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Good morning. I would like to thank David Thompson for inviting me to be here today as a part of your World Wide Listening Day program. David, a pastor with an advanced degree in environmental science, and Westminster Presbyterian Church have been involved one way or another in California Interfaith Power and Light's environmental stewardship efforts here in Sacramento for as long as I have been involved. I was thrilled when David asked me to participate in your Listening to the Earth celebration.
So I guess that is good news and bad news for me today, take your pick. I am neither a theologian nor a trained environmentalist. So I was less than thrilled knowing that David knows more than I do on both counts. And he is sitting right here.
I simply run a faith-based non-profit agency dealing with environmental stewardship issues throughout California, and I believe we are all called to Care for Creation in our own way.
Westminster is a CIPL member congregation and David brings an environmental perspective to his work as a pastor. He also recently spoke at an Assembly Transportation Committee hearing on emissions standards with a group of faith-based speakers CIPL and the California Council of Churches put together along with the Clean Car Campaign as a part of our legislative advocacy work.
David has proposed, to the Sacramento CIPL Working Group, that we explore putting together an Environmental Festival here that would bring scientists and the faith community together with policy makers and business people to keep global climate change in the forefront of everyone's thinking. This would be an annual event that people would want to attend because it would be both fun and informative. A big event - big challenges to put it together - but that is the way we all need to think as we move toward leaving a better world for our children.
Today is an exciting event for me. It is wonderful to see a Sunday devoted to "Listening to the Earth". Seeing the hybrids in the lot, the displays, the rides around the Capital all attest to the churches' belief in Caring for Creation and setting the example for the community to follow.
I must admit that today is also exciting for me because, although I am used to speaking to large audiences, I am not used to doing it with my wife in attendance while I am standing here at the pulpit. Now when my wife accuses me of being too preachy she will have some basis for it.
I have been invited to address "Listening to the Earth" - Caring for Creation - from my background with California Interfaith Power and Light and prior to that at the California Council of Churches. Caring for Creation involves many things, Among them: Renewable energy, sustainable forests, green building practices, conservation, environmental justice, and global climate change. All environmental stewardship issues from our faith perspective.
I know David devoted a sermon to climate change on September 19th of last year, titled "Noah and Global Warming" . He talked about the potential effects of climate change on California. The report was released by the Union of Concerned Scientists based in Berkeley. I won't repeat those statistics, don't have the education on the subject the David does, but will say that they are dramatic and startling given their context and time frame. Global climate change can and will affect California's health, welfare and our world class economy.
This report predicts dramatic climate change in California in the next 50 to 100 years. As David said in September, by 2090, some parts of California will experience average increases of up to 19 degrees F, extreme heat waves will take place and heat related deaths could increase by a factor of 11. Elsewhere in the world islands will be submerged as ice sheets and glaciers melt - islands like the Maldives who just got devastated by the Tsunami will disappear. A nation's land mass will be gone!
At the same time coastal areas of this country and the world could be flooded as the seas rise. San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, New York, New Orleans - and on and on - the list is very long and the results of global climate change could be devastating.
But I want to talk about why, and how, we can and should, get involved with environmental stewardship and what it means - to me and to us. Let's start with today's topic: "Listening to the Earth":
What does that mean? How does it apply to us today at Westminster Presbyterian Church, what does the Presbyterian Church USA say about it - and what do the folks who work across the street - and in Washington D.C. say about it and what do they do about it?
First the church:
In 1998, the 210th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church USA stated that "Whereas climate change caused by global warming of the atmosphere poses a serious threat to God's creation through such possible effects as rising sea levels, more frequent or severe storms, loss of habitat, changes in water distribution, and heat-related mortality and illness, to name a few;"
And The 1990 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church USA adopted a comprehensive policy entitled “Restoring Creation for Ecology and Justice” which signaled the need to address climate change and called upon the United States to “reach firm international agreements for steady and substantial reduction of the gases causing climate change...”
The statement goes on but you get the drift.
