Residents of North Texas will soon have a new option to install PV solar panels on their homes without paying thousands of dollars up-front for installation! TXU and Solar City have teamed up to provide a plan whereby homeowners lease solar panels for 15 years. The program provides many of the benefits of PV solar – including greater climate stewardship, security against volatile electricity prices, and stimulating growth of the green energy economy in Texas – without the daunting up-front costs of purchasing and installing the panels.
 
Unfortunately, with the way the plan is structured now, it is not available for houses of worship or other nonprofits. If your house of worship is interested in installing a PV solar array, be sure to read the Texas Impact/ Texas Interfaith Power & Light publication Going Solar: A Congregational Guide to Photovoltaic Solar Energy!
 

This February, join with clergy across the country in calling for more love for the planet! Interfaith Power and Light invites faith leaders to preach about global warming on Valentine’s Day weekend, February 13-14, 2010.  When you sign up online, you will receive lectionary resources and sample sermons to help you prepare.  Resources will be available for a number of different faith traditions.

Registered congregations will also receive Valentine’s Day postcards for members to send in to Senators, encouraging them to love their neighbors by passing a strong climate bill this year.  Click here to get more information and to register for the national preach-in.

OVERVIEW

The Copenhagen Negotiations in Denmark, December 7 – 18 of 2009, are the most significant climate change talks since the 1997 meeting that led to the Kyoto Protocol. Preparatory meetings started two years ago. The conference has the potential to produce a roadmap to reduce the damage caused by global climate change for decades to come. However, while the 192 countries present at the conference largely agree on the destination, the hardest part will be agreeing on how to get there. The terms of the Kyoto Protocol run out in 2012; unless an agreement is forged at Copenhagen there will be no plan to cut global warming pollution or to help vulnerable countries work with developed countries on this shared threat.

HISTORY

Medina will be the first Islamic city to go green, the Grand Mufti of Egypt has announced, as part of a seven year plan to make the religion more environmentally friendly.

Read the story

(via ENERGY STAR Congregations Network E-Update)

This year, four congregations deserve congratulations and the spotlight for earning a 2009 ENERGY STAR Congregations Award in the annual nationwide competition. Winners are recognized for doing their part to save energy and fight climate change through effective energy management practices and innovative efficiency solutions.

Together, these award winning organizations reduced annual greenhouse gas emissions equal to those from the average electricity use of nearly 1000 homes for one year and saved more than $700,000 in annual energy costs.

Austin resident and Deep Conversion Communications founder, Elizabeth Freese, won the Franciscan Philanthropist Award in Earth Ministry’s national Care for Creation Sermon Contest, held at University Lutheran Church in Seattle on September 27, 2009. Freese's sermon, "The Irresistable Sustainable Future," generated the greatest donations at the fundraising event. The full press release is available on the Deep Conversation Communications website.

Feast of St. Francis Is Opportunity to Promote Action on Climate Change

The Franciscan Action Network (FAN) and the Catholic Coalition on Climate Change are encouraging Catholics to celebrate the Feast of St. Francis this October 4th by taking the St. Francis Pledge to Care for Creation and the Poor.

Click here for resources, including a bulletin insert, poster, prayers, homily suggestions, quotes from the Pope and the Church on climate change, and clip art.

Click here to sign up for a free webinar to learn more about a Catholic approach to climate change.  The webinar, called “Care for Creation National Web Summit,” will be offered by FAN on October 15 (8-10 p.m. eastern time) as a free live webcast of streaming video.

Click here to take the St. Francis Pledge and to get more information about how you can get involved.

Texas Impact is thrilled to announce that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has introduced the new ENERGY STAR for Congregations! This is a transformational step in improving collaboration between the EPA and houses of worship to help Congregations save up to 30% on their energy bills and protect the Creation.
If America's more than 370,000 houses of worship cut energy use by 10% (a tithe!) ...

Whether you need help yourself or are trying to help someone else, Texas has several sources of energy-related assistance. The following information highlights the largest programs. We've also included a link to the LIRAP program, which helps repair and replace vehicles that fail state-mandated emissions tests.

July 8, 2009 Update

This Tuesday, the Vatican released the Holy Father's third encyclical letter, "Caritas in Veritate" (Charity in Truth), emphasizing that "charity demands justice: recognition and respect for the legitimate rights of individuals and peoples."  Focused primarily on international economic issues, Pope Benedict calls for a "true world political authority" to promote the common good of all and for "greater social responsibility" by businesses.

In this context, Benedict XVI devotes the fourth chapter of the encyclical to  "The development of people, rights and duties, the environment."  Here, the pope says that, "The environment is God's gift to everyone, and in our use of it we have a responsibility towards the poor, towards future generations and towards humanity as a whole."