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Dalai Lama's Message to World Leaders
Before COP-21, the Dalai Lama recorded a message for all people to see, addressing the world leaders who were going to meet in Paris. In his message, he urged people to take responsibility for what we have done to the planet and start to live more sustainably. He also noted that Tibet is effected much more drastically by climate change than other regions of the world. Tibet has long been considered the rooftop of the earth, and is much more susceptible to environmental degradation. -
Today is registration deadline for Columbus Diocese Creation Care Conference on Oct. 8
The Columbus Diocese is offering a day of reflection, inspiration, study, and sharing of resources to help Columbus area Catholic communities respond to Pope Francis’ environmental urgings in his recent encyclical, Laudato Si: Caring for Our Common Home. The conference: “Enlivened by Laudato Si’: We Care for our Common Home: Our practical response to care for God’s creation” will be held at the Martin De Porres Center in Columbus from 10am-2pm on Saturday, October 8.
The conference will feature creation care team building sessions, spirituality and worship, education, sustainability information for energy savings, and advocacy to care for creation and the poor. Dr. Greg Hitzhusen of the School of Environment and Natural Resources at Ohio State will deliver a keynote address. -
Ohio Interfaith Power and Light offers advocacy training
Event Announcement: Ohio Interfaith Power and Light will offer Advocacy Training as part of a faith based response to climate change issues in Ohio on Saturday, October 15, 2016.
OhIPL Director Sara Ward and Coordinator Deb Steele will be reviewing legislative policies at the state and national level with a focus on what constituents can do to advocate for laws that will better care for our collective home.
– Help Ohio end the “freeze” on our energy efficiency & renewable power legislation
– Learn more about the national Clean Power Plan
– Take action at the end of the training by calling your legislator and submitting a Letter to the Editor
If you’d like to attend please contact Deb Steele by email: Dsteele@ohipl.org or cell 614.323.1703
Saturday October 15th 2016
10am to Noon @
First Unitarian Universalist @
93 W Weisheimer Rd, Columbus, OH 43214
Light refreshments will be provided -
Christian Communities Respond to Trump’s Executive Order
President Trump signed an executive order on March 28 directing the EPA to review the Clean Power Plan. This executive order has the possibility to dismantle important climate change protections and fails to offer an alternative plan to protect our air quality and climate stability. Many Christian communities have responded to this action and made official statements on their thoughts and about protecting the Earth. -
Episcopal Diocese of Ohio: Bellwether Farm
Bellwether farm is a new camp and education center of the Episcopal Diocese of Ohio. It is meant to provide leadership development and teachings through sustainable farming, food production, and care of the environment. It is located in Wakeman Ohio, with the goals of informing, inspiring, and empowering leaders for a sustainable future. The buildings are models of green technology featuring passive buildings, renewable energy, and water reclamation systems. -
Church World Service to Withdraw from Paris Climate Agreement
Church World Service released a statement after the announcement that the United Stated will withdraw from the Paris agreement: “CWS strongly condemns President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. Coming at a time when the world is facing its largest humanitarian and refugee crisis since World War II, this decision will directly impact impoverished and vulnerable communities around the world and in the United States that are already facing the consequences of a changing climate.” -
Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism’s Response to Withdraw from Paris Climate Agreement
Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner, Director of Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, issued a statement of disappointment in President Trump’s decision to exit the Paris Climate Agreement. “The Reform Movement condemns, with the utmost gravity and disappointment, the President’s decision to exit the historic Paris Climate Agreement… Joining with people of faith worldwide, including Pope Francis, the Reform Movement has strongly supported efforts to address the causes and impact of our changing climate.” -
A Hymn for Hurrican Relief
This article was written to showcase the hymn that was a tribute to prayers for the damage from the recent severe storms in Texas, Louisiana, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, the Caribbean, Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. In addition to comforting those impacted by the storms, the hymn also serves as a message for government leaders to work for policies that help to counter climate change. -
6 Ways to Green Your Holiday
