Interfaith Power & Light

A Religious Response to Global Warming

With Country on Road to Recovery, Interfaith Power & Light Joins New National Coalition Says We Need to #ACTNow to Build Better Future with More Jobs, Justice, and Climate Solutions

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, April 1, 2021

Contact: Tiffany Hartung, tiffany [at] interfaithpowerandlight.org

With Country on Road to Recovery, Interfaith Power & Light Joins New National Coalition — Says We Need to #ACTNow to Build Better Future with More Jobs, Justice, and Climate Solutions

The #ACTNow Campaign, composed of Interfaith Power & Light and 13 other groups operating in 12 states with 10 million members between them, launches campaign in support of a #BuildBackBetter Plan and Infrastructure Investments

Washington, DC — President Joe Biden should invest significantly across the economy to create good-paying jobs, safeguard Creation, address the impacts of climate change on our most vulnerable neighbors, and fulfill our moral obligation to leave a habitable world for future generations. This is why Interfaith Power & Light joined a new advocacy campaign launched Thursday, the day after Biden unveiled his economic vision during a speech in Pittsburgh.

 Interfaith Power & Light joined a coalition of 13 other organizations operating in 12 states and counting 10 million members among them in the launch of the ACT (Accelerate Clean Transition) Now campaign to advance the investments we need to meet the crises we face. The #ACTNow campaign is advocating for a real plan to #BuildBackBetter that promises: 

  • New economic opportunity and jobs for all; 
  • Equitable access to those opportunities, particularly in communities that have long borne the brunt of the impacts from a dirty economy; and
  • Solutions to the climate crisis facing current and future generations by creating a clean economy that can protect us and grow our economy.

“As people of faith and conscience, we are tasked with building a more just world—one that is in line with our moral values of protecting our most vulnerable siblings and being faithful stewards of the Earth,” said  Rev. Susan Hendershot, President, Interfaith Power & Light. “We have an extraordinary and historic opportunity to invest in the future we envision, with a safer climate, an equitable and inclusive economy, and modern clean energy infrastructure that improves our daily lives.”

Targeted investments in clean energy infrastructure will reduce pollution, fix bridges and roadways, greatly expand access to electric vehicles and charging stations, build out equitable housing and public transportation, and improve the health of our communities. These investments will provide millions of good-paying union jobs for workers across the country and elevate the quality of life for all Americans, particularly in marginalized communities that have borne the brunt of fossil fuel pollution and climate disasters.

Along with Interfaith Power & Light, the #ACTNow campaign is composed of the American Lung Association, Center for American Progress, Earthjustice, Environment America, Environmental Defense Fund, League of Conservation Voters, Natural Resources Defense Council, National Wildlife Federation, Next Gen America, Sierra Club, Union of Concerned Scientists, US Climate Action Network, National Hispanic Medical Association, and WeAct for Environmental Justice. 

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Interfaith Power & Light is a national nonprofit organization with 40 state affiliates and 22,000 congregations in all 50 states. IPL inspires and mobilizes people of faith and conscience to take bold and just action on climate change. 

Washington Report- March 2021

Washington Report - Feb 2021

Greetings from DC! Locally, the District is gearing up for two annual traditions: cherry blossom season, and Congressional hearings full of new and surprising reasons why the District shouldn’t be a state. 

While it’s true DC doesn’t have any landfills (apparently an important part of the statehood process to some), it does have over 700,000 Americans with no voting rights in Congress. More than half of those 700,000 Americans are Black or Latinx, and the vast majority don’t work in the federal government. So if your friends or family (or elected officials) start questioning the case for DC statehood, share some knowledge! With a new Congress and President, this could just be the year that the seat of our democracy becomes fully democratic.

In other congressional news…

Covid relief

The American Rescue Plan Act, President Biden’s $1.9 trillion relief act, passed Congress and was signed into law. This much-needed funding will support everything from food assistance to jobless benefits to rental assistance and more. Specifically, Interfaith Power & Light was happy to see the inclusion of these priorities that we had been sharing with congressional offices:

  • $4.5 billion for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and $500 million for clean water and sewer programs.
  • $30 billion for public transit systems across the country.
  • $100 million for pollution monitoring and mitigation in environmental justice communities. As the pandemic rages on, we’ve gotten more and more data showing that Covid-19 is deadliest in the communities with the most pollution. The fact that Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC)  have been forced to bear an unfair burden of pollution for decades contributes to the virus’s devastating impact in BIPOC communities.

