California Interfaith Power & Light

Our Faith, Our Planet, Our Responsibility.

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St. Anthony Catholic Parish wins an IPL Cool Congregations Award

Press Release: As one of six winners in the 2023 Cool Congregations Challenge awarded a $1000 prize, St. Anthony’s proved to be a Renewable Role Model across the country.

St. Anthony Catholic Parish, Sacramento, CA is one of the six national Interfaith Power & Light (IPL) 2023 Cool Congregations Challenge winners awarded a $1000 prize. The annual contest accepts applications from religious congregations around the United States who are doing work to address climate change by reducing their carbon footprint as they create models of sustainability within their communities.

St. Anthony Catholic Parish won the Renewable Role Model award for the work of their small Creation Care or “Laudato Si’” committee that convinced the parish to install solar, then influenced the diocesan attitude by inviting the Bishop to attend the solar installation blessing. With the support of the Bishop’s office, a small group of clergy and local members then came together to create a Care for Creation committee for the diocese and a multi-year Laudato Si’ action plan for the entire diocese serving 100+ churches in California.

Pastor of St. Anthony Catholic Parish, Fr. Mieczyzlaw “Mitch” Maleszyk, noted “We are honored to be recognized by IPL and blessed to be able to grow in ministry and share in ways stewardship for the gift of our common home can be achieved”.

“St. Anthony Catholic Parish and the other national winning congregations are casting a vision for the kind of world in which they want to live, and then carrying out that vision with practical actions that make a real difference in creating lasting solutions to climate change,” said Rev. Susan Hendershot, President of Interfaith Power & Light.

The Cool Congregations Challenge shows that people of faith are united by concerns about climate change and are taking action. The winners provide strong moral role models for their communities, and their activities have a ripple effect with people in their own homes, demonstrating that acting on climate is a moral issue.

Parish solar blessing event, (left to right), parishioner Kim-Son Ziegler (L), Major Darryl Steinberg (LC), Bishop Jaime Soto (C), Fr. “Mitch” Maleszy (CR), Sac ACT Executive Director, Gabby Trejo (R)

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EVs are driving California forward – rebates and more

SCE and many others are offering rebates for an affordable EV!

The switch to cleaner transportation is moving forward! We all know that fossil-fuel reliant passenger vehicles and medium- and heavy-duty trucks are polluting the air we breathe and making people sick. Especially in California, home to several ports and the goods movement that people all over the country rely on.

But there is a practical switch to cleaner vehicles in our Golden State. Consider:

–California EV sales represent roughly half of the U.S. sales and increased its EV sales from 13% to 18% in 2022

––Thousands of new electric school buses will be rolling out in the next few years all over the country. An estimated $5 billion has been dedicated from the 2021 Infrastructure Plan for these buses will protect the health of students, drivers, and communities

–California continues its transition to electric school buses with another $1.8 billion investment

–There are several California advocacy campaigns focused on the growth of EVs and electric trucks involved in the goods movement. A basic principle of these campaigns is making EVs affordable for everyone

Coalitions are active on electrifying cars and buses in California.

–REBATES ABOUND for new and used EVs! The switch to an EV is an option for everyone with these great incentives:

Good news! Some of these rebates These rebates can be mixed and matched to get the best possible price for your new EV!

If you’ve gotten a newer EV lately and used one or both of these rebates, tell us about it. If you have further questions, call Allis at (310) 752-3436 or allis@interfaithpower.org.

 

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Faith Baptist Church Opens as Oakland’s FIRST Resiliency Hub!

In a significant movement forward for faith/climate action, CIPL member, Faith Baptist Church in Oakland celebrated its status as a Resiliency Hub!  November 13’s celebration included a service full of music and inspirational preaching, food and local clergy and elected leaders. Pastor Curtis Robinson proclaimed the event as “a sign of hope” for the community and the climate.

The transition to Resiliency Hub took many years of collaboration, with clean energy experts supporting Pastor Robinson’s dream of the church being a sanctuary in times of wildfires and extreme heat. A grant from the EPA for battery back-up to the solar system enables the church to keep the lights and HVAC working in case of blackouts.

Pastor Curtis Robinson of Faith Baptist Church and CIPL Executive Director Susan Stephenson were featured in stories highlighting their many years of collaboration transitioning the East Oakland congregation into the City’s FIRST Climate Resilience Hub! The celebration was covered on the local Bay Area CBS news station and on the Bay Area NPR affiliate, KQED. And the project received GreenBuild’s Legacy Project Award.

“Imagine if all churches and congregations that are already gathering places in our neighborhood could become resiliency hubs,” David Johnson, a partner architect, said. “There will be times of blackout, and so those people that need some security, safety…will be able to come here.”

The transition to become Resiliency Hubs is a natural step for houses of worship, which are seen as safety zones for community members. And congregational facilities have been switching to energy-efficiency and renewable energy measures for decades. A recent IPL survey identified (at least) 2,000 congregations nationwide, with 300 in California. That means there are more Resiliency Hubs to come.

Oakland City Council Member Dan Kalb said climate change has become commonplace and every community needs permanently established refuge centers for times when the power goes out. “We have to make sure that we have places in the city of Oakland, in the East Bay, in the Bay Area, throughout the entire state, that can adapt and be ready to help people when those things happen,” Kalb said.

Congratulations to Faith Baptist Church! This is a huge win for the environmental justice movement, and faith communities across the country.

Faith Baptist Church cuts the ribbon at its celebration of being Oakland’s first Resiliency Hub!

