January 2012
Dear MIP&L members and friends,
Make Lent an opportunity to enter into a spiritual discipline of fasting from carbon.
Last year, over 6,000,000 people in every state and 14 countries participated in a daily invitation to fast from carbon as their Lenten discipline. Initiated by the UCC in 2011 and endorsed by Episcopalians in 2012 and promoted in countless places the world over, here's our hope:
SIGN UP ... and:
- email this invitation to the people in your congregation, tell them you'll be participating, AND
- convene a weekly Lenten discussion focusing on the Carbon Fast. MAKE THIS YOUR LENTEN PROGRAM!
- And if you're part of a local clergy association, email it to your colleagues, too.
If you are a denominational leader – SIGN UP... and:
- email this invitation to the pastors in your region, AND
- email this invitation to your regional colleagues who lead other denominations.
AND FOR ALL WHO MAY PARTICIPATE:
For hundreds of years, Ash Wednesday (February 22, 2012) marks the beginning of a time when many people of faith engage in spiritual disciplines involving repentance, fasting, prayer, study and works of love. Living as we are at a time when our actions – along with the actions of only a few generations – have threatened creation as we know it by the excessive burning of fossil fuel, it is fitting to engage in a spiritual discipline of fasting from carbon.
Click here to join us as we commit to fasting from carbon during Lent.
Here's how it works:
Beginning Ash Wednesday and throughout Lent, participants will receive a daily email with the day's suggested carbon-reducing activity. When possible, this will include a quantitative measure of the carbon reduction resulting from the activity.
Organize an opportunity within your congregation for members to meet each week during Lent to discuss their own experience with this fast, AND specifically to discuss the weekly themes which focus on how your congregation can engage this issue.
MASS IP&L Speakers Bureau
Are you concerned about climate change or energy efficiency and looking for a way to generate some energy in your congregation? MIP&L's Speaker's Bureau has speakers to address most aspects of the issue. And we'll tell you the truth.
- Trying to understand the science of climate change? We have scientists and science educators who can help you cut to the heart of the matter.
- Want to make your house of worship the most energy-efficient one in town? Learn how from a nationally known expert on congregational energy efficiency!
- Thinking about putting a solar panel on your house of worship? We can talk about that.
- Do you think climate change is an important moral issue, but others in your congregation aren't talking about it? We have experienced preachers, who can give a sermon or make a presentation after service. For more information, contact Vince Maraventano @ vince@MIPandL.org.
NOAH CHALLENGE — Deadline Extended until April 15, 2012
Looking for a Lenten or spring project that you can sink your teeth into? Mobilize your congregation to obtain no-cost home energy assessments. Take the next step and upgrade your insulation and you'll earn $50 that your congregation can use to start an energy-efficiency fund.
Mark your calendars for the April 15th Deadline. (I bet that date is already marked!)
Contact Vince Maraventano at Vince@MIPandL.org.
Can We Talk About Climate Change?
MIP&L's motto is "Faith in Action for Creation". We don't run around in circles endlessly debating predictions about climate change. We aren't prophets of doom and we talk mostly solutions – about conservation, energy efficiency and renewable energy. Maxwell Bykoff, an author and professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder has noticed some interesting changes in the public dialogue about climate change. He points to a Brown University study that shows that the Obama administration's discussion of "climate change" has been replaced by calls for "clean energy" and "energy independence."
Click here for the full report on the Brown University study.
Mention of "climate change" and "global warming" dropped by a third between 2010 and 2011 according to a survey of 50 newspapers in 20 countries.
At the same time, a University of Maryland poll of 1,500 Catholics and Evangelicals suggests that nearly 8 in 10 believe that the U.S. should support a global agreement to reduce emissions and nearly 60% believe it would be morally wrong to violate any such treaty. Unfortunately, in the same poll, Catholics and Evangelicals confusion about the science corresponds with the public at large. Around 40% of US citizens believe that most scientists are in agreement that humans are causing climate change while the same number believe there is a wide gulf among scientists.
Last year the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences published a report saying that 97 percent of climate scientists agree that humans are the primary drivers of climate change. To see other findings in the poll, click here.
Has climate change become a subject that's too hot to handle? Can you talk about climate change in your congregation? What do you think? We'd like to know your opinion.
Public Policy Briefs
Mass. bill on community access to energy efficiency programs and green jobs (H. 1774)
Energy efficiency is one of the most cost-effective ways to reduce energy bills, keep our energy dollars at home, grow local jobs, and reduce pollution. This legislation would create an oil heat and propane efficiency fund and an independent trust to oversee the development and administration of cost-effective energy efficiency programs for heating oil and propane consumers. Similar to the Commonwealth's natural gas efficiency programs, these programs will be designed to provide consumers with technical assistance and financial incentives to invest in cost-saving efficiency measures such as weatherization, heating system upgrades, and insulation.
This bill is sponsored by Rep. Sciortino. It has 32 additional co-sponsors and is supported by the Green Justice Coalition and Boston Climate Action Network. It was favorably reported out of committee and is now in the House Ways and Means Committee. For more information go to
http://www.malegislature.gov/Bills/187/House/H01774
Upcoming Events
Mass. Interfaith Power & Light Sustainable House of Worship (SHOW)/ Green Grants Training
Learn how to lower the energy bills and carbon emissions at your house of worship!
Saturday Feb 11, 9 - 1, Epiphany Church, 62 Front Street, Walpole, MA. Register at:
http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=
a07e5f638ic2b068326&llr=s4blzzbab
SAVE THE DATE: Bill McKibben Coming to Boston in April
Author and activist Bill McKibben will be preaching at Boston University at 11:00am on Wednesday, April 25th.
The address is 735 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA. For directions go to: http://www.bu.edu/chapel/about/directions/
Look for details in our next newsletter.
Many thanks to those of you who responded to our appeal to help us meet our fundraising goal of $14,000 so that we could maximize the benefits of the matching grant given to us by the national Interfaith Power & Light organization. We met that goal! Your ongoing support is very much appreciated.
Peace and blessings,
Your friends at MIP&L