Eco-Journey

Tread Lightly for Lent March 24

March 24 action:

Walk, bike, or take public transportation as much as possible. If you drive, pledge to be idle free. Idling for over 10 seconds uses more gas than turning off the engine and restarting it. 

 

Take part in "Tread Lightly for Lent" this Lenten season.  Learn about eco-justice and take action to care for God's earth.  Each day items from "Tread Lightly for Lent" will be posted on our Facebook page and blog. Download the full "Tread Lightly for Lent" Calendar.  Share about your journey while Treading Lightly for Lent in the comment section here, or go to the Environmental Ministries Facebook page.

Earth Day Sunday Resources

Earth Day is April 22.  Celebrate God’s good creation on a Sunday near that date (which falls on Good Friday this year). 

The National Council of Churches Eco-Justice Program produces excellent Earth Day Sunday resources each year.  This year’s theme is “Where Two or More are Gathered: Eco-Justice as Community.”  Download the resource, which explores the importance of community and shares information on how churches can work in community for eco-justice in the areas of food, water, and air.  Materials include sermon starters, a bulletin insert, and ideas for church action.  

You can download  the Presbyterian co-branded version, which includes information on and contact information for PC(USA) Environmental Ministries and PC(USA) Office of Public Witness.

Please email me at [email protected] to let me know about your church’s plans to celebrate Earth Day Sunday.  Read about Presbyterian Churches’ 2010 Earth Day Sunday events.

 

Take Action Today for Healthy Communities and Clean Air!

The Clean Air Act helps keep communities healthy and guards against increased pollution.  The act has been under threat, and some sources indicate that a proposal to limit the effectiveness of the Clean Air Act will be voted on today, March 16.  Use the action alert below, from the National Council of Churches Eco-Justice Program to take action to keep communities healthy with the Clean Air Act.

Clean air – the life-giving breath of God - sustains all of God’s Creation. As faithful stewards of God’s air, we are now called to defend it. Tell Congress you support the Clean Air Act.

For more than 40 years, the Clean Air Act has reduced pollution in our communities, protected families’ health, and kept the air clean. However, a group of pollutants not controlled under the Clean Air Act, greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane, have been wreaking havoc on the most vulnerable. Greenhouse gases are causing increased asthma rates in children and respiratory problems for the elderly while also having a disproportionate impact on communities of color.

Last year, rules were finally put in motion to limit greenhouse gases in our communities.

Yet, many members of Congress are opposed to these regulations. Instead of focusing on how many lives clean air will save, they are worried about how much it will cost industry to make changes.

Join us in speaking up for the vulnerable communities and Creation. Ask Congress to protect the Clean Air Act. 

Blessings,

The Eco-Justice Program

February 2011 Eco-Notes

Eco-Notes is the e-newsletter from Environmental Ministries that is delivered approximately monthly.  Sign up to receive Eco-Notes.  February's Eco-Notes is below.

Celebrate Earth Day Sunday

Earth Day is April 22. Celebrate God’s good creation on a Sunday near that date (which falls on Good Friday this year). The National Council of Churches Eco-Justice Program produces excellent Earth Day Sunday resources each year. This year’s theme is “Where Two or More are Gathered: Eco-Justice as Community.” Download the resource. Explore the importance of community and find information on how your church can work in community for eco-justice in the areas of food, water and air. Get materials including sermon starters, a bulletin insert and ideas for church action.

Please email me, Katie Holmes, to let me know about your church’s plans to celebrate Earth Day Sunday. Read about Presbyterian Churches’ 2010 Earth Day Sunday events.

Practice Eco-Justice During Lent

As part of the reflective season of Lent, Environmental Ministries is offering “Tread Lightly for Lent." Use this calendar to learn about eco-justice issues and take action on the issues of waste, energy, water, consumption and food. Find a topic to learn about or a suggested action each day in the season of Lent. Download the calendar on the Environmental Ministries website.