So global climate change has been addressed by the church and the church encouraged the US government to participate in the discussion and take steps towards its solution. Bill Moyers, the respected journalist who just retired, wrote an article last fall titled "Saving the Earth from the World's End". He talks about how important it is to protect the environment and God's Creation.
He believes that in the near future there will be little protection for our environment through the federal government. Why? In his thinking there are many in high office who believe that the Rapture is coming. And coming so soon and there is no need to protect the environment. He believes that environmental decisions are being made in that context.
The U.S. refused to sign the Kyoto Protocol on climate change while we contribute about 25% of the world's greenhouse gasses responsible for global warming. All that with just 5% of the world's population.
So I guess we have a lot of educating to do here at home. The Kyoto Protocol was implemented just this week, on February 16th. CIPL applauds the 141 nations that signed the agreement, including all 25 European Union nations, Russia and China. We encourage our government to get involved.
The West Coast Governor's Climate Change Initiative is being unveiled soon and emissions standards will hopefully be agreed upon by California, Oregon and Washington. We encourage the governors to do the right thing and set standards that are meaningful to all of us. The northeastern states have done it and we can too. CIPL presented a letter to Governor Schwarzenegger's administration, signed by over 100 clergy members from California and Oregon, encouraging him to set meaningful emissions standards for California.
It was announced in today's Sacramento Bee that the City of Sacramento dropped out of the California Climate Action Registry. This is a voluntary effort to account for greenhouse gas emissions. The city said it was too expensive to administer and verify the numbers. They estimated its cost at around $88,000. They said they could buy three hybrid vehicles with the money and therefore reduce the fleet's emissions. Which approach is better? I am not sure.
Listening to the Earth. Growing up in Los Angeles in the 50's and 60's I was hooked on cowboy shows. The first image that came to mind when I heard today's theme was of Tonto with his ear to the ground telling the Lone Ranger how may bad guys were coming and how far away they were. Unfortunately, what he was hearing was us coming and mother earth starting to cry. Starting to feel the effects of this growing nation and our insatiable need for her resources.
Tonto heard a host of people looking for a better life, independence and riches in the west. But that host of people also brought the attitude that what we found was ours to use - and abuse: The first thing we did was take the land away from the people living on it and loving it - a people who respect the land - revere it as spiritual and holy and something to be taken care of and to live in harmony with.
Talk about an early case of environmental and social injustice!
Unfortunately as our society expanded many of us lost respect and reverence for the beautiful land we acquired. We took dominion over the land - but not as protectors as we should have. We used dominion not in its true context of caring for Creation, but in the sense that we could control it, use it for our purposes, spoil it and justify our actions in the name of progress. We stopped Caring for Creation - we stopped Listening to the Earth.
As I said, I grew up in the San Fernando Valley in LA County. We didn't trust air we couldn't see. We had smog alert days when we couldn't go outside to play. I guess that made it easier for us to learn how to protect ourselves from nuclear attack by hiding under our wooden school desks. If we felt safe from nuclear holocaust under our desk, a little smog couldn't hurt us. But it did. It was like smoking a pack of cigarettes a day or something horrible like that. It gave us asthma and respiratory problems that we still suffer from.
Sacramento experiences its own very bad air days, and our neighbors throughout the Central Valley now have very bad air.
So our environment got worse because we had unlimited oil to fuel the engine of our economy and that created the wealth to allow us to do many great things in the world. And many not so great things too.
American society got where we are today because we created this huge economic engine, one that runs on oil - dirty burning fossil fuels. LA had the Red Cars - a great public transportation system in its early development - but guess what - that system was bought out by the automobile and bus manufacturers and rubber companies.
Bought out and demolished to make way for our newly found wealth and living in the suburbs. Got us to use our automobiles and buses, off of steel rails and onto rubber tires. Bought out by the lifestyles we were sold. I saw the commercials as a kid. They did their job, I still remember them: The open road, a pretty girl by your side in your new convertible - my dad's was a big white Buick convertible with the continental kit on the back. Huge car! We loved it!
Freeways replaced public transportation, oil was plentiful and the world was ours for the taking.
