GA06122

A carbon-neutral GA? Almost

Hunger Program invests in renewable energy sources to ‘offset' oil and coal energy used to fuel 217th GA

by Corey Schlosser-Hall

BIRMINGHAM, June 21 — Following the example of Presbyterians for Restoring Creation, the PC(USA)'s Hunger, Peacemaking, and Environmental Justice programs — with the help of a company called NativeEnergy, Inc. — chose to invest in renewable-energy projects to "offset" the carbon emissions of this General Assembly.

The idea was sparked by Rebecca Barnes-Davies, director of Presbyterians for Restoring Creation, and Andrew Kang Bartlett, associate for National Hunger Concerns of the Presbyterian Hunger Program.

Christie Boyd, PC(USA) mission co-worker in Cameroon, works with people and communities who are negatively impacted by the Chad-Cameroon oil-and-pipeline project. She said such places as Cameroon and Chad embrace oil production because such countries as the U.S. are rich and dependent enough to purchase it.

One of many strategies to reduce our dependence on imported oil is to invest in such renewable sources of energy as wind energy, sun energy and methane projects, she said.

According to estimates by NativeEnergy, this General Assembly will emit 168 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere from what Bartlett called "dirty energy" — non-renewable energy produced from oil and coal. That estimate is based on calculations of the energy used to run the BJCC facility and energy used to power hotel accommodations for delegates and observers.

In response, the PC(USA) Hunger Program invested $1,939 in two projects — a wind farm being developed on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation in South Dakota, and the Dovan family dairy farm's methane project in Pennsylvania.

The investment will help "offset" the 84.3 tons of CO2 emissions from the conference. Developing renewable-energy technologies such as wind and methane can reduce our use of oil and coal energy, which in turn will reduce our dependence on imported oil.