Tuesday, June 15, 2021

Faith Leaders from Across the Country Call on Congress to Act On Climate, Justice, and Jobs

Washington, DC — Today, more than 3,400 faith leaders from across the United States called on Congress to support President Biden’s full American Jobs Plan in a letter to Congress. In the letter, faith leaders write “It is the moral responsibility of our nation, and our sacred task as people of faith, to care for our neighbors, our common home, and protect our children’s future. We must work for environmental justice and public health, and address the climate crisis.” 

They emphasize that leaders from many diverse faith traditions are united in their call for a bold economic recovery and an infrastructure package that creates family- and community-sustaining jobs while caring for this sacred earth.

From historic wildfires to record-breaking extreme weather, climate change is devastating our health and destroying our environment. Links between climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic have put low-wealth communities and communities of color at far greater health risks than others. COVID-19 has also exposed long-standing health care disparities, environmental injustices, and economic inequities in the United States. 

The American public is calling for bold action to reduce the carbon pollution that contributes to climate change and to accelerate the transition to pollution-free renewable energy. The American Jobs Plan would transform American infrastructure, rebuild the economy, create good-paying jobs, jumpstart clean energy development, and fight climate change in the process. It also commits 40% of the benefits of these investments to communities which have historically borne the brunt of pollution and environmental injustices.

Quotes from faith leaders:

Rev. Susan Hendershot, President of Interfaith Power & Light

“We need Congress to deliver economic recovery and infrastructure legislation that includes historic levels of investment to safeguard Creation, to address the harms of climate change and pollution caused by fossil fuel extraction and related industries, and to fulfill our moral obligation to leave a thriving world for our children and future generations.”

The Rev. Nathan Empsall, Executive Director of Faithful America and member of the Episcopal Task Force on Care of Creation and Environmental Racism

“Climate change is not a distant threat that will only affect far-away places in the far-off future. It’s here, it’s now, it’s a moral emergency, and it impacts every single issue Americans care about — from national security to health care to economic and racial justice. As faith leaders who represent large and diverse communities, we have seen firsthand the devastating impacts that larger hurricanes, wildfires, and droughts have on the American people, which is why we call on lawmakers to put people over profits and prioritize passing clean-energy infrastructure now.”

Elizabeth Chun Hye LEE, Executive for Economic and Environmental Justice and Climate Justice Lead, United Methodist Women

“Our elected officials must listen. Women of faith are deeply concerned about the current climate and moral crisis we are in. Women and children in the United States and around the world are disproportionately impacted by climate change and the current fossil fuel and nuclear energy economy.  We urge Congress to pass infrastructure legislation that will limit global warming to 1.5C and protect everyone’s health. This means investing in pollution free 100% renewable energy like wind and solar, electrifying transportation, modernizing our electric grid, and ensuring that funding is prioritized for communities most impacted: Indigenous, Black, people of color and low-wealth communities.”

Rabbi Jennie Rosenn, Founder & CEO, Dayenu: A Jewish Call to Climate Action

“The climate crisis is a moral crisis, which is why I’m joining with faith leaders across the country and faith traditions calling on Congress to deliver big and bold economic recovery and infrastructure legislation at the scale that science and justice demand. This legislation represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform our economy and society and build a more just and livable future. We cannot wait.”

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 9, 2021

100 Prominent Faith Leaders Converge on Capitol Hill, Urge Congress to Pass the American Jobs Plan and 100% Clean Electricity Standard

As negotiations for bill trail into summer, moral leaders urge speed and urgency in helping working families and the planet 

WASHINGTON, DC — With vital infrastructure negotiations ongoing, 100 nationally respected faith leaders convened on Capitol Hill to demand swift passage of President Joe Biden’s historic American Jobs Plan. Representing an array of religious backgrounds, leaders spoke, prayed, and sang to demand a 100 percent clean electricity standard (CES) that is an urgent step in addressing climate change.