Infrastructure package

With the filibuster still firmly in place, the best chance we have for climate action is through another budget reconciliation bill. Budget reconciliation, unlike normal bills, can be passed by the Senate with a simple majority vote.

This bill, yet to be introduced, will focus on rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure, and we want to make sure that it includes our priorities. We must ensure that investments in infrastructure are safeguarding Creation, addressing the impacts of climate change on our most vulnerable neighbors, and fulfilling our moral obligation to leave a habitable world for future generations. Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) communities, as well as low-income communities, have been hit the hardest by the triple health, economic, and environmental crises we face, and the needs of these communities must be at the center of any infrastructure plan.

Click here to see a detailed one-pager on our priorities for an infrastructure bill. Congress is working to introduce legislation by Memorial Day, so now is the perfect time to be meeting with your legislators and sharing these priorities.

For the People Act (H.R. 1 / S. 1)

Next up on the congressional agenda is the For the People Act. This important legislation would protect and expand voting rights, take steps to remove fossil fuel dark money from political campaigns, and limit partisan gerrymandering. It has already passed the House, and now you can join us in sending the message that the Senate should pass it with a simple majority vote.

Valuing all voices, not just the most powerful, is a basic tenet of both our faith traditions and any functioning democracy. Furthermore, racist voter suppression laws have been introduced across the country, with some specifically targeting Black churches ability to turn out their congregants. 

The Senate is considering changing filibuster rules to allow the passage of civil rights legislation with a simple majority vote, and you can join us in sending a message of support for this legislation by clicking here.

RECLAIM Act (H.R. 1733)

This is legislation IPL has worked on for several years, recently reintroduced for the new session. It would authorized $1 billion for clean up work and economic development in communities with abandoned mines. You can see here how much funding your state would be in line for under this bill. It’s a good candidate for being included in an infrastructure bill, with more on that above.

Environmental Justice for All Act (H.R. to come)

This is also legislation IPL has worked on in the past, recently reintroduced by Rep. Donald McEachin (VA). In addition to providing more funding for pollution monitoring and mitigation in environmental justice communities (as was included in the Covid relief package), this bill would ensure that the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act consider the cumulative impact of multiple polluters on a community. 

This would go a long way towards stopping the creation of environmental sacrifice zones—areas where regulators have allowed multiple large polluters to gather in the same community. Although each polluter is individually under legal pollution limits, their collective impact is often far above safe levels. The bill has many more important provisions, and you can learn more about the legislation here.

 

MEDIA RELEASE

For Immediate Release: March 17th, 2021 

Contact: Tiffany Hartung, tiffany [at] interfaithpowerandlight.org

More Than 500 Faith Leaders and Clergy Call on President Biden to Stop the Line 3 Tar Sands Pipeline in Minnesota

Washington DC- Faith groups delivered a letter from 520 clergy, faith leaders, and leaders of religious communities in 43 states and the District of Columbia to the Biden Administration requesting President Biden stop the Line 3 tar sands pipeline in Minnesota, and all other fossil fuel projects that have federal jurisdiction.

The letter can be viewed here.

Enbridge’s Line 3 is a pipeline expansion that will bring nearly one million barrels of tar sands oil per day from Alberta, Canada to Superior, Wisconsin. The new pipeline corridor runs through untouched wetlands, the treaty territory of Anishinaabe peoples, and the Mississippi River headwaters to the shores of Lake Superior. 

The letter from faith leaders applauds the President’s executive actions, including the stopping of the Keystone XL pipeline, and asks him as a devout Catholic to be brave and faithful and to stop the Line 3 pipeline as well. 

It goes on to say “All of our faith and spiritual traditions teach us that we must care for sacred earth. In your inaugural address, you said ‘a cry for survival comes from the planet itself.’ We hear that cry, it is being sung by our Indigenous siblings standing in the cold Minnesota winter against this destruction of the sacred. Join their prayer and stand against Line 3.” 

The letter calls for urgent action by President Biden as Line 3 construction is underway, violating the treaty rights of the Anishinaabe peoples. It also calls for an end to all other fossil fuel projects in the United States, and for the President to build back from COVID-19 in a way that is fossil free. 

