clevecallison's blog

The latest quarterly issue of Greenenergyohio.org's news magazine has a very good story about OhIPL's work in helping houses of worship in Ohio work toward energy efficiency. Tony Bidinger's article spotlights:

* Sanctuary lighting at First English Lutheran in Columbus
* Solar panels at United Church of Christ in Sylvania
* The first LEED-certified religious building in America, Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Wayne County

From EENews, thanks to Tennessee Interfaith Power and Light: The past decade was the warmest on record and shows global warming is "undeniable," according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Here's a short, obviously non-professional video about recycling building material. It spotlights Building Value, a nonprofit social enterprise in Cincinnati that salvages reusable materials for sale to the public. Building Value's mission is to help the environment, reduce the cost of disposal, and give architectural gems a second life. In addition, each donation empowers people with disabilities and disadvantages to increase their independence through the work of their parent organization, Easter Seals Work Resource Center.

‘Where are the ears to hear and the eyes to see?’ are the words of the President of Interfaith Power and Light following the U.S. Senate leadership's announcement yesterday on climate change legislation. After months of work to craft legislation, the Senate will not take up a comprehensive energy and climate bill before the August Recess. Courtesy of Clean Energy Works, here is the Rev. Canon Bingham's statement in full:

From the Cincinnati Enquirer of July 21, 2010:

'The green movement has found fertile ground and concrete applications within the region's largest religious organization, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. . .'

'"What is heartening is that, whether one believes specifically that humans are causing change, most people ... agree that we can all be better stewards of God's creation," said Tony Stieritz, director of the archdiocese's Catholic Social Action Commission. "We can all move forward to mitigate our impacts on the earth.'

Thanks to Doug Hunt of Tennessee IPL, the latest from NOAA's Climate Analysis:

* The combined global land and ocean average surface temperature for June 2010 was the warmest on record at 16.2°C (61.1°F), which is 0.68°C (1.22°F) above the 20th century average of 15.5°C (59.9°F). The previous record for June was set in 2005.

* June 2010 was the fourth consecutive warmest month on record (March, April, and May 2010 were also the warmest on record). This was the 304th consecutive month with a global temperature above the 20th century average. The last month with below-average temperature was February 1985.

The Cincinnati Enquirer of Monday 7/12/10 has a profile of OhIPL co-founder and Board member Sister Paula Gonzalez. The article nicely describes the 1,450 square foot former chicken barn which has been her passive solar home since 1981, and her inspiring missionary work at the intersection of earth science and spirituality.

This week, national Interfaith Power and Light leaders the Rev. Sally Bingham and Susan Stephenson visited the devastation on the Louisiana coast from the BP oil spill. Also on the trip were Jim Wallis of Sojourners, David Saperstein of the Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism, Sayyid Syeed of the Islamic Society of North America, Rev. Gerald Durley of Providence Baptist in Atlanta (and The Regeneration Project board member), among others.

Below is a sampling of some of the press coverage:

CNN Video: Is God Testing us with Oil Spill?

Here's one way to visualize the extent of the BP oil disaster: what would happen if your town were the location of the spill? The site ifitwasmyhome.com can show you. (Editor's note: we former English teachers want to see "were" instead of "was" in their title, but you get the idea).

The former vice president of the National Association of Evangelicals is a Climate Convert. And he wants you to be one too. Richard Cizik says:

"I had an epiphany in 2002, when I attended a conference with leading scientists and biblical scholars presenting their findings on climate change. I realized that global warming is a real, human-caused problem, and that rising sea levels, pollution, and deforestation are already irreparably damaging some of the world’s most vulnerable communities. And I knew I had to do something about it. It’s right there in Genesis — people of faith are given the duty of tending and protecting the earth."