommendations of the Assessment seriously, while this course of self-destruction can still be changed.
(Rewritten from an article in SFGate, - By CATHERINE McALOON, Associated Press Writer Thursday, March 31, 2005 for further reading go to:
www.millenniumassessment.org)
Commentary
This month's "Hot Topic" section does not contain information that is news to those of us who have been beating the climate change drum for years now. However, we all know people who don't want to face what we know to be true about the state of our planet. Our e-newsletter is intended to give you current information that will help you to keep your covenant "to engage in an ongoing process of education." It is also intended to help you talk about this subject to others in your community, at work, in all of your social interactions. The CIPL slogan phrase that appears on the front of our brochure is "Our, Faith, Our Planet, Our Responsibility." We would encourage our members to share in the responsibility of encouraging others to join CIPL. There is a line from a hymn in Christian hymnals that goes, "Ö.if two and two and fifty make a million, we'll see the day come 'round, we'll see the day come 'round." We work on behalf of our planet very much in the spirit of that hymn. Congregation by congregation we can make a difference in restoring the health of this precious planet that is our home. Let us all say "Amen" to that!
Sally Juarez, CIPL Outreach Director
FACING FACTS
Current Statistics
* Trees and our oceans comprise the complicated breathing system for the planet.
Today, 95% of the contiguous United States forests have been lost and almost half of the
United States population lives in areas that do not meet national air quality standards.
* Pollution damage to health, crops, and fisheries may reduce economic growth in
some Asian countries by 10% a year, according to the Asian Development Bank,
December 2002.
* Power plants are responsible for over 40% of all U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide,
which forms a heat-trapping blanket in the atmosphere that causes global warming
GOOD NEWS
Meeting the Climate Challenge: Official Recommendations
In January of this year, The International Climate Change Taskforce comprised of representatives from around the globe and co-chaired by Sen. Olympia Snowe from the United States and Rt. Hon. Stephen Byers MP from the United Kingdom, published an official 10-point recommendation to the leaders of the world on global warming and climate change. Their recommendation started with the following statement:
The vast majority of international scientists and peer-reviewed
reports affirm that climate change is a serious and growing threat,
leaving no country, however wealthy, immune from the weather
events and rising sea levels that scientists predict will occur, unless
action is taken.
The Taskforce recommendations were written and communicated to all governments and
Policymakers worldwide. They have been published in a year when the UK holds the presidencies of the G-8 and EU and during a time in which Prime Minister Tony Blair
has pledged to make responding to climate change a top priority. It is also a year in which the Kyoto Protocol goes into effect and nations will be forced to address the issues surrounding emissions control and global climate change. The forward of their document
closes with these words:
We believe that our proposals can become the foundation for action and a
Blueprint for moving forward. The prize is precious ñ to bequeath to all our
children a world as rich in life and opportunity as the one we inherited. But
time is short. Action is required now if we are to win the battle against
climate change.
In subsequent issues of the CIPL E-newsletter, the specific recommendations of the Task Force will be summarized.
God's Earth is Sacred
In what it termed "An Open Letter to Church and Society in the United States" The National Council of Churches, which is comprised of 35 different faith groups within the Christian tradition has given a name to the current path of ecological destruction that comes with global warming. The name is "SIN." So just as the ICC Taskforce has issued a call to the leaders and policy makers of the world, so has the NCC issued a call to the larger Church. The NCC influences 45 million persons in more than 100,000 local congregations in communities across the nation. Their letter, a theological document, included sections on ecological affirmations of faith, guiding norms for church and society and a call to action. In the first of these three sections, the letter states:
We lament that the human species is shattering the splendid gifts of this
web of life, ignoring our responsibility for the well-being of all life, while
destroying species and their habitats at a rate never before known in human
history.
The guiding norms for the church include "Justice-creating right relationships , both social and ecological, to ensure for all member of the earth community the conditions required for their flourishing."
The drafters of the document were theologians from over sixteen theological institutions, churches and programs across the country, including the president of the National Council of Churches, Bishop Thomas L Hoyt, Jr. to read the full document, go to:
http://www.ncccusa.org/news/14.02.05theologicalstatement.html.
CIPL NEWS
Clergy Speakers Bureau
CIPL is establishing a Clergy Speakers Bureau in the greater San Francisco Bay Area and will train and compensate clergy who will go out into the faith community, making presentations on behalf of CIPL membership. There will be a two-hour orientation on Thursday, April 14, beginning at 9:45. For further information, contact Sally Juarez at (510) 763-4217 or Susan Stevenson at (510) 444-4078 x311.
COOL TIPS
Your refrigerator uses 13% of your electricity each month. So here are some cool tips on refrigerators that will save you money and carbon dioxide:
* Refrigerators located in a cool spot in your kitchen don't have to work
as hard and use less energy.
* The old spare refrigerator that you are using in your garage or basement
could be costing you as much as $150.00 a year to operate.
* Brand new, energy efficient refrigerators us half as much energy as a 10-year old
refrigerator and can reduce your electricity bill by at least $60.00 a year for the
next 18 years.
EVENTS
Come and learn how little changes can make a big difference!
City of Berkeley's Green Expo:
Learn to make your home healthy and energy-efficient in one day!
The City of Berkeley is hosting a free Green Home EXPO and Energy Symposium on
Saturday, April 30th beginning at 12 noon in Civic Center Park, next to the regular Farmer's Market on Center Street at Martin Luther King, Jr. Way. This free event includes lectures on home energy conservation, sustainable and non-toxic building products, global warming, and consumer's impact our San Francisco Bay.
Visit the event website at www.GreenHomeEXPO.org or call Alice La Pierre, City of Berkeley Energy Analyst and Event Organizer at 510-981-5435, or email: Energy@ci.berkeley.ca.us
Climate Change Class
Berkeley Friends: Fridays April 8 - May 6, 2 to 4, near corner of Walnut and Vine in Berkeley. For those who have been reading about climate change, and want to know more. Make a greenhouse, look at light, read what Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has to say. Examine typical American behavior, solutions to climate change (and the downsides of the solutions), and climate change impacts. Contact:
Karen_Street@sbcglobal.net, 510 526-1950. No charge.
Sacramento CIPL Working Group
Monday, April 4th
Noon - 1:00 p.m.
St. John's Lutheran Church
1701 L Street
Sacramento, Califronia
RSVP to Dexter McNamara
916-448-2212
dexter@isbsacramento.org
San Diego CIPL Working Group (RECAP) Meeting
Tuesday, April 26th
6:00-7:30 PM
St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral
2728 Sixth Street
San Diego, CA 92103
RSVP to Rev. Glenn Allison
858-790-3744
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Does your congregation have an eco-event coming up? Let us help you get the word out to all of our covenant congregations. Do you know of a great film or reading that you wish everyone would take advantage of? Let us know about it and we will include it in the Newsletter. Send us all copy by the 20th of the month for inclusion in the next month's edition. Email Sally Juarez at outreach@interfaithpower.org.
CLOSING REFLECTION
“How wonderful, O Lord, are the works of your hands!
The heavens declare Your glory,
the arch of sky displays Your handiwork.
in Your love You have given us the power
to behold the beauty of Your world
robed in all its splendor.
The sun and the stars, the valleys and hills,
the rivers and lakes all disclose Your presence.
The roaring breakers of the seal tell of Your awesome might;
the beasts of the field and the birds of the air
bespeak Your wondrous will.
In Your goodness You have made us able to hear the music of the world.
the voices of loved ones reveal to us that You are in our midst.
A divine voice sings through all creation.
Jewish Prayer
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