Return to:  Annual Report Introduction

 

FAITH COMMUNITY STATUS REPORT FOR 2008 - 2009

Prepared by William H. Cutler, Feb. 17, 2009

 

The Faith Community segment of CEAP is represented by the Peninsula/SouthBay  Working Group of California Interfaith Power & Light (CIPL).  CIPL was founded by Rev. Canon Sally Bingham, who is currently Environmental Minister at Grace Episcopal Cathedral and chairs the Commission on the Environment for the Diocese of California where she was installed as Canon for Environmental Ministry. She is also the President and Founder of The Regeneration Project, the parent organization of all the state Interfaith Power and Light organizations. Members of  CIPL are congregations of all faiths that subscribe to CIPL’s Mission: Galvanizing a faith-based response to global warming as the moral issue of our  time.

 

The Peninsula/SouthBay Working Group’s activities following its inception on Oct. 28, 2007, have been to hold monthly meetings on topics relating to the Mission, and to hold biannual Clergy Luncheons for the purpose of introducing clergy to environmental issues and supporting them in responding to those issues within their congregations.  The Working Group is also organized around Action Teams that focus on various specific topic areas relating to environmental stewardship.

 

WORKING GROUP MEETINGS

 

Oct. 28, 2007:  Video highlights of the Midpeninsula Interfaith Convocation on Climate Action

Jan. 18, 2008 WG meeting:  Kickoff meeting of the Working Group

Feb. 29, 2008 WG meeting:  Having your congregation/organization get started

May 13, 2008 WG meeting:  Let There Be Light! -- What three active congregations/organizations are doing

July 16, 2008 WG outing/meeting:  At the Presentation Conference and Retreat Center, featuring a visit by Dartmouth students' Big Green Bus

Sep. 15, 2008 WG meeting:  Faith & Politics: Taking Action to Protect the Climate

Nov. 11, 2008 WG meeting:  CEAP - and planet-friendly food, 100-Mile Feast, and low carbon holidays

Jan. 14, 2009 WG meeting:  Solar Power Financing and Ethical Banking

 

Future meetings:

 

Feb. 23, 2009 WG meeting:  Earth Day planning (April 22) and Energy Efficiency with presenters from Acterra’s Green at Home and Cool Congregations programs and HomeZ, a company that specializes in home energy audits

Tue, March 31, 2009 7-9 pm:  General Working Group Meeting.  Location: Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto, Main Hall, 505 Charleston Road, Palo Alto (1 block west of Middlefield).  Topic: Water

Thur., May 14, 2009 7-9 pm:  General Working Group Meeting.  Topic: Transportation

Sun, June 28  afternoon:  Family event/outing

 

CLERGY LUNCHEONS

 

June 25, 2008 Clergy Luncheon:  Rev. Sally Bingham on the clergy's special role; also, the JobTrain center.

Feb. 12, 2009 Clergy Luncheon:  Climate Change Science and the Role of Clergy, Resources for Clergy for addressing the spiritual and practical sides of climate change. Talks by Rev. Eileen Altman of 1st Congregational Church of Palo Alto and Rev. Charlotte Myers.

Late May/Early June:  Clergy Luncheon.  Topic, Guests and Location TBD

 

OTHER EVENTS

 

CIPL was co-sponsor of “Walking Lightly on the Earth: An Interfaith Retreat on Care for Creation” the weekend of October 31 at Ben Lomond Quaker Center in the Santa Cruz mountains. Thirty participants shared inspirational prose, poetry (by firelight, when the power failed during a storm), music, and silent communion with the natural world.  The lead-off speaker was Jon Young, cofounder of the Wilderness Awareness School; the evening featured speaker was poet/teacher/activist Drew Dellinger.  Other sponsors were Pacific Yearly Meeting Committee on Unity with Nature (Quakers), Acterra, and EarthLight.

 

ACTION TEAMS

 

The primary work of the Working Group is accomplished by the Action Teams -- small groups of people who self-select based on the topics they want to work on.  Currently the Action Teams and their suggested agendas are:

 

0) Steering Committee -- Leader and Convener of the Working group:

Marianna Grossman Keller

(mailto:marianna@kellers.org)

 

1) Clergy Education

Quarterly luncheon with speaker and time for sharing questions, ideas, encouragement

 

2) Getting Started -- Leader: Rev. Margo Tenold

(mailto:revmargo@att.net)

Providing materials, guides and referrals to help congregations organize for action by doing the following:

a) Sign the CIPL covenant

b) Consider having your congregation become a certified Green Business – a great, free program

c) Support spiritual practice, education, facilities, members action at home, work and in community

d) Provide resources

e) Post videoclips of success stories on YouTube

f) Answer Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) on climate science (separating truth from fiction

g) Support groups for low carbon living/action

h) Collect and share spiritual texts/resources from the spectrum of faiths to motivate action

 

3) Renewable energy and energy efficiency -- Leader: Max Greenberg

a) energy audit and lighting retrofit

b) other energy efficiency measures

c) purchasing or leasing renewable energy

d) ethical finance

e) loan fund or other methods of financing PV, Energystar appliances, etc.

