Living lightly on God’s creation
Global warming — today’s ‘breaking news’— is not news to Presbyterians long committed to caring for the Earth
By Rebecca Barnes-Davies and Jenny Holmes
© istockphoto / Andrew JohnsonTimothy Denherder-Thomas was a child in New Jersey when the 1990 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) first declared “its serious concern” about climate change. The Assembly warned that “the global atmospheric warming trend (the greenhouse effect) represents one of the most serious global environmental challenges to the health, security, and stability of human life and natural ecosystems...”
As a freshman last year at Presbyterian-related Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn., Denherder-Thomas worked with other students to build a “green roof” — two inches of soil planted with hardy groundcover plants and asters — on a campus building called the Fishbowl, a passage between two student dorms. This “green roof” improves insulation (reducing heating and cooling needs), reduces run-off and lengthens the lifespan of the roof. He has also helped to create a revolving environmental fund to support campus sustainability initiatives such as energy efficiency and renewable energy development.
Like many of his peers, Denherder-Thomas grew up with a sense that it is time to re-examine the way people relate to the planet. “Acting environmentally is not solely a responsibility, or even a charitable cause,” he says. “It is a vital part of our faith and participation in the ongoing wonder of creation.”
A revolutionary call to ‘carbon-neutral’ living
© Deborah BenbrookDenherder-Thomas and others in the PCUSA were educating about and advocating for care of creation long before global warming became “breaking news.” The PCUSA’s General Assembly has made four statements in the past 16 years about global warming — the ways human activities are warming the earth’s temperature and changing the climate.
The 2006 Assembly passed a resolution encouraging all Presbyterians to live “carbon-neutral” lives. It was a call for church members to take responsibility for the greenhouse gas emissions generated by their cars, plane trips and home appliances by reducing them and purchasing “carbon offsets” (see “Green glossary,” below). The action received little media attention, but the implications “are revolutionary,” says John Topping, president of the Climate Institute in Washington, D.C. “This appears to be the first time that a major religious denomination in any nation has called on each of its members to bear witness to their faith by becoming carbon neutral.”
Church statements were reinforced this past winter by reports of melting glaciers and endangered polar bears and growing interest in Al Gore’s 2006 documentary, An Inconvenient Truth. In February a United Nations panel released a report on climate change hammered out by hundreds of scientists and reviewed by representatives of 113 governments around the world. The report says there is a 90-percent probability that emissions from fossil fuels and other human activities are to blame for global warming.
One family’s response
Renewable energy: At a hydro-powered food processing plant developed 10 years ago by the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon, grinding machines are driven by a large wheel powered by a waterfallRick Ufford-Chase, executive director of the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship and former General Assembly moderator, and his wife, Kitty, have attempted to significantly reduce their “ecological footprint” (the amount of the Earth’s resources they consume). They and their 12-year-old son, Teo, share a 4,000-square-foot house (divided into five small apartments) in Tucson, Ariz., with six other adults and a teenager.
They have shifted 90 percent of their food purchases to local growers and a community food co-op. They purchased a Volkswagen with a diesel engine converted to run on used vegetable oil from restaurant fryers.
“As I traveled during my moderatorial term,” Ufford-Chase says, “I realized that the impact of my air travel was far greater than all the things my family and I were doing to try to reduce our ecological impact at home. This matters, not only because we are trying to be responsible world citizens, but also for reasons that are deeply theological.”
Ufford-Chase works to offset the harmful effects of his business travel through the purchase of “energy offsets” from NativeEnergy, a privately held Native-American energy company that uses the contributions to build renewable energy projects that create social, economic and environmental benefits.
“I really believe that our God expects us ... to be responsible stewards and co-inhabitants with all of God’s creation,” he adds. “In the United States today, such an expectation demands intentionality and commitment.”
Energy alternatives
Christi Boyd, a PCUSA missionary in Cameroon, works with communities that have been negatively affected by a project to pipe oil from Chad across Cameroon. Backed by the World Bank as a way to reduce poverty, the pipeline project has generated complaints of flooding, uncompensated losses of land and drinking water, damage to roads and bridges and disturbance of sacred sites.
When African countries embrace new oil developments to boost their national economies, local residents rarely benefit, Boyd says. “Many of the global poor live in oil-producing countries. Yet they don’t have access to fuel to ship their produce out of the villages or other sources of energy to give them light in their homes.
