OUR FAITH, OUR PLANET, OUR RESPONSIBILITY

October 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

Announcements of Coming Events related to the Environment, Ecology,
Global Warming, Nature & Spirituality

 
CARE OF CREATION
The work of California Interfaith Power and Light is energized by the understanding that every major faith tradition calls 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.

As a mother with her own life guards the life of her own child, let all-embracing thoughts for all that lives be thine. - Buddhism, Khuddaka Patha, Metta Sutta

HOT TOPICS
Runaway Global Warming
Climate scientists have been proclaiming the trend of global warming for years now, but an unexplained and unprecedented rise in the heat-trapping gas, CO2, in the past two years has them stumpedÖÖ.and worried! Environmental correspondent Paul Brown, reporting in the UKís October 11th edition of The Guardian stated that the increases in the past two years of 2.08 ppm (parts per million) and 2.54ppm respectively raise the fears of runaway global warming. Elevations like these are usual in an El Nino year when warm oceans emit CO2 rather than absorbing it. The past two years have not been El Nino years. Climate scientist, Charles Keeling who has been studying weather patterns since 1958 says, ìThe rise in the annual rate to above two parts per million for two consecutive years is a real phenomenon.î Analysts are stressing that it is too early to reach any long-term conclusions, but some fear that these elevations may mean that instead of having decades to address the problem of global warming, we may have only a few years.

Arctic Ocean Waters Taking the Heat
According to an article by J.R. Pegg printed by the Environmental News Service on October 5, 2004, the floating mass of ice that covers the Arctic Ocean is shrinking as a result of global warming. ìThe latest satellite information indicates the extent of Arctic sea ice last month was 13.4 percent below average - a reduction in area nearly twice the size of Texas.î This represents the smallest ice cover in 50 years according to researchers with the University of Colorado at Boulder

"This is the third year in a row with extreme ice losses, pointing to an acceleration of the downward trend," said Mark Serreze, a researcher with the NSIDC and part of the team monitoring Arctic sea-ice conditions.

To read the ENS article directly past the following into your browser: http://www.keepmedia.com/pubs/EnvironmentNewsService/2004/10/05/595050

CIPL NEWS
Congratulations to Christ the King Lutheran Church in Fremont, our honored ìCongregation of the Month.î CTK dedicated its new solar energy system earlier this month on St. Francis of Assisi Sunday. The congregationís vigorous 53-year old pastor, Rev. Warren Nielsen, said that they were able to fund the $80,000.00 project by refinancing their mortgage at a lower rate and by getting back 45% of the costs through the California Energy Commissionís rebate program. ìWe actually lowered our monthly mortgage payments,î Pastor Nielsen reported cheerfully. ìThis is a great thing for a church that plans to be around for a while to do,î explaining that it will take 10-15 years for the system to pay for itself, but that after that time, their electric costs will be reduced to almost nothing. ìThere will be times when we will actually produce more power than we use,î stated Rev. Nielsen. On average, CTK expects to produce 80%-90% of what they use. They will receive only a once-a-year bill from P.G & E, which will replace their monthly bills that have been running around $400.00 a month. In the meantime, they will enjoy the satisfaction of being a non-polluting congregation. ìThere will be a meter on the new system,î Rev. Nielsen reported excitedly, that actually shows how much pollution per kilowatt hour you are not putting into the atmosphere!î He praises the Berkeley contractor that installed the new system, The Sun Light and Power Company. This is an eco-conscious company that makes its own bio-diesel fuel from discarded cooking oil for running most of the companyís vehicles.

Rev. Nielsen has been modeling energy conservation for years, installing a solar water module to heat water for his home and hot tub 25 years ago. Reflecting upon the day of the dedication of the solar system, Rev. Nielsen mused, ìI think St. Francis would have appreciated solar power as a way of caring for Mother Earth by using the energy from ëBrother Sun.í

And so CIPL salutes you, Rev. Nielsen, and your congregation for modeling to other faith communities the kind of care of Creation that will change the world!

To learn more about Rev. Nielsen and his dynamic congregation at Christ the King Lutheran in Fremont, log onto their website at: http://home.inreach.com/ctkfrem/

GOOD NEWS
Prof. Wangari Maathai, founder of the Green Belt Movement 1977, under the auspices of the National Council of Women of Kenya has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her work in environmental conservation, sustainable development, democracy and peace. Dr. Maathai is `the first woman in Kenya to receive a Ph D. The GBM works to realize its vision and mission through programs in tree planting/biodiversity conservation, civic and environmental education, advocacy and networking, food security, capacity building for women and girls and Green Belt Safaris. This is the first time that the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to an environmental advocate rather than someone focused mainly on armed conflict. But Maathai does not see any separation between the two saying "People are fighting over water, over food and over other natural resources... When our resources become scarce, we fight over them. In managing our resources and in sustainable development, we plant the seeds of peace."

New tools from business roundtable help service-sector companies improve energy efficiency and manage greenhouse gas emissions (Reprinted from the Flex Your Power, e-Newswire, the biweekly energy efficiency newsletter for California) Business Roundtable, an association of CEOs of leading U.S. corporations with a combined workforce of more than 10 million employees in the United States, has launched an initiative to help businesses improve energy efficiency in their commercial office buildings. The association has published a guide for non-manufacturing companies that outlines the business case for making energy efficiency investments, describes the elements of successful energy management programs for commercial buildings and provides examples of actions being taken by leading companies. The initiative also includes a new step-by-step Web tool, developed with the assistance of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Energy, that will help companies establish and maintain energy efficiency programs. http://www.fypower.org/news/redir/101304.html

SUGGESTED READING
The Discovery of Global Warming written by Spencer Weart and published by the Harvard University Press is said to read something like a detective story. It tells how a few scientists became obsessed with the mysteries of climate change and brought whole governments, communities of scientists and national populations into dialectic tension around an issue that has taken on epic proportions. The book is a shortened version of the story told as a hypertext history of how scientists came to understand, at least in part, what people are doing to change the earthís climate. The site, which has 250,000 words, was also created by Weart. For further description, click here: http://www.aip.org/history/climate/

EVENTS
Orange County Interfaith Coalition for the Environment
Caring for Creation Conference
Saturday, October 23rd
Aldersgate United Methodist Church
1201 Irvine Blvd. in Tuscan
For more information or to register on-line, visit www.ocice.org
Or call Margaret Heneke at (714)731-6775

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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.