OUR FAITH, OUR PLANET, OUR RESPONSIBILITY

January / February 2006 Newsletter

Dear Friends and Members of CIPL,

During December, California Interfaith Power and Light went through a structural change and we are no longer housed in the offices of the California Council of Churches in Sacramento, but are now in the Presidio in San Francisco. The Regeneration Project, which is the national coordinator for the Interfaith Power and Light campaign (17 states now!), will provide leadership for CIPL. Tom Bourne, who served as our executive director for a year and half did a wonderful job during a transitional time in the organization. We are grateful for his work and efforts and those of Sally Juarez, who worked tirelessly on this newsletter and outreach. For structural and practical reasons we believe CIPL will be better served by being located closer to the national office. Thanks to all of you, CIPL continues to be a rapidly growing program that is leading the state IPLs both in membership and involvement in public policy. Everyone looks to California to be the trendsetter and the IPL program is no different. All eyes are on what California does.

We are extremely grateful to you, our members and friends for your support and participation in this work to find solutions to the increasingly harmful effects of global warming. We know, too that many of you are saving money in energy costs as a result of your efforts. We hope that you will continue to cut carbon emissions and that you will inform us of any success stories. They can be personal stories or things that have happened in your congregations as a result of your membership in CIPL.

Thank you and God Bless you,

Sally
The Rev. Sally G Bingham, President CIPL
The Regeneration Project
PO BOX 29336
San Francisco, CA 94129
415-561-4891 phone
415-561-4892 fax
sally@theregenerationproject.org
www.theregenerationproject.org

CONTENTS

1) CARE OF CREATION: Interfaith Reflection
2) HOT TOPICS: Recent News Items on Global Warming
3) FACING FACTS: Current statistics on Global Warming Trends
4) GOOD NEWS: Reports on Rebates, Things You Can Do, and Current
Legislation, CO2 Reductions and Other Good News
5) HOT TIPS: Low Cost or Cost-Free Ways to Save Energy and Money

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.

Song for a New Creation

Where there are ruptures in creation,
We are aroused to peace.
Where there is disquietude,
We are invited to balance.
Where there is discord,
We are attuned to resonance.
In and through the pain of our wounded planet,
We are called to make our Easter with the Earth
From collapse and devastation
We rediscover within the risen heart of the universe
Cosmic peace
Profound harmony
Deep balance
Compassionate resonance
Pentecost for the Earth and
Geo-Justice with the universe.

James Conlin, director of Sophia Center
Holy Names College, Oakland, CA

 
HOT TOPICS

Rapid Climate Change Not Just a Movie or a Myth
An article published through NASA News on January 4, 2006, detailed a study by Scripts Institute of Oceanography at the University of California in San Diego. The study made of the chemical make-up of tiny ancient sea creatures from around the world, indicate that modern carbon dioxide input from fossil fuel sources to the earth's surface is approaching the same levels estimated for a period of rapid global warming that the earth underwent 55,000 years ago.

“The unique data set they constructed uncovered for the first time a monumental reversal in the circulation of deep-ocean patterns around the world and helped the researchers conclude that it was triggered by the global warming the world experienced at the time.” According to the article, the earth is a system that can change very rapidly and that the anthropogenically induced changes that are occurring today could bring about very dramatic alterations to the planet. The thermal changes that occurred at the end of Paleocene and the beginning of the Eocene eras set in motion a host of important changes around the globe, including a mass extinction of deep-sea bottom-dwelling marine life.

To read the complete article, go to:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/MediaAlerts/2006/2006010421400.html

Six Former EPA Directors Disagree with Bush Position on Climate Change
Five Republicans and one Democrat former EPA heads expressed their concern about global warming and the Bush administration's neglect of the problem at an EPA 35th anniversary symposium.

“We need leadership, and I don't think we're getting it,” Russell Train, the agency's chief in the Nixon and Ford administrations.

For the full article, please see:
http://www.usatoday.com/life/2006-01-18-epa-global-warming_x.htm?csp=34

Hot News from Down Under
While Australia may have teamed up with the U.S. as a Kyoto hold-out, a leading Australian scientist is now warning that the world has two decades to halt global warming before irreversible changes to the Earth's climate are in place. Tim Flannery stated in an Associated Press telephone interview that, “We have to make deep, deep reductions in emissions within the next 20 years,” The respected scientist based his projections on the current emissions patterns leading to a 2 degree elevation in global surface temperature, which he said would be “catastrophic.”

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was to have met with top-level officials from Australia, China, India, South Korea and Japan to discuss ways of tackling this issue. The first round of talks was cancelled. Rice has been quoted to say that agreements reached in these talks are intended to augment, not replace Kyoto. However, so far little is known about the goals of the “Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate”. The APPCDC is comprised of the six nations. In another attempt at meeting, the major polluters are gathered in Sydney at the time of this writing for a two-day conference.

An article sent out by Agence France-Presse stated: “Australia's Industry and Resources Minister Ian MacFarlane said that if all countries adopted “clean” fossil fuel burning technology then greenhouse gas emissions would be reduced by three times the level that would be achieved under the Kyoto Protocol.”