Find more learning opportunities

Learn about Earth Care Congregations →

Attend Ecumenical Advocacy Days and the Compassion, Peace and Justice Training Day.

Apply to the Eco-Stewards Program for young adults.

Support Environmental Ministries →

Ensure Clean Air for All

The National Council of Churches Eco-Justice Program sent the following action alert:

Clean air is central to everyone’s life. It ensures that children can run and play outside with ease, it helps prevent respiratory problems in the elderly, and it keeps our communities clean and enjoyable places to live. At the heart of our work for eco-justice we are called to protect the essential gifts of air, water, and land. These gifts are essential for supporting the health of God’s Earth and God’s children. We need your help to ensure their protection.

Right now, elected officials are trying to undermine the Clean Air Act and limit its ability to regulate the very pollution that contaminates the air. Bad air quality means more asthma, more pollution, and more threats to Creation. This is particularly alarming for low-income communities, communities of color, children and the elderly that are mostly likely to bear the burden of toxic chemicals from power plants.

As people of faith, we must do what we can to protect Creation and our brothers and sisters. Please take a moment to ensure that the Clean Air Act remains strong and that all God’s Creation can benefit from the gift of clean air.

Blessings,
The Eco-Justice Team

Say No to Coal Ash in Your Drinking Water

The National Council of Churches Eco-Justice Program sent the following action alert:

Families in Eastern Tennessee received an early unwanted Christmas present in 2008. Their homes were filled with coal ash, which contains hazardous pollutants such as lead, mercury, arsenic, and thallium.

As a result of the largest coal ash spill in history, the EPA is seeking input on a proposal to classify coal ash as a toxic substance.  This proposal would ensure that communities, waterways, and local air quality would have more protection from the harmful effects of coal ash. Please tell the EPA that coal ash should be regulated as a toxic substance.

More than 584 coal ash disposal sites are found in communities around the country. A recent report revealed that at least 137 of these sites in 34 states are currently contaminating drinking water or surface water.

As people of faith we have a responsibility to care for vulnerable communities and the health of God’s Creation, and to ensure that our own bodies are not exposed to harmful contaminants.

Click here to tell the EPA coal ash is toxic to our families, communities, and God’s Creation.

Blessings,
The Eco-Justice Team

Read more about coal ash in a past Eco-Journey post.

Public Hearing on Coal Ash

 
 Coal ash at the Cane Run Power Plant in Louisville, KY

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is holding public hearings and taking public comment on proposed changes to the way that coal ash (the leftover waste when coal is burned) is disposed.  Below are the comments that I made at the public hearing in Louisville on Tuesday.  Send a message to the EPA asking them to provide strong protection for communities from coal ash through the Interfaith Power and Light website.

Hello, my name is Katie Holmes and I am the associate for Environmental Ministries at the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). 

I am here today to speak on behalf of the Presbyterian Church (USA), which is headquartered here in Louisville.  PC(USA) urges the EPA to adopt Subtitle C to ensure greater protection for communities from the hazards of coal ash.

The Presbyterian Church has long been committed to protecting and restoring God’s creation.  Protecting God’s Creation extends to ensuring justice for God’s people.  PC(USA) General Assembly policies have consistently affirmed that as people of faith we are to seek environmental justice for low income communities that are disproportionately burdened by environmental hazards.  We see this connection clearly in the case of coal ash.  Not only does coal ash threaten the health of communities around the country, it disproportionately affects low-income communities and communities of color. More than 50 percent of the coal ash sites around the country are in low-income neighborhoods, and the coal ash cleaned up after the 2008 spill in Kingston, Tennessee was shipped to a low-income, predominately African American community in Alabama. 

The issue of coal ash is close to home for Louisville communities.  Residents of the Riverside Gardens neighborhood live in the shadow of the coal ash disposal sites at the Cane Run Power Plant.  Community organizers in Riverside Gardens report high incidences of cancer and other diseases that have been connected to coal ash contaminants.  With the Cane Run Plant applying to expand its coal ash pond, federal regulations on coal ash would help protect this vulnerable neighborhood.

