OUR FAITH, OUR PLANET, OUR RESPONSIBILITY

November 2004 Newsletter

Reports on Rebates, Things You Can Do, Current Legislation,
CO2 Reductions and Other Good News

Tips on Current Resource Reading on GW and
Other Conservation Topics

 
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 Creationís many faith traditions.

A flourishing humanity on a thriving earth in an evolving universe, all together filled with the glory of GodÖ.Such is the theological vision and praxis we are being called to in this crucial age of Earthís distress. - Elizabeth Johnson, Christian Feminist Theologian

HOT TOPICS
Antarctic Food Chain is in Hot Water!
The Antarctic waters have warmed by 4.5 degrees Fahrenheit in the last fifty years diminishing the areaís ice cover in unprecedented amounts. Without sufficient sea ice, the larvae of Krill, thumb-size crustaceans, starve. Studies show that these shrimp-like creatures, whose larvae eat algae in the cracks on the underside of the ice, have declined by 80% in the last 25 years. Accordingly, the Adelie penguin, which eat only krill during the summer months have declined by 70% since 1974.

Scientists are waiting to see how this decline of krill will affect the regionís entire eco-system. Seals and the planetís largest animal, the blue whale, also dine on krill. An international team of scientists are studying the problem and are holding their breaths to see what will happen. According to a recent article in the LA Times, ecologists say that such a steep decline in krill could decimate the regionís abundant wildlife.

Study Finds Effects of Global Warming Across America Cold to the Threat
Despite alarming studies about the consequences of climate change across the globe -- the latest, just last week, documents massive changes in Arctic geography and wildlife -- U.S. citizens remain curiously unconcerned about the issue. Perhaps a new report from the Pew Center for Global Climate Change will break through the apathy: It documents effects of global warming in the U.S., "all the way from Florida to Alaska and from the East Coast to the West Coast," said study coauthor Camille Parmesan. Many southern species of butterfly have disappeared; red fox ranges are moving north; warm-water fish are migrating into new waters; plants are blooming weeks earlier in the spring. About half of all wild species are affected, says Parmesan. White House science adviser John Marburger said the study seemed "responsible," but that the Bush administration's policy on global warming would not change.

Straight to the source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Cox News Service, Jeff Nesmith, 09 Nov 2004
http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=3563

FACING FACTS
Current Statistics
According to a report in the New Scientist, new data from US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) show that the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere in 2003 reached an all time high of 376 parts per million (ppm). In the late 1950s, average levels were around 315 ppm. Overall, the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere has increased by 31% since 1750, i.e. since the Industrial Revolution. Carbon dioxide emissions are now around 12 times higher than in 1900 as the world burns increased quantities of coal, oil and gas for energy. A 1999 study by Mann et all (see graph below) shows the dramatic increase in temperature in the Northern Hemisphere in the last fifty years.

GOOD NEWS
State Energy Efficiency Budget On The Rise Nationally
The Consortium for Energy Efficiency (CEE) reports that energy efficiency funding is on the rise nationwide. In 2004, states spent more than $1.63 billion on energy efficiency, close to double the $900 million spent in 1998. Experts warned, however, that better evaluation of program results will be needed to maintain policy-makers' commitment to high levels of energy efficiency funding. For energy-efficiency programs to continue, we need data showing change in the penetration of high-efficiency products at the market level," said CEE's Monica Nevius. "This tracking is beyond the scope of individual utilities or even states. We need manufacturerís help!î

(Reprinted from the Flex Your Power, e-Newswire, the biweekly energy efficiency newsletter for California, http://www.cee1.org/resrc/news/04-10nl/03_budgets.html)

CIPL NEWS:
Feel the Energy of the Movement!
No harmful emissions come with use of this energy that is sweeping the country. It is the energy of commitment and support from an ever-increasing number of IP&L affiliates being established around the country. Last week, in our nationís capitol, a program serving the greater Washington area was launched from the National Cathedral. The very enthusiastic crowd in attendance included the Bishop of Washington. That event was followed by another IP&L launch in Virginia, set into motion by the gifted leadership of Steven Brown. At this moment eco-stewards in Minnesota are rallying to form the newest IP&L.

This group of IP&L program leaders meet via conference call on a monthly basis and will gather this summer for a National conference.

