Exciting Changes at GWIPL
I am leaving GWIPL in September to attend graduate school in Chicago. It has been a phenomenal three years and I thank each of you for everything that you have done to protect our planet. It is with great pleasure that we announce that Joelle Novey will be coming on board this fall as the new director of Greater Washington Interfaith Power and Light!
Joelle Novey comes to GWIPL from one of our own congregations, Tikkun Leil 
Shabbat , an independent Jewish community in DC. At TLS, the "sermon" is always a teaching about an environmental or social justice issue, and the potlucks which follow manage to feed almost 200 people without the use of disposable plates, cups, napkins, or tableware.
She is the co-author of Green and Just Celebrations, a purchasing guide that Jews United for Justice (JUFJ) distributes to local congregations for assisting families in making greener purchasing decisions around weddings and bar and bat mitzvah celebrations.
Most recently, Joelle worked at Green America (formerly Co-op America), where she wrote dozens of articles about greener living for the organization's newsletter and magazine. She brings accumulated expertise about the green resources available to congregations,
including energy efficiency, green roofs, greener paints and cleaning products ,
socially responsible investing , ride sharing, and strategies for approaching zero waste.
Joelle brings a variety of interfaith experience to the religious diversity of GW-IPL's network. For more than a year, she counseled hospital patients of all backgrounds and led interfaith worship services through a chaplain training program at Washington Hospital
Center.
She is looking forward to joining forces with reverent people throughout our area to fully live our faiths by taking climate action in our congregations: "I am so inspired by the work that GW-IPL's congregations have already achieved, and I am ready to roll up my
sleeves for some good, sacred, steady work with all of you," Joelle says. "Together, we'll work towards a day when we are each more deeply connected to the natural cycles of creation, and when all of our religious communities come to be reconciled with the natural world."
You can read Joelle's full biography, and email her to welcome her.
Thanks for "Putting a Cap on it"! Now, Contact MD Senators
Thank you for all of your help with the "Put a Cap on it" petition. Senator Mark Warner of Virginia received the photo petition at his July energy summit, and said he was going to be active on this issue.
Right now, we need your help to strengthen the climate bill in the Senate. We want to make sure that it protects consumers and the Clean Air Act, and helps to re-power America.
Faith leaders in Maryland: please email Allison and sign our interfaith letter to Senators Cardin and Mikulski.
If you are a concerned congregant in Maryland, please ask your clergy to sign on to the letter and email Allison to add their name.
Start Planning: Oct 24 Day of International Climate Action
On October 24, communities around the world are organizing a day of climate action on the eve of the UN climate talks in Copenhagen. The gatherings are organized around the number 350, the safe level of parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. A year ago, climatologist James Hansen at NASA and his team produced a landmark series of studies. They showed that if we let the amount of carbon in the atmosphere top 350 parts per million, we can't have a planet "similar to the one on which civilization developed and to which life on Earth is adapted." The bad news is we're already past that number--we're at 390 parts per million, which is why the Arctic is melting, why drought is spreading across the planet, why people are already dying from diseases like dengue fever and malaria occurring in places where they've never been seen before.
The good news: that number gives us a target to aim for. When the world's leaders meet in Copenhagen in December to reach agreement on a new climate treaty, we need them to go farther than they've planned to go: we need to make sure they'll pay attention to the latest climate science and put forward a plan that gets us back to safety.
350 represents more than just a scientific benchmark for a safe climate – there are also deeply moral and spiritual reasons for getting the world back below 350 ppm CO2. Social justice, creation care, stewardship, earth community, beloved community – there are many ways we can name and express our moral and spiritual perspectives on this issue. People of all faiths and all traditions are planning to join in on October 25 with prayer, meditation, action, and celebration for 350.
Please start thinking about how your congregation might want to mark this international day of action. To sign the "Interfaith Call for 350," and to register an event at your congregation, click here.
BG&E Offers Money for Congregations
Congregations in the BG&E service area can qualify to get:
- 80% off the total cost for most energy efficiency lighting retrofit projects (materials, labor, and recycling)
- Up to 50% of a retrofit or 75% of a new construction project including lighting, motor retrofits, HVAC, commercial refrigeration, and commercial kitchen equipment
- Retro-commissioning, a detailed process of evaluating the operating condition of a building as well as identifying extremely low-hanging fruit, 75% up to $15,000.
For more information click here.
Congregation in the Spotlight: Helping to Restore Creation
Oakbrook Church's Stewards of Creation, in Reston VA, sent out 17 members to plant trees on an abandoned coal mine site near Cowen, West Virginia. The group worked under the direction and guidance of the Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative (ARRI) and Nathan Welch of AmeriCorps. Millions of acres have been mined throughout then Appalachian mountains by a process called mountain-top removal. Much of this land has grown over with non-native grasses that do not support a rich ecosystem. ARRI is working with citizens, the coal industry, and local government to restore forests to these abandoned mine sites. While it was hard work, the group from Oakbrook Church planted 5,440 mixed native hardwoods on 8 acres of abandoned coal mined land.
They enjoyed making friends with local people, with folks from Americorp, with staff of The Department of the Interior, with a representative from Plum Creek (the company that owns the land), with a fellow working for the coal industry, with foresters, and with a staff person from the American Chestnut Foundation. Everyone was so appreciative that a congregation cared enough to come all the way from northern Virginia to help restore land in West Virginia.
Support GWIPL today
You can make a secure online donation at http://www.gwipl.org/support_us.asp. Every dollar helps us to protect creation.
Buy your own copy of Low-Carbon Diet
Buy energy-saving products for your home or congregation: ShopIPL.org