Ultimately, our society needs to turn to a clean energy economy and find just solutions to the selection of hazardous waste disposal sites.  In the meantime, it is imperative that we provide greater protection from hazardous coal ash for all people, especially the most vulnerable populations that live closest to these disposal sites.  The Presbyterian Church (USA) asks the EPA to adopt Subtitle C, which designates coal ash as a toxic substance and creates federally enforceable regulations to ensure greater protection for communities and water supplies.  With these stronger regulations, we will be protecting all of God’s creation from the harmful effects of arsenic, lead and other chemicals found in coal ash.

 

Protect Communities from Coal Ash

 

Ask the EPA to protect communities from coal ash

Even after coal is burned in power plants, its waste still affects communities.  Coal combustion waste, or coal ash, is what is left over after coal is burned.  Coal ash can be in liquid form (like the coal ash pond that burst in Kingston, Tennessee in 2008 and flooded over 300 acres with 1 billion gallons of toxic coal ash slurry), or it can be solid form, like the coal ash heap pictured above at the Cane Run Power Plant in Louisville, Kentucky (my hometown).

In either form, coal ash threatens communities, yet it is currently unregulated by the federal government.  With over 1,000 coal ash disposal sites in the country and 136 million tons of waste produced each year, this is an issue that needs oversight to ensure the health of communities.  Coal ash contains hazardous chemicals including arsenic, boron, cadmium, chromium lead, mercury and selenium.  Currently there are no federal standards in place to ensure that coal ash is safely disposed of, making it possible for these hazardous chemicals to contaminate groundwater and surface water, which could lead to drinking water contamination. 

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing new standards to regulate coal ash.  Please ask the EPA to select Subtitle C to regulate coal ash as hazardous waste so that our communities and God’s earth is protected.  (The more stringent option, Subtitle C would create federally enforceable regulation, categorize coal ash as hazardous waste, and phase out coal ash ponds, among other changes.)

The EPA is taking public comment on the proposed rule change until November 19.  Send your comments in through the Interfaith Power and Light website. 

Protect the Clean Air Act!

Action Alert from the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Washington Office: Ask your Senators to protect the Clean Air Act.

Senator Murkowski (AK-R) plans to bring a bill to the floor of the Senate this Thursday, June 10 that, if passed, will undermine the Clean Air Act and prevent the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from regulating greenhouse gases.
 
Senator Murkowski's bill would allow some of the biggest polluters in the country to continue spewing carbon dioxide and other contaminants into the atmosphere with no oversight, resulting in dirty air for all of us, and for generations to come.
 
In addition, regulation of greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act is a very important option for addressing the U.S. contribution to global climate change, as Congress is currently hamstrung on dealing with a number of issues, including global climate change.
 
With more children suffering from asthma and increased number of older adults dealing with respiratory problems, we must take every opportunity to ensure clean and healthy air. At the same time, regulating these greenhouse gas emissions may prove the only meaningful way in the near term to address climate change emissions.
 
Tell the Senate to let the EPA do its job.  Send a note to your Senator today.

Apply for an Energy Star for Congregations Award

The Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star for Congregations Program offers awards for congregations that have reduced their energy usage.  If your church has increased energy efficiency over the past two years, you can apply to receive an Energy Star Congregations Award.  Find more information and applications on the Energy Star for Congregations website.  The application deadline for 2010 awards is June 1.

Swarthmore Presbyterian Church in Swarthmore, PA was awarded an Energy Star Congregations Award in 2009.  Read about their increased energy efficiency.

Energy Star for Congregations offers helpful resources for churches that are looking to decrease energy usage, including the Portfolio Manager tool that tracks your energy usage. 

Environmental Ministries would love to hear about what your church is doing to improve energy efficiency.  Please email Katie Holmes with any information you'd like to share.