“Generating energy from renewable sources like wind and sun is a realistic alternative,” she adds. “So is the production of methane from organic waste.” As an example, she cites a water-powered food-processing plant developed 10 years ago by the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon.
Mike Drainie, a member of the Presbyterian Church of Canada, is involved in an effort to replace diesel generators with solar panels in Israel’s Negev Desert. The project also promotes peace among Muslims, Jews and Christians. If the pilot project goes well, it could be funded from carbon offset purchases by religious communities.
Taking action
Back in the United States, the Presbytery of the Cascades has organized an Eco-Justice Team to educate its congregations about ways to reduce ecological footprints. The team is also seeking ways to “offset” the energy cost of travel to presbytery meetings.
At the 2006 General Assembly the Presbyterian Hunger, Peacemaking and Environmental Justice programs — together with the grassroots network Presbyterians for Restoring Creation — purchased a “renewable energy credit” through NativeEnergy (see “Six ways to make a difference,” below) to offset 168 tons of carbon dioxide emissions from the Ten-day Assembly. The credits contributed to the development of a methane project on a family dairy farm in Pennsylvania and a wind turbine on a Sioux reservation in South Dakota.
As Presbyterians seek to care for God’s creation through lifestyle changes and corporate action, the question, says Denherder-Thomas, is this: “Can we create a society that will confront the problems related to global warming? Can we build a creative alternative that will help the human and non-human community survive the changes that will occur, while also preventing the escalation of these changes to a catastrophic scale?
“I’d encourage Presbyterians everywhere to not only start reducing their own emissions but to get to work in their communities, congregations, schools and work places to effect broader action,” he says. “I think this is an incredible opportunity for people of faith.”
Rebecca Barnes-Davies is coordinator and Jenny Holmes is moderator of Presbyterians for Restoring Creation.
Green glossary
Global warming. Burning fossil fuels, clearing land and other human activities release ever-increasing amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that hold heat in the atmosphere. The result is an observed increase in Earth’s average temperature and changes in the Earth’s climate.
Carbon/energy offsets zero out (offset) all or part of the carbon dioxide emissions of one party, by reducing the emissions — or increasing the carbon dioxide absorption — of another party. For instance, a person can use renewable energy (wind, solar) instead of fossil fuels or, in cases where this is not possible, can invest in the future development of renewable energy to counter the negative impact of their current energy uses.
Carbon neutral or climate neutral. An event, building, organization or person becomes “carbon neutral” or “climate neutral” by fully offsetting their carbon and/or other greenhouse gas emissions.
Ecological footprint. A measure of how much of the Earth’s carrying capacity it takes to sustain humanity’s consumption of goods and services.
Six ways to make a difference
1) Make homes and churches more energy-efficient. Ask your local gas and electric company for an energy audit. Become an Electric Stewardship Congregation and learn more about energy audits at Electric Stewardship Web site. Consider energy-efficient choices particularly related to transportation, food and building choices at the Eco-Justice Ministries Web site. Incorporate recycled materials and alternative energy sources into designs for new homes and church buildings. Rocky Mountain Institute provides helpful resources, including Home Energy Briefs (970-927-3851).
2) Purchase carbon offsets for carbon emissions that can’t be reduced. Make sure that your offset provider is third-party certified. Here are some recommended companies:
3) Ask businesses if they are climate neutral or are considering how to lessen their carbon footprint. For example, Pax World Fund is the first U.S. investment advisor to a socially responsible mutual fund to go carbon neutral.
4) Advocate for policy changes. Encourage Congress to pass energy policies that address root causes and future alternatives. On the local level, hundreds of U.S. cities are working to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions: find out how to participate at Cool Cities.
5) Join with others. Order and use PCUSA resources. Get your congregation involved in the hands-on environmental stewardship activities of the Enough for Everyone program. Connect with Presbyterians for Restoring Creation’s efforts to address global warming and encourage carbon-neutral lifestyles (415-451-2826).
6) Host viewings of An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore’s presentation on global warming (now on DVD; free discussion guide at Eco-Justice Ministries Web site) and The Great Warming, a documentary promoted by religious leaders that presents climate change as a moral, ethical and spiritual issue (order the DVD and a church exhibition kit at The Great Warming Web site or by calling (800) 493-9369).
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