Almost 200 water protectors have been arrested since December in nonviolent action opposing the pipeline in the path of construction. Enbridge is on schedule to drill under dozens of major rivers, including the Mississippi River Headwaters twice this spring. Enbridge is the company responsible for the largest inland oil spill in United States’ history in Grand Rapids, MN, in 1991. 

Faith leaders across the country and world stand with water protectors on the ground and are calling for President Biden to reject Line 3 and all other fossil fuel projects. Faith leaders released the following statements in response:

“Bulldozers have begun plowing through sacred wild rice watersheds, eight hundred wetlands, and two hundred plus bodies of water in Ojibwe treaty territory,” said Bishop Craig Loya of the Episcopal Church in Minnesota. “Indigenous water protectors are fighting to protect their land, while the police are militarizing and Enbridge’s drill is preparing to burrow under the headwaters of the Mississippi River with millions of barrels of tar sands oil. We need President Biden to act right now.”

“We have a moral obligation to stand with our Indigenous siblings to stop the Line 3 pipeline in order to protect their treaty rights, to prevent further destruction of this sacred planet, and to avert further climate disasters,” said Rev. Susan Hendershot, president of Interfaith Power & Light. “Our children, grandchildren, and future generations are counting on us to align our values with our policies.”

“Killing the planet is against all of our religions, yet that is exactly what is happening,” said Rev. Fletcher Harper, Executive Director of GreenFaith. “Last week, there were over 400 multi-faith actions across the world calling for an end to fossil fuels and a just transition to a renewable, equitable economy. All eyes are on the Biden administration to see whether he will stand up to the fossil fuel industry and stop allowing destruction of land, water, and climate. We hope he shows the leadership the world needs by stopping Line 3, DAPL, and all other fossil fuel projects.”

“For far too long, our church forebears helped cause the many environmental threats now facing God’s creation, Indigenous lifeways, and the common good,” said The Rev. Nathan Empsall, Faithful America campaigns director. “Faithful America’s grassroots Christian members recognize that our faith calls us to support Native-led healing solutions as a key way of loving our neighbors. That’s why we’re calling on President Biden to build back better by respecting tribal self-determination and rejecting the climate-killing Line 3 tar sands pipeline once and for all.”

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https://www.interfaithpowerandlight.org/2021/03/15753/

Interfaith Power & Light Applauds Confirmation of EPA Administrator Nominee Michael Regan

Press Statement

For Immediate Release: March 10th, 2021

 

Interfaith Power & Light Applauds Confirmation of EPA Administrator Nominee Michael Regan

Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Senate voted today to confirm EPA administrator nominee Michael Regan. 

In response, Interfaith Power & Light’s President, Rev. Susan Hendershot, released this statement:

“As people of faith and conscience, we support a science-based approach to climate action in order to build a world in line with our moral values of justice, courage, and love for all of Creation. Administrator Regan has proven that he is deeply committed to environmental stewardship based on current scientific research in order to protect all communities. With Michael Regan at the helm, the EPA will help ensure economic, racial, and climate justice for those who have been disproportionately burdened by pollution and the impacts of a warming planet. We look forward to working with Administrator Regan to ensure the protection of human health and the environment.”

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Interfaith Power & Light is a national nonprofit organization with 40 state affiliates and 22,000 congregations in all 50 states. IPL inspires and mobilizes people of faith and conscience to take bold and just action on climate change.

Interfaith Power & Light Urges Senate Confirmation of EPA Nominee Michael Regan

Press Statement

For Immediate Release: February 3, 2020

Interfaith Power & Light Urges Senate Confirmation of EPA Nominee Michael Regan

Washington, DC– The Senate is expected to vote on President Biden’s EPA administrator nominee Michael Regan this week. 

In response, Interfaith Power & Light’s President Rev. Susan Hendershot released this statement:

“As people of faith and conscience, we support a science-based approach to climate action in order to build a world in line with our moral values of justice, courage, and love for all of Creation. Michael Regan has proven that he is deeply committed to environmental stewardship based on current scientific research in order to protect all communities. With Regan at the helm, the EPA will help ensure economic, racial, and climate justice for the most vulnerable populations in our communities and our common home. The Senate must quickly confirm Regan as EPA administrator to ensure the protection of human health and the environment.”

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Interfaith Power & Light is a national nonprofit organization with 40 state affiliates and 22,000 congregations in all 50 states. IPL inspires and mobilizes people of faith and conscience to take bold and just action on climate change.

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