But in the past decade or so LA has spent millions, probably billions of dollars on a light rail system that recreates some of the original Red Car routes. Full circle I guess. Trying now to get us out of our cars - not into them - back onto those steel rails.
Sacramento has a nice light rail system that has decent ridership. Cheaper than LA's too to build. But we also had a trolley system that was demolished years ago.
So we are paying for the environmental decisions we made in the past and continue to make today. But all is not lost, there is some good news out there. And it is us. We can make a difference, we can reverse the tide, we can all help to Care for Creation and heal the environment.
Last Sunday, at a church not too far from here, my pastor quoted someone (whose name I unfortunately forgot to note) in the context of non-violence. However, in today's context it works just as well. It can be applied as our violence against nature, against Creation, against ourselves.
The quote was that there are two things that lead to change: Pain and hope. In my mind that means that you need to feel the pain and see the hope before we are ready to affect change. Change is painful in its own right. Do we all embrace change? Not in my experience. Change can be painful but it is necessary.
Some of you have felt the pain and feel the hope. The rest of us can start right here, right now. The beauty of the solution is that it is something we can all do - everyday. It is something that once we start we will see how easy it is to continue. It is something that we can all feel good about everyday. It is something that we can do to make life better for our kids and their kids. Something that we can do without feeling a lot of pain. It is something that can give us all hope.
It is those everyday decisions that can make a huge difference when we put them all together. Little things that put together paint a larger picture of clearer skies and a cleaner environment. People ask: what can I do? I am just one person, one family, one congregation.
But let us think about it a minute. Many of you are driving hybrids, or low and ultra low emissions vehicles. My wife and I came in our low emission certified Honda Accord. That means it burns cleaner creating and uses less gasoline, and reduces the amount of greenhouse gas causing CO2 emissions being released into the atmosphere. Hybrids and ultra low emission vehicles do even better of course. So when the time comes to purchase a new car, think about getting the vehicle that fits your needs while being friendly to the environment.
I grew up with three brothers, and I am sure that my dad would have purchased the biggest car possible for those long family vacations - just to keep my brothers and I far enough apart to keep us from tearing each other apart and driving my parents crazy. We can make choices to buy the most efficient car that meets our needs and hopefully my parents would do that today.
There is one simple fact we cannot change. We inhabit the earth, live in a modern society and therefore will leave our footprints on the earth. Our choice is how large of a footprint do we want to leave? This is where those everyday decisions and actions come into play.
We can think about changing light bulbs at home, and at work, to CFL's. Each bulb we change reduces our use of dirty-burning power plants, cutting down on the CO2 produced. And it will save you money in the process. We can become good environmental and financial stewards at the same time. You and this congregation can save $30-40-50 over the lifetime of every CFL you install. You can have an energy audit performed on your home, business or congregational buildings.
You can look to the future when you need to change your appliances. Look for Energy Star rated refrigerators, heaters, air conditioners, and washing machines. Every time you do that you are Caring for Creation. Think about what lights you need to have on at home or work. Turn them off when you leave a room. Or have motion sensors installed that will do that automatically for you. Every time you turn off an unnecessary light you are Caring for Creation. Every time you talk to a neighbor about conservation or recycling you are planting a seed that will help Care for Creation.
In the long run, look at installing solar power when you need to replace your roof at home or work. New technologies allow for many different installations. Talk to your kids and neighbors about what you are doing. Make a positive example for the community. Everyday decisions do make a big difference.
Days like today are great. They set an example for all of us and for the community. They show that there are ways to make a difference, and that we all need to take a stand - to become good environmental stewards - to become good caretakers of Creation for our children and their children's children.
So in closing, why am I here today? What is my purpose? What am I asking?
What I am saying is that we, the faith community, can make a difference - we have made a difference - and we will continue to lead on social and environmental justice issues. The faith community has lead the way many times - from the abolishment of slavery to civil rights to healthcare to the right to vote. So we can take the moral high ground, because this is a moral issue.
We can once again lead in a fight for justice. We, the people in this room, can lead in the effort to Care for Creation.
Thank you for having me today
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