California Interfaith Power & Light

Our Faith, Our Planet, Our Responsibility.

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EV Event Highlights Equity and Rebates to Save Thousands of $$

On March 14, an EV Webinar doubled down on the inextricable link between transportation pollution, public health, racial disparities, housing and development issues, and the climate crisis.

The event featured leaders in the environmental justice, public health and EV sectors. Veatrice Jews, Health Community Chair of the Inland Empire Concerned African-American Churches highlighted work in employment, housing, education, mental health and police reform, and the link to public health. Michelle Pierce, Co-Founder of the Inland Empire Electric Vehicle Association spoke of her more than decade long work of EV education, advocacy, and the many events focused on transportation and electrification. Chris Chavez, Deputy Policy Director for Coalition for Clean Air focused on the public health impacts of car and truck transportation, including the disproportionate impact on under-served communities and communities of color.

Allis Druffel of California Interfaith Power & Light and Michelle Mata, Equity Specialist of Clean Transportation from the Center for Sustainable Energy highlighted the many rebates and incentives for the purchase or lease of new and used clean cars.

A full slide deck of the presentation can be found here.

Click here for the recording of the event.

Sign up to participate in CIPL’s Clean Transportation Team; spread the word of rebates, make public comments at relevant hearings, and more!

Important Rebates and Incentives for New or Used Bought or Leased Clean Cars:

Tell us about your journey to a clean vehicle. Did you use rebates and/or tax credits? Write to us at allis@interfaithpower.org!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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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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Attention Houses of Worship! Reimbursement Rates are Changing Mid-April

Breaking News: Reimbursement Rate for Solar Decrease Starting Mid-April

As you may have heard, in December 2022 the California Public Utilities Commission sided with utilities and voted to reduce the credit for consumer-generated solar power sent to the grid (Net Metering) by 75% starting mid-April. This change will have serious financial impacts for houses of worship and others considering going solar.

The urgency of climate change is still a very important reason for going solar, and congregations of all sizes and faiths want to do the right thing to care for our environment and cut pollution. But we know that houses of worship and other nonprofits rely on net-metering to make solar affordable, and this change will fall particularly hard on congregations with tight budgets, often located in under-served communities.

Throughout the last two years, people of faith joined with hundreds of organizations and tens of thousands of solar advocates to defeat such a proposal. We rallied, marched, planned, organized, wrote letters, made calls and made public comments to the CPUC in many of their meetings. We focused our efforts on Governor Newsom as well, since he had the authority to reign the CPUC in. We received no assistance.

One victory the solar coalition achieved – a monthly solar tax was taken off the table. This was not a small achievement and it showed the strength and the power of the people when we work together.  Going forward, we will continue to follow this story and highlight ways in which faith congregations can adopt solar in an affordable manner.

There IS still time to go solar under the current Net Metering structure. California Interfaith Power & Light has partnered with RE-volv to help congregations finance solar for no upfront costs, and this partnership is more important than ever. That’s why we have organized a webinar for February 9th with RE-volv and other partners for congregations to get the scoop and make a plan now to go solar, before the new policy takes effect. We especially welcome congregations located in under-served communities of color.

Details:

-Date/Time: Thursday, Feb. 9, 11:00am
-Speakers:
—Pastor Curtis Robinson, Faith Baptist Church, Oakland
—Rev. Dr. Ambrose Carroll, Founder, Green the Church
—Representatives from RE-volv and CIPL
Click here for more info and to RSVP

Pastor Curtis Robinson cuts the ribbon for sola at Faith Baptist Church, Oakland in 2017.

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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 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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