Faith leaders offered prayers and teachings on the moral imperative to heal our economy and planet from runaway climate change. Speakers included Interfaith Power & Light President Rev. Susan Hendershot, Dayenu Founder and CEO Rabbi Jennie Rosenn, Green Ramadan Founder and Chair of Masjid Muhammad Green Team Kori Majeed, Strategy Team Leader for Care for Creation Committee at the Archdiocese of Washington Angela Wilson-Turnbull, and Founder and President of EcoSikh Dr. Rajwant Singh. 

“Faith leaders are rising to the occasion all across America with a simple message for Congress: Act now for working families and the climate,” said the Rev. Lennox Yearwood, a faith activist and President of the Hip Hop Caucus. “Today, at Congress’ front door, we are saying NOW is the time to pass a powerful, full version of the President’s American Jobs Plan, including 100% clean power. It’s a matter of right versus wrong.”

The gathering represents a growing chorus of faith leaders lifting their voices to bring attention to our climate emergency, including a group of Evangelical leaders who sent a detailed letter to Congress sounding the alarm and urging investments similar to those proposed in the American Jobs Plan. Additionally, a multi-faith coalition of faith groups is circulating a faith leader letter to Congress urging a infrastructure proposal that includes bold climate investments. It currently has over 1,500 signers and will be delivered next week.

“For many, this past pandemic year has felt like wandering in the desert. As we work toward recovery, we must remember what G-d tells the Israelites in the desert: ‘Lo b’shamayim hi. It is not in heaven.’ It is not beyond us,” said Rabbi Jennie Rosenn, Founder and CEO, Dayenu: A Jewish Call to Climate Action. “We can transform our society and economy. But in order to do so our policymakers need to have the vision and courage to pass economic recovery and infrastructure legislation that has big and bold investments in clean energy and transportation, a target of 100% clean electricity, and a commitment to environmental justice.” 

The US needs to invest trillions of dollars into building zero emission affordable housing units, replacing lead pipes, growing public transportation and electric vehicle use, creating walkable communities, promoting technological breakthroughs, launching a Climate Conservation Corps, expanding renewable electricity, and much more. The American Jobs Plan does all of this while investing massively in historically disadvantaged communities.

“As leaders from many diverse faith traditions, we are united in our call for Congress to pass the full American Jobs Plan with 100% clean electricity and strong investments in environmental justice,” said Rev. Susan Hendershot, President, Interfaith Power & Light. “It is the moral responsibility of our nation, and our sacred task as people of faith, to care for our neighbors and our common home, and to protect our children’s future. Now is the time for historic investments that create family and community sustaining jobs while caring for this sacred earth and our neighbors.”

A full 70 percent of religious Americans now believe global warming is a threat requiring action, according to a recent Yale-George Mason University poll.

“We’re not simply a small, progressive-minded wing of the U.S. faith community,” said

Mike Tidwell, a DC-area Presbyterian and director of the CCAN Action Fund. “Increasingly, we ARE the voice of faith voters who know future generations will judge the legislative choices we make today. The American Jobs Plan must pass, in full, right now, to meet our ethical responsibilities to future Americans.”

This action kicks off the larger “100 Leaders for 100% Clean Energy” summer series of events, organized to demonstrate the broad-based support that exists across the country for the American Jobs Plan and it’s 100% clean power provision. The event was co-hosted by Interfaith Power & Light, Dayenu, the Hip Hop Caucus, Evergreen Action, and CCAN Action Fund. 

Additional speakers and participants at the event were Founder and Executive Director of The People’s Justice Council and Alabama Interfaith Power & Light Rev. Michael Malcom, Speaker/Writer/Activist/Artist and President and Founder of Freedom Road Lisa Sharon Harper, Hip Hop Caucus Founder Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Senior Minister at the UU Congregation of Rockville MD Rev. Rebekah Savage, CCAN Action Fund Founder Mike Tidwell, Co-Founder and Director of One Earth Sangha Kristin Barker, Temple Rodef Shalom Cantor Rachel Rhodes, and Rev. Melanie Mullen who is the director for the Department of Reconciliation, Justice, Creation Care, at the Episcopal Church.