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California Congregations Lead the Nation in Rooftop Solar – Press Release

NEWS RELEASE
February 1, 2022
Contact: Susan Stephenson, executive director (510) 484-7198 (mobile)

Gerald Bernstein, report author (510)444-4891 or jerry@interfaithpowerandlight.org

California Houses of Worship Lead the Nation in Adoption of Rooftop Solar
Slowdown expected if utilities reduce the incentives for onsite solar energy

Interfaith Power & Light (IPL) has reported its third survey of congregations in the United States with solar Photovoltaic (PV) systems.  Congregations from all faith traditions have dramatically increased their investments in solar PV systems for both environmental and financial benefits. View the solar directory and a map of solar congregations here:https://www.interfaithpowerandlight.org/congregational-solar/
IPL’s survey identified:
  • 1,250 congregations with PV systems in 48 states and the District of Columbia.
  • The 480 congregations added nationwide in the past two years exceeds the 400 additions identified in the 2019 biennial survey.
  • California is home to 305 of these congregations, almost twice the number identified in 2019.
  • On a population (per capita) basis, California has twice the national average of congregations with on-site solar PV systems. 
Rooftop systems vary from a 3.5 kW system at the Felton, CA Bible Church (smaller than the average residential system) to a 1000 kW system at Destiny Christian Church in Rocklin, CA.  The largest system is a 2000 kW ground-mount array at St. Anthony’s Retreat Center and Santa Teresita Youth Conference Center in Three Rivers, just outside Sequoia National Park.

As this enormous variation in installations suggests, not all congregations are equal in size and financial capability—just as there are lower and higher income households, there are financially strong and financially-challenged congregations.  However, when seeking to install a solar PV system, all houses of worship already have one challenge —as non-profits, they cannot directly access the federal tax credit which is available to homeowners and businesses.  Thus, they either pay full-price for an installation, or seek lease-financing with its attendant interest costs.  The new Net Energy Metering (NEM) plan proposed by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) would add monthly fixed charges to these already elevated-cost systems, which from California Interfaith Power and Light’s (CA-IPL) experience, would eliminate the economic benefit of a PV installation for many congregations. 

“States’ solar and utility policies really make a difference,” said IPL President Rev. Susan Hendershot. “If utilities greatly reduce payments to solar customers for the clean energy they deliver to the grid, or charge them more to deliver this clean energy, as they are currently proposing in California and has happened in other states, we could see solar becoming unaffordable for houses of worship and other nonprofits.”

Pastor John Current of Hope United Methodist Church in South San Francisco explained the inspiration for many houses of worship: “We have installed a pollution free solar powered energy system because we are aware that God’s creation itself is under attack.  Air, water, trees… fruit and flower, birds and beast; adults, children and those generations yet to be born are all under the shadows of environmental degradation.  We can’t just talk about the goodness of God’s work.  We are called to do the work of defending God’s creation in all that we do. Our leaders should empower every community across California to turn their rooftops into clean power plants, to fulfill our duty as stewards of Creation.” 

But finances are a consideration.  According to Shirley Pajanor, Chief Financial Officer at the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego, “Our solar generating program (in the Diocese of San Diego) shows the power of doing well by doing good. In his encyclical, Laudato SI, Pope Francis reminds us of our responsibility to care for the Earth as our ‘Common Home.’ Here in San Diego, in addition to our constant efforts to recycle and transition to sustainably sourced products, we’ve installed over 50 solar power plants at a number of schools, parishes, and our Diocesan Pastoral Center.” she continues “That’s good for the environment, but it’s also significantly reduced what we pay for electricity.”

According to Bishop E.L. Jackson of Grace Tabernacle Community Church, San Francisco “Every rooftop has the potential to redeem humanity’s debt to Creation and lift up those in our community who need a hand.” 

CIPL urges Gov. Newsom and the California PUC not to increase the cost of rooftop solar, which could derail this expanding segment of solar users.

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To set up an interview with any of the leaders quoted above, please email susan@interfaithpowerandlight.org
If your house of worship is interested in going solar, check out CIPLs Energy Efficiency and Solar Resource Guide. More questions? Email us at allis@interfaithpower.org.

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State Water Board and Gov. Newsom Act Amidst California’s Historic Drought

Drought apparent at Lake Oroville, California. Photo credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

California – along with much of the Western U.S. – is in the grip of a severe drought. This drought, expected to be long-lasting, will lead to water shortages in several states, and will require millions of people to conserve water.

On August 20, the State Water Board unanimously approved emergency regulations to temporarily halt farmers, landowners and others from diverting water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta watershed.

Governor Newsom has issued an Executive Order strongly encouraging all Californians to conserve water by 15%. “The realities of climate change are nowhere more apparent than in the increasingly frequent and severe drought challenges we face in the West and their devastating impacts on our communities, businesses and ecosystems,” said Governor Newsom. “The entire state is in a drought today, and to meet this urgent challenge we must all pull together and do our part to reduce water use as California continues to build a more climate resilient water system to safeguard the future of our state.”

Governor Newsom’s announcement, made on July 8, includes water conservation strategies for households. The faith community, as a rule, has been implementing the mandate to protect all of Creation – including natural resoures – for years. Some of the best strategies undertaken by houses of worship can be found here.

If your house of worship is doing an admirable job at water conservation, we want to hear about it. Send us an email at info@interfaithpower.org. You might just find your congregation’s story on our website.

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California Interfaith Power & Light
672 13th Street, Suite 100
Oakland, CA 94612
Phone: (510) 444-4891
Southern California Office
Phone: (310) 752-3436)
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