Meanwhile, protestors and activists demonstrated outside the hotel in downtown Sydney and critics of the conference said, “It will be nothing more than a talk shop for some of the biggest producers and consumers of fossil fuels.”

Green groups say that if the new partnership is to make any significant contribution towards lowering greenhouse emissions, the participating countries must agree to a timetable for reducing their emissions and a clear plan on how they will achieve it.

Read more at :
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/350224/scientist
_urges_deep_cuts_in_global_emissions/index.html?source=r_science
and http://news.inq7.net/breaking/index.php?index=3&story_id=62611

 
FACING FACTS:

* If we simply used existing technology to ensure all cars got no less
than 40 miles per gallon, we would save four times the amount of oil that
could be produced by drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Evidence of weather extremes associated with global warming is increasing around the globe:

* China is having the coldest winter in 20 years.

* All-time rainfall records were broken in numerous locations
in Southern California.

* In Africa many countries are dealing with a multi-year drought that has caused
food shortages from Tanzania in the south to Ethiopia and Eritrea in the north.

* The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season unexpectedly became the most active season
on record, shattering the previous records on repeated occasions. A record 27
tropical storms formed, of which a record 14 became hurricanes.

 
GOOD NEWS:

Seeing Green
Some top companies show they mean business when it comes to green business. DuPont has reduced energy consumption 7% below 1990 levels, saving more than $2 billionóincluding at least $10 million per year by using renewable resources. According to Business Week, DuPont is at the top of a growing list of green companies who, despite our current administration's objections, have entered the race to curb emissions. According to the Business Week article on December 1, “As the debate over climate change shifts from scientific data to business-speak such as 'efficiency investment' and 'material risk,' CEOs are suddenly understanding why climate change is important. Far from breaking the bank, cutting energy use and greenhouse emissions can actually fatten the bottom line and create new business opportunities, while simultaneously greening up companies' reputations.”

As companies begin to understand that green business is good business, a new trend of safer, saner eco-friendly enterprise may develop. This breathes new hope at the beginning of the New Year.

No-Go on ANWR Drilling
On December 21, 2005, nearly all Democrats, with the help of a few Republicans, successfully led a filibuster to block the defense bill with ANWR in it. The protectors and advocates celebrated as senators once again rejected the drilling of the Arctic Wildlife Refuge. Dousing the issue with Arctic cold water was Sen. Pete Domenici, who released a statement saying that he intends to attempt to make ANWR a budget issue again next year so drilling can be approved.

Read more at
http://www.ktuu.com/cms/anmviewer.asp?a=2679&z=1

Montreal Retrospective
In December 2005 the United Nations held its 11th international meeting on global warming (COP 11) and Interfaith Power and Light sent a small delegation to remind our elected leaders of their moral responsibility to address this critical issue. We are sad to report that on behalf of the United States -- where 4 percent of the world's people produce 24 percent of the problem -- our federal government essentially walked out of the negotiations.

Yet despite the odds, the community of nations attending the conference forged a new link with the real United States -- a constructive, engaged, responsible nation that wants to be part of the solution. This United States was represented by committed citizens -- mayors and legislators; businesses and workers; scientists and religious leaders.

A contingent representing 195 U.S. mayors pledged to meet the Kyoto goals to address global warming and spoke for a growing bipartisan majority in the United States that wants solutions now. Mayors and other state and local leaders were persuasive in Montreal because they are on the front lines of climate impacts. When the snow doesn't fall or the storm surge hits, they pay the costs.

But the real power of their message was in their actions. They are implementing practical climate solutions, and those solutions are helping them build healthier, more livable, more prosperous communities. They are saving energy and money, tackling traffic, cutting waste and reducing their dependence on fossil fuels. And, we're proud to say, some of the good news came from people of faith, attending in greater numbers than at any previous U.N. climate meeting. A nun spoke of the “green” renovation of her order's motherhouse. Congregations are taking steps not only to reduce energy use, but also to produce their own solar or wind power. We held a religious service for thousands of people, where we pledged publicly to “help reduce the threat of climate change through actions in our own lives, pressure on governments and industries, and standing in solidarity with those most affected by climate change.”

The inspiring truth of Montreal is that while our federal negotiators walked out, a new America walked in for the world to see: States, cities, religious leaders, businesses and citizens from all over the United States who are committed to this urgent campaign for solutions.

 
HOT TIPS

Nearly 50% of home energy costs go towards heating and cooling. Be cool about heating your house:

* When you vacuum, be sure to vacuum the floor heating vents or radiators;
reducing dust in the heating system keeps things operating efficiently and
cuts down on energy waste as well as your heating bill!

* Dirty furnace filters hamper the air flow which makes your furnace work
harder and use more energy. Change filters every two months.

* A $100 tune-up of your heating system will extend the life of your
furnace. Get a tune up every two years. You will make up what you
spend on the tune up in energy savings.

(some of this month's tips were from 'You Can Prevent Global Warming,' by Jeffrey Langholz and Kelly Turner)