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The CCAN Action Fund is the advocacy arm of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, the oldest and largest grassroots organization dedicated exclusively to raising awareness about the impacts and solutions associated with global warming in the Chesapeake Bay region. For almost 20 years, CCAN has been at the center of the fight for clean energy and wise climate policy in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.

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. 

Dayenu: A Jewish Call to Climate Action aims to secure a just, livable, and sustainable world for all people for generations to come by building a multi-generational Jewish movement that confronts the climate crisis with spiritual audacity and bold political action.

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: April 28, 2021 

Interfaith Power & Light Response to Biden’s Joint Session Speech:  

Calls for Bold Federal Action to Advance Climate Justice  

Washington, DC– Today President Biden will address the Senate and Congress in a joint session speech. He is expected to outline his plans to work with Congress to achieve progress on jobs, justice, and climate by rebuilding our economy and tackling the climate crisis. In his first 100 days, President Biden has worked to advance economic recovery policies in an equitable manner, achieve environmental justice, and tackle the climate crisis. 

People of faith and conscience view the climate crisis as one of the defining moral issues of our time. A poll commissioned by Interfaith Power & Light found that more than 8 in 10 faith voters see their responsibility to care for God’s creation as a reason to act on the climate crisis. 

Interfaith Power & Light and its affiliates look forward to working with the Biden Administration and Congress to carry out our faithful commitment to care for our sacred earth and protect the vulnerable.

Interfaith Power & Light and IPL state affiliates released these statements about Biden’s speech:

Rev. Susan Hendershot, President of Interfaith Power & Light: “As people of faith, we are tasked with building a more just world—one that is in line with our moral values of justice, peace, and love for our neighbors and all of Creation. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have promised to get both the climate and COVID crises under control and to build back better with an equitable and just economy founded on cleaner energy sources, less pollution and the creation of millions of jobs. We have a moral imperative to create economic, racial, and climate justice for the most vulnerable populations in our communities and our common home.”

Leah Wiste, Executive Director of Michigan Interfaith Power & Light: “Low-income communities and communities of color are hit first and worst by climate change and experience disproportionate air and water pollution. President Biden’s plan helps give a voice to those communities with his climate agenda. We have an opportunity to create bold climate policy that not only centers the voices and needs of these communities, but that also advances racial and economic justice.” 

Susannah Tuttle, Director – North Carolina Interfaith Power & Light, a program of the North Carolina Council of Churches: “Even as his administration has focused on the pressing public health and economic crises of COVID-19, President Biden hasn’t overlooked the interconnectivity of these challenges with the climate crisis. He has tied solutions on jobs, justice, and climate together as central components of his recovery plan. In North Carolina, the American Jobs Plan will help to provide a historic opportunity to rev up our clean transportation future, bolster clean energy and grid infrastructure, tackle environmental injustice, and boost our defense against climate-induced disasters.”

Rev. Doug Bland, Executive Director of Arizona Interfaith Power & Light: “Last summer, with 53 days of 110 degrees or hotter and 144 days over 100 degrees, was Arizona’s hottest in recorded history. Since 2009 more than 2,000 people have died from exposure to excessive heat in Arizona. In a recent poll, 80% of registered Arizona voters said they were concerned about the wildfires, extended drought and heat waves. 70% want more government action on climate change.  The Biden Administration’s plans for more clean renewable energy, energy efficiency, cleaner cars, and better public transportation are a good start.”   

David Heayn-Menendez, Executive Director of Pennsylvania Interfaith Power & Light:  “We have a moral responsibility to future generations to protect God’s Creation. We need Congress to act swiftly to take bold and just action now to address climate change.”

Codi Norred, Executive Director of Georgia Interfaith Power & Light:

“Environmental justice must be the priority as President Biden continues to set climate policy at the federal level, and as Congress writes and passes climate legislation that will affect us all. Biden’s plan will help support communities across Georgia dealing with the environmental impacts of sea level rise, leaking coal ash ponds, and unjust energy burden. It’s an extraordinary opportunity to protect Americans’ health, care for Creation, and create a more inclusive, sustainable economy.”