 

4) Water -- Leader: Ben Hammet

(mailto:ben_h@uucpa.org)

a) audit by Water-Wise Consulting at (866) 685-2322, for Santa Clara County businesses and residences, funding available to replace toilets, showerheads and other water regulation resources.

b) also check out Water Efficient Technologies (WET) program for Santa Clara County Businesses

c) Download the Pacific Institute's report "More With Less: Agricultural Water Conservation and Efficiency in California”

 

Water Team Actions Completed

On January 31, as part of the Water Team’s volunteer activities for CEAP: Walk to Build Community, Prepare for Disasters and Take Action on Climate Change, 106 brochures were delivered to Palo Alto residences which included suggestions for reducing water use and estimates of how much CO2 reduction would result from taking shorter showers and using low flow shower heads. The Water Team Leader is also participating in the Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry’s Climate/Water Justice Steering Committee and its education team.

 

5) Waste reduction and recycling -- Leader: Claire Felong (mailto:Claire@redwoodhouse.com)

a) bulk purchasing of "green" products

b) include custodial staff in the process of instituting recycling program(s)

c) food composting (e.g., Roche in Palo Alto)

 

This team and team 7 -- Sustainable Food -- have a Yahoo email group for sharing lots of good ideas. You can see their messages, and sign up for the group if you like, at FoodFaithZeroWaste.

 

6) Political action/lobbying –- Leader: Susan Chamberlain (mailto:suschamberlain@comcast.net)

a) get media to include climate change in the Presidential campaign.

b) host a debate-watching party

c) compare candidates on environmental policies

 

7) Sustainable food -- Leader: Joan Ferguson

(mailto:jcandm@svpal.org)

a) community garden? composting?

b) education on link between what we eat and the health of the environment, climate and farmers

c) low carbon diet support groups (eating local, sustainably grown food, etc.)

 

This team and team 5 -- Waste Reduction & Recycling -- have a Yahoo email group for sharing lots of good ideas. You can see their messages, and sign up for the group if you like, at FoodFaithZeroWaste.

 

8) Transportation -- Leader: Norma Jean Bodey

a) carpools and public transit to events and services (including our interfaith working group meetings!)

b) bulk purchase of hybrid or plug-in hybrid cars

c) start biodiesel cooperative

 

9) Take action on Earth Day (week/month) -- Leader: Jessica Brown

Join with City of Palo Alto – Mar. 30 energy, Apr. 5 water, Apr. 12 waste reduction, Apr. 17 film festival, Apr. 19 transportation

 

10) Outreach and Philosophy –- interim Leader: Lee Erman

a) locate/provide materials to inform, especially for those people of faith who are still skeptical about the need for action

b) help shift from "culture of shortage" to one of meeting non-material needs with non-material means

c) reach out to congregations in lower income areas

 

INDIVIDUAL CONGREGATION ACTIVITIES

 

Congregation Etz Chayim in Palo Alto held a session during the Yom Kippur day adult education sessions on climate change. The Congregation’s board has asked one of the committees to look at how the Congregation should get more involved in other climate change activities.

 

Congregation Kol Emeth completed an energy audit funded by City of Palo Alto Utilities and a water audit courtesy of Santa Clara Valley Water Authority. The lighting system was retrofitted with help from Right Lights and plans were made for replacing old heating and air conditioning systems with more energy efficient models. The Valley Transportation Authority donated a high-quality bike rack which was installed to encourage bicycle commuting. The Board agreed to have future remodeling projects strive to meet green standards. The Kol Emeth Green committee maintains an educational bulletin board and publishes occasional columns in the monthly newsletter.

 

First Presbyterian Church of Palo Alto Has a Cool Planet Working Group that educates the congregation and community on global warming issues and conducts activities to reduce the carbon footprint of the congregation’s facility and the homes of congregants.

Activities during the past year were:

 

1. We applied for and met the initial round of requirements for Green

Business Certification from Santa Clara County.

2. Held a series of 6 adult education classes on "the Challenge of

Climate Change: What we can Do"

3. Led a paperless Earth Day service and held a "green fair" featuring

green power options, alternative transportation and sold green

products.

4. Offered a 3 part series on bicycle safety and maintenance.

5. Replaced a lawn with drought tolerant plants.

6. Launched a congregation wide 6 month Cool Campaign in partnership

with Acterra. 65% of our congregation signed up to lower their carbon

footprint by adopting new habits via monthly challenges. Our launch

was accompanied by a 100 mile lunch, using foods and ingredients from within

a radius of 100 miles.

 

Grace Lutheran Church held a letter-writing day on January 11 that produced 44 letters to then president-elect Obama and our House and Senate representatives encouraging them to fulfill their promises to focus on Earth Stewardship and Climate Change as important parts of their agendas.