It used to be hard for people to see the dangers of climate change. But the devastating weather of the past two years makes it all too clear what adding heat and humidity to the atmosphere can do.
“Nature’s fury reached new extremes,” weather guru Jeff Masters wrote on the Weather Underground website as he recounted “a punishing series of billion-dollar disasters.”
Even before the flooding of Hurricane Irene, he wrote: “... the greatest flood in recorded history to the Lower Mississippi River, an astonishingly deadly tornado season, the worst drought in Texas history, and the worst fire season in recorded history. There’s never been a spring this extreme for combined wet and dry extremes in the U.S. since record keeping began over a century ago.” And the disasters have not stopped. The series of extreme weather events is hurting the economy and stressing disaster-relief efforts.
But climate change is not just a question of economics or policy. It is also a religious issue because it threatens God’s creation and will affect the lives of people throughout the world.
People of faith need to be at the forefront of solving what literally is a life-changing matter. That is the idea behind the national organization Interfaith Power and Light, founded by an Episcopal priest in 2000. The movement now consists of 38 state affiliates.
All religious traditions tell us to care for the poor. We need to act because justice demands that we leave a sustainable world for the next generations, because the peace of the world depends on it, and because there can be no moral justification for wasting resources by excessive consumption while others cannot secure basic necessities.
On our first anniversary, Pennsylvania Interfaith Power and Light will hold a public conference on Sunday on the Penn State campus. Our theme is “The Human Face of Climate Change: Food, Faith and Other Necessities of Life.” All people need food, air and water, and we need to hold on to the traditions of our faiths and the strength of our communities to get through the challenges ahead.
The conference will feature keynote speakers on agriculture and environmental justice, followed by workshops focusing on how families, congregations and communities are responding to climate change. A green fair will include vendors and exhibitors. We will give an award to an environmental visionary and discuss the relationship between the Marcellus Shale drilling and climate change. A full program is on our website:www.paipl.org.
Although the challenges we face are great, we know faith communities have mobilized people in the past to address great moral issues, such as slavery and civil rights. We can do it again.
Climate change is already affecting people throughout the world, especially those least able to adapt to severe weather and drought.
We invite you to our meeting. Join PA IPL in helping congregations become more energy efficient. Together we can stop the harmful effects of overuse of fossil fuels. The time to act is now.
Sylvia Neely is president of the board of directors of Pennsylvania Interfaith Power and Light, a statewide organization based at University Park.