6 Ways to Green Your Holiday is a graphic made by the Sierra Club. It gives 6 easy ways make Christmas traditions more sustainable. To view the image, click below or *download* -
The Regeneration Project
The Regeneration Project was created as the parent project of Interfaith Power&Light. It is meant to help deepen the connection between ecology and faith and to help people of faith recognize and fulfill their responsibility for the stewardship of creation. They do so through educational programs for clergy and congregations -
Fasting for Climate Justice
Fasting for Climate Justice is a resource from Global Catholic Climate Movement (GCCM ) on the practice of fasting for climate action through two initiatives: meatless Fridays and monthly fasting. The GCCM encourages abstinence from meat on Fridays as a way to reduce one’s negative impact on global climate change. The GCCM also promotes fasting for the climate which takes place the first day of each month. -
Homily Help
Homily Helps is a resource from Catholic Climate Covenant that offers resources that help to integrate the insights of Laudato Si’ and caring for creation into Sunday mass. It includes highlights from the Scripture, relevant quotations from Laudato Si’, sample applications, and more. -
Start 2018 by Speaking Up for God’s Creation
Young Evangelicals for Climate Action posted an article on how to speak up for God’s creation. The article focuses on The Clean Power Plan and how to effectively speak up to stop the repeal and replace of the plan. -
Sikh Statement on Climate Change
EcoSikh has created the groundwork for a Sikh environmental theological foundation, and the inspiration to connect Gurbani (hymns in the central text of the Sikhs) to the state of the environment today. This is the first of its kind from the Sikh community and it outlines new actions Sikhs can take to strengthen their connection to their faith through environmentalism. The following quote is an excerpt from the statement:
“You, Yourself created the Universe, and You are pleased…You, Yourself the bumblebee, flower, fruit and the tree. You, Yourself the water, desert, ocean and the pond. You, Yourself are the big fish, tortoise and the Cause of causes.” -
Evangelical Environmental Network: Trump Budget would harm National Parks and the Protection of God’s Other Creatures
The president of the Evangelical Environmental Network, Rev. Mitch Hescox, made a statement saying that the budget proposed by the Trump administration is a “devils bargain,” which would harm national parks and the protection of God’s creatures.
“The Trump Administration’s budget, if implemented, would be an abdication of our stewardship of our public lands, which are entrusted to each generation to pass on to their children.” -
Global Faith Leaders Unite to Restore our Earth’s Balance
A campaign by Religions for Peace, worldwide religious leaders call on heads of state to respond urgently to the threats of climate change, commit to 100% renewable energy by 2050, and build a more flourishing, inclusive, and balanced world. Leaders of the Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Indigenous, Islamic, Jain, Jewish, Shinto, Sikh, Taoist, and Zoroastrian faiths pledge to do their part by embracing the moral responsibility to care for our world. -
Sisters of Earth: Hopes and Dreams
How to Face the Mess We’re in without Going Crazy is the subtitle of Joanna Macy’s book Active Hope. The book was the inspiration for the Sisters of Earth gathering that took place July 12-15, 2018 at Mount Saint Joseph, home of the Sisters of Charity in Cincinnati, Ohio. Cincinnati was chosen as the location partly because of the ancestral inspiration of Sister of Charity Paula Gonzalez, who promoted solar power and sustainability projects and teachings throughout the Catholic world. This year, nearly 100 women from the United States and Canada gathered, in part, to remember Sister Paula and also to address concerns about the ecological/spiritual crises of our times by asking questions such as: Who are we? Where are we? How did we get here and what is possible? And — where do we go from here? -
Engaged Organizations: Cincinnati Climate Change Task Force
In 2009, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati signed on to the St. Francis Pledge to Care for Creation. Since then, they have started their own Climate Change Task Force. This task force has adopted the mission of committing themselves to work towards a sustainable world based off of the responsibility to Care for God’s Creation. They work to implement the five pillars of the pledge: praying, learning, assessing, acting, and advocating for the environment and the poor. -
Catholic Bishops Push Ohio Towards Clean Energy
The Catholic Bishops of Ohio are against an indefinite freeze of Ohio’s clean energy target standards. The Ohio Mandates Study Committee has called for this freeze due to a need for continual studying of energy standards and their impact on the state. The Bishops, however, feel that there is no need to freeze the standards, as alternative energy sources benefit the environment as well as society.
