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CONTENTS
1) CALIFORNIA
ADVOCACY UPDATE
2) YOUR
OPPORTUNITY TO SHOW AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH
3) SCIENTIST:
Global Warming a Moral Issue
4) BREAKING
NEWS: SB 1 Passes Out of
the California Assembly
5) A MESSAGE FROM THE OUTREACH DIRECTOR
CALIFORNIA ADVOCACY
UPDATE:
 CIPL
wrapped up a productive day in California's capitol on June
28th: by the day's end we had conducted 17 legislative meetings
with Assembly Members, Senators and/or members of staff on
the issue of global warming.
CIPL's clergymen and women also had the privilege of meeting
with Assembly Member Fran Pavley, author of the "Global
Warming Solutions Act" or AB32, the central focus of
our lobby day.
Assembly Member Fran Pavley and Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez
have introduced legislation to place a mandatory cap on California's
greenhouse gas emissions, consistent with the governor's 2020
target of reaching the state's 1990 emission levels. AB32
will enact a multi-sector cap, and direct the Air Resources
Board to come up with regulations and policies to ensure the
cap is met. This bill continues to be an important priority
for CIPL this year.
To all those who could not make it to Sacramento or those
who wish to continue pressuring government on this important
issue, please consider sending a message DIRECTLY to your
representative. Below please find a sample message you may
use as a member of CIPL. To find your district representative,
Please click HERE to reach the California Assembly page: California
Assembly Page. Please then click on "Find my District"
in the left-hand tool bar.
SAMPLE LETTER (please feel free to cut and paste this for
your own use):
I am writing on behalf of ______ (Congregation) to urge your
support for Assembly Bill 32. We believe that it is our moral
responsibility to protect the earth's climate. We believe
we must heed the scientists who are warning us that human-induced
climate change is already affecting our planet's life-sustaining
systems. The situation is urgent and we can no longer wait
to enact mandatory limits on global warming pollution.
As the 12th largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world,
California can make a difference. Global warming threatens
our economy, quality of life, and our health. Increased temperatures
due to higher greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere threaten
severe weather conditions, which in turn can affect water
quality and supply, increase air pollution, and potentially
lead to more cases of heat stress, infectious disease, asthma,
respiratory and other health problems.
California is uniquely positioned to take the lead on policies
to address global warming. We urge you to take this lead,
and to support a mandatory cap on greenhouse gas emissions
for the state of California. Assembly Bill 32 will place us
on the right track. We believe strongly in this initiative
and sincerely hope you will take these concerns into account
when you submit your vote in August.
Sincerely, ________________
We are still taking signatures on our 'Open Letter to the
Governor and California State Legislature' calling for a mandatory
cap on greenhouse gas emissions-we have over 130 signatures
so far! Please click here to see a copy of the letter that
was printed in the Capitol Weekly: CIPL's
Open Letter to the Governor. Copies of CIPL's ad were
given to legislators during meetings and distributed to legislative
offices as well. If you wish to ad your name to a growing
list of signatures on our website, please email Outreach Director
Jessica Brown HERE: Email
Jessica.
YOUR OPPORTUNITY
TO SHOW AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH:
An Inconvenient Truth powerfully
weaves the science of global warming with Al Gore's personal
history and lifelong commitment to reversing the devastating
effects of climate change. The movie stresses the moral responsibility
each of us share in this environmental imperative while compelling
its viewers to action. Please consider screening this film!
California Interfaith Power and Light WILL PROVIDE your congregation
a FREE DVD of Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth
to screen during the week of October 1-8th (a week before
the DVD arrives in stores); all you have to do is contact
us with your name, address, congregation and preferred screening
date. Should you wish to sign-up for this project, please
e-mail Outreach Director Jessica Brown HERE: Email
Jessica
Please help us spread this film's important message all over
California! Please forward information about CIPL's offer
to your colleagues in other congregations and encourage them
to join CIPL. For a copy of the CIPL covenant of membership,
please click HERE: CIPL's
Congregational Covenant.
SCIENTIST: GLOBAL
WARMING A MORAL ISSUE:
 According
to John Houghton-a former senior member of the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change-as the richest and most polluting
nation, the United States has a moral responsibility to curb
its greenhouse gas output and unsustainable thirst for fossil
fuel. By refusing to ratify the Kyoto Protocal, Houghton believes
the Bush administration justifies its own irresponsible inaction
and the inaction of the developing world.
Asking developed nations (like the US) to take the lead in
accepting our shared environmental reality, Houghton is clear
in his warning: "Whatever we do things will get worse
from here, so we must act urgently."
Source: Reuters
BREAKING NEWS:
SB1 Passes Out of the California State Assembly!
 One
more step towards a million solar roofs in California! On
June 29th SB1, which codifies the California Solar Initiative
(the nation's largest, comprehensive and long-term solar program)
and increases net metering, passed out of the Assembly by
a 43-15 vote. The bill now moves into the Senate, where it
will be heard in the Senate Utilities Committee. The Committee
will vote on the bill sometime in August when the legislature
returns from their summer recess.
Read on...
As Outreach Director, I am so excited about our new project:
working with the folks of An Inconvenient Truth to
bring the global warming WARNING to the churches and communities
of California! If you have questions about this project or
want more information, please e-mail me, Email
Jessica.
I would also like to recognize a local group in San Francisco
that is doing great work in the community. SF Community Power,
located on Potrero Hill, has developed a program for small-
and medium-sized businesses (and now congregations) called
"demand-response". "Demand-reponse" is
designed to reduce power use when demand for energy is particularly
high, and electricity costs are spiking. In previous years
California has had to purchase high-cost energy from out of
state power providers to prevent blackouts. SF Community Power
advocated for the "demand- response" program, and
the California Public Utility Commission adopted it, as a
more cost-effective way of meeting peak energy needs.
When the state calls for power, SF Community Power and other
“aggregators” contact businesses which have agreed
to temporarily reduce their electrical load. The programs
frees up energy resources to be used for other high-priority
uses. In exchange for their efforts participants receive a
monthly payment of $8 for every kilowatt they’re willing
to reduce during the week between 11 am and 7 pm.
SF Community Power launched the initiative as a limited pilot
in 2005, and is now recruiting businesses and congregations
throughout the City and elsewhere. SFCP is also offering enrollment
incentives, including up to $250 worth of lighting upgrades
that will further reduce participating churches' energy use
and costs.
The program is available to congregations located in San
Francisco, San Mateo and Alameda counties.
For more information please contact Steven Moss, Executive
Director for San Francisco Community Power HERE: Email
Steven.
You can read more about SF Community Power by looking for
this particular headline on the provided link: San Francisco
Businesses Help Avoid Summer Blackouts.
Until next time CIPL,
Jessica Brown
California Interfaith Power and Light
phone: 510-444-4078 x 319
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