The Rev. Sally Bingham, who attended both the Greater Washington and Virginia events, gave birth to the movement with her seminal eco-ministry, the Regeneration Project, at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. She is the inspiration and prime mover behind the growth of IP&Ls in the country. Of this gathering momentum Sally declares, ìA social-religious movement is underway!î

On the local level, California remains the leader in inviting the faith community to take the prophetic role in leading the country to a just and sustainable world for all of the creatures of the planet.

CIPL urges each of its members to partner with us in drawing more of the 50,000 communities of faith in our State to become members of this fast growing religious response to global warming. Email us at outreach@interfaithpower.org with your referrals.

Featuring Someone Who Greens Business
It started back in 1975 with a challenge from an architectural firm to four U.C. Berkeley students, three from the school of engineering and one from the school of economics. They started on a shoe string and all had other jobs, but today Sun Light and Power Company in Berkeley has more work than it can handle. Founder and company president, Gary Gerber, is the only member of the original four solar pioneers remaining, but his company is unmatched as a ìgreenî business in Northern California, providing alternative energy solutions for residential, commercial and municipal markets.

His business, Gary says, developed with the strong moral-ethical base that characterized the UC Engineering Department at the time. ìWe were taught to apply what we were learning to real world problems. It captured my imagination.î

Sun Light and Power has been featured in Sunset Magazine, Better Homes and Gardens, Hudson Home Guide, and Ortho Books. The business itself models its environmental ethic. It uses only recycled paper products and recycles all metals materials. The office is lit during the daylight hours through large skylights and a solar hot water system provides 100% of their hot water. All the office equipment is run with a 6.6 WPV system on their roof and they run their service vehicles on bio diesel fuel that they make themselves from recycled cooking oil. Gary is proud to show off his solar-powered, all electric car that he drives to and from work every day.

Three years ago, Sun Light and Power company employed fewer than 10 employees. Today they have about 40. When asked about this acceleration of solar usage, Gary explained that ìregulations have changed since 1998 with the passage of the ënet metering lawí that was a mandate to utilities to allow access to the power grid. It means that when you are producing your own power, your meter runs backwards, so you have a reading of how many emissions you are not putting into the atmosphere. Also in 1998, the State began itsí rebate program. One way of looking at it is that the State started paying people to purchase solar power.

For those who pay attention to the threat posed to our planet by global warming, the good news is seen in this trend toward the use of renewable energy sources. ìThe future has to be renewable power, asserts Gerber. ìThe price of energy,î speaking now of fossil fuel, ìis never again going to go down.î ì The technologies are here today,î ìIt is feasible and cost-effective now.î

It would take 30 to 40 solar modules; roughly a 4,000-watt system to provide the energy needs for the average home. That would be $30 to $35 thousand dollars before rebates. ìWith rebates, the net cost would be about $20-24 thousand dollars for a system that would zero out for the rest of your life.î

Another way of looking at it is in the savings of CO2 emissions, about 60 tons of them over the lifetime of the system. If only the 50,000 spiritual and religious communities in California went solar, maybe those polar caps wouldnít melt after all!

SUGGESTED READING
In his new book, At the Edge of Our Longing, James Conlon writes brilliantly and poetically of an engaged cosmology that synthesizes creation spirituality, eco and geo-justice with liberation and contemplation. The result is a soul-satisfying journey into awareness of our inter-connectedness with all the creatures of the earth and all the intricacies of the cosmos. Richard Rohr writes, ìJim Conlon has ëbig-picture spirituality.í Here your politics and your prayer, your loves and your longings can all move from one grounded center where God is good, where we are together, and where everything belongs.î

James Conlon is director of Sophia Center: A Wisdom School Celebrating Earth, Art and Spirit, at the Holy Names University in Oakland, California. He is the author of Geo-Justice; Earth Story, Sacred Story; Lyrics for Re-Creation; Pondering from the Precipice; and the Sacred Impulse

EVENTS
Come and learn how little changes can make a big difference!

Eco-Stewards Brunch on Global Warming;
Sunday, November 28, at 11:30 am.
Montclair Presbyterian Church
5701 Thornhill Drive, Oakland CA

Sacramento CIPL Working Group
St Johnís Lutheran Church
1701 L Street
December 6, 12:00-1:30pm

East Bay CIPL Working Group
1904 Franklin Street, Oakland
Wednesday, Dec. 8, 8:30 A.M.
Breakfast Meeting.

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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 monthís edition. Email Sally Juarez at outreach@interfaithpower.org.