This is not the first time that the Bishops of Ohio have voiced such a stance. Back in 2014, a similar issue arose with SB 310, which proposed the original freeze of Ohio’s advanced energy portfolio standard that was established by SB221. The Bishops voiced opposition to SB 310 at that time. -
The People’s Pilgrimage
COP-21 was recently held in Paris, where leaders from countries all over the world met to discuss potential climate change plans. In addition, hundreds of thousands of people of various faiths made their way to the convention. They journeyed to Paris in a pilgrimage of solidarity. People of all faiths were in attendance to rally together and show how religious consciousness is now linked with environmental stewardship.
One group walked 1,500 km. from Rome to Paris. Among this group was Yeb Saño, the representative of the Philippines in COP-19. He has become a well-known activist, as his homeland was ravaged by Typhoon Haiyan during COP-19. The pilgrimage brought copies of Laudato Si, the Islamic Declaration on Global Climate Change, and the Buddhist Climate Change Statement to World Leaders 2015 to show how invested the faith communities are when it comes to climate change and environmental issues. -
The Francis Effect
With the release of Laudato Si’ and the visitation of Pope Francis to the United States, there has been a noticeable increase in the number of both Americans and Catholic Americans who have demonstrated concern over Climate Change. Individuals of various faiths have expressed more trust the Pope due to the overwhelmingly positive reception of his message. -
The Supreme Court and The Clean Power Plan
The Clean Power Plan was designed to allow states the greatest flexibility in implementation, attempting benefiting the health of individuals by improving the quality of the air for everyone. The Supreme Court has ruled to stay the implementation of the Clean Power Plan (5-4 ruling). Many churches and faiths have banded together to express their dissatisfaction with this decision. A predominant tenet of most religious organizations is their concern with protecting the health and well-being of vulnerable communities and God’s Creation. -
Caring for Creation: The Evangelical's Guide to Climate Change and a Healthy Environment
Pastor and evangelical leader Mitch Hescox and meteorologist Paul Douglas have collaborated to integrate faith and science for their book Caring for Creation: The Evangelical's Guide to Climate Change and a Healthy Environment. This book demonstrates how Christians can take practical steps towards creating a more sustainable future, becoming leaders through a conservative evangelical approach. The authors focus on both individual and global issues, discussing ways to protect families, improve health issues, and clean up local communities. -
United Methodist Agency Green Roof
John Hill, from the Board of Church and Society at the United Methodist Agency, narrates the video below about their recent green roof addition. The series of squares used covers the entire area of the flat roof, reducing energy consumption, making the building cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. In addition, and equally important, it reduces storm water runoff. When it rains, the water remains in the roof rather than adding pollutants into the nearby watershed, which feeds into the Chesapeake Bay. -
Earth Day Action Toolkit
"Every April 22nd, stakeholders of all backgrounds come together to advance sustainability and climate action in commemoration of Earth Day. Our world needs transformation. It’s time for the people of the world to hold governments and the private sector accountable for their role in our environmental crisis while also calling for bold, creative, and innovative solutions. This will require action at all levels, from business and investment to city and national government.
That’s where you come in: as an individual, you yield real power for change through your influence as a consumer, a voter, and a community member.
Don’t underestimate your power. When your voice and actions are united with millions of others around the world, we can create an inclusive and impactful movement that is impossible to ignore.
Throughout April, we commemorate Earth Month with marches, rallies, volunteer events, and more. United together, we’ll drive a year of energy, enthusiasm, and commitment to a sustainable and equitable future for our planet."