Peter Bakken, Statewide Coordinator for Wisconsin Interfaith Power & Light: “We can’t just return to the way things were before the pandemic. Even then, our society suffered from economic inequality and racial disparities and our dirty energy economy was on a collision course with climate catastrophe. Building back better means moving to 100% clean energy in an equitable manner. Building back better will improve the lives and health of all Wisconsinites, revitalize our economy, protect our precious air, lands and water, and bequeath a safe climate for our children and grandchildren. President Biden’s climate and energy plan will help Wisconsin’s people and communities not only to survive, but to thrive.”  

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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 Applauds Biden Administration Proposal to Reinstate State Authority to Limit Pollution

Press Statement

For Immediate Release: April 19th, 2021

Five Congregations Awarded for Climate Leadership

Interfaith Power & Light Announces ‘Cool Congregations’ Challenge Winners —

Innovative projects installed solar, upgraded church facilities, and sequestered carbon by restoring native habitat

OAKLAND, Calif., April 20, 2021 — Interfaith Power & Light (IPL) is pleased to announce the five national 2021 Cool Congregations Challenge winners. The annual contest accepts applications from religious congregations around the United States who are addressing global warming in their facilities by reducing their carbon footprint and creating models of sustainability within their communities.

Winners were selected from 70 entries across five categories: Cool Planner, Sacred Grounds Steward, Energy Saver, Renewable Role Model, and Community Inspiration. “The Cool Congregations Challenge winners this year undertook a wide range of creative and inspiring projects to care for Creation and promote climate justice in their communities,” said Rev. Susan Hendershot, IPL president.

Winners included: a student-led initiative to install solar on a Catholic church school in Detroit; new heat pumps to replace fossil fuel heat sources in a rectory of a small church in Massachusetts; sequestering carbon and capturing rainwater by restoring land to its native habitat at a Presbyterian church in Maryland; cutting carbon emissions by 36 tons with upgraded lighting in Colorado; and an Islamic Center in Lansing, MI who first installed their own solar, then made a gift to their neighboring Lutheran church to help them install a new solar array. Each inspiring winner will receive a $1,000 prize. See the list of winning congregations below and read more here.

“These five 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. Hendershot.

The Cool Congregations Challenge shows that people of faith are united by concerns about climate change and are taking action – with or without support of government policies. The winners provide strong moral role models for their communities, and their activities have a ripple effect. These congregations’ success should also encourage the Biden Administration to increase the ambition of our international climate commitments, and commit to cut U.S. emissions by at least 50% by 2030 (see letter sent to Biden, here: https://www.interfaithpowerandlight.org/2021/04/faith-leaders-call-on-biden-administration-to-step-up-climate-commitments/

Listed below are the five $1,000 prize-winners by Category:

Community Inspiration 🙏🏽

Islamic Center of Greater Lansing

920 S. Harrison Rd

East Lansing, Michigan 48823

Contact: Thasin Sardar

[email protected]

517-944-5056

Energy Saver 💡

 Church of Our Saviour

21 Marathon Street

Arlington, Massachusetts 02474

Contact: Ginger Webb

[email protected]

339-368-1228

Renewable Role Model ☀

Gesu Detroit Church and School

17180 Oak Drive

Detroit, Michigan 48221

Contact: Fr. Phil Cooke

[email protected]

313-608-0170

Sacred Grounds 🌳

Woods Memorial Presbyterian Church

611 Baltimore Annapolis Blvd

Severna Park, Maryland 21146

Contact: Karen Royer

[email protected]

410-647-2638

Cool Congregations Planner 📋

First Plymouth Congregational

3501 South Colorado Blvd.

Englewood, Colorado 80133

Contact: Larry Strawser

[email protected]

240-205-5974

To interview any of the winners, contact Sarah Paulos at [email protected]