With free, unbiased information and technical support from ENERGY STAR, your congregation can more easily improve stewardship of your budget’s energy dollars and of the earth.
If future generations are to remember us more with gratitude than sorrow, we must achieve more than just the miracles of technology. We must also leave them a glimpse of the world as it was created, not just as it looked when we got through with it.Texas Solar Forum Makes the Business Case for Solar
On April 24-25, solar industry leaders and policymakers from around the nation and beyond met at the Texas Capitol to chart a course for Texas' solar future. The event, sponsored by a number of organizations including Texas Interfaith Power & Light, drew more than 400 attendees. Keynote speakers included former Texas Public Utility Commissioner Pat Wood, who is widely credited with spearheading the development of the Texas wind industry through Texas' unique renewable portfolio standard, and Alexander Karsner, Assistant Secretary of the US Department of Energy for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
Without exception, speakers at the event stressed the urgency of climate change and escalating prices for conventional power, and the need for Texas to move quickly to deploy significant solar projects at both the utility and consumer scales. "The technology, the economics, the opportunity are all on our side," said Karsner, "and time is not."
Download Andy Karsner's Address (mp3)
Watch a Three-Minute Video on Texas' Solar Potential!
In the News: CFLs are Safe, Just Follow Simple Steps if One Breaks
Worried about the trace amounts of mercury in compact fluorescent light bulbs? The bulbs save energy and help the environment. It's unllikely yours will break--but if you do accidentally end up with a broken bulb, there are a few simple steps to cleaning it up properly.
Watch KVUE's feature on how to clean up a broken CFL
What to do if a CFL breaks:
--Open a window, turn off the air conditioning and leave the room for at least 15 minutes.
--Scoop up the glass fragments and powder using stiff paper or
cardboard and place them in a glass jar with a metal lid or a sealed
plastic bag.
--Use sticky tape to pick up any remaining fragments or powder.
Austin Chronicle features Bee as a Green Leader!
The "Green Crush" issue of this week's Austin Chronicle contains an article that features Bee Moorhead, Executive Director of Texas Impact/TXIPL. The article discusses the efforts made by Texas Interfaith Power & Light for our environmental sustainability by reaching out to the faith community of Texas. Take a look at some of the things congregations and people of faith are doing around Austin to really build an ongoing relationship with creation!
Earth Day with Austin's Mayor Wynn at Central Christian Church
EARTH DAY 2008
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Central Christian Church
1110 Guadalupe St
Austin, TX 78701
512.476.6941
7:00 PM Presentation by Mayor Wynn
8:00 PM A Faith-Based Response
Please join us on EARTH DAY 2008 for an interfaith public forum with Mayor Will Wynn on the Austin Climate Protection Plan.
There will be a reception following the presentation in the Community Room. All are welcome!
Mayor Wynn's Austin Climate Protection Plan, approved by the City Council in February, will make Austin first in the nation in the reduction of greenhouse gases. As part of this five-part municipal plan, all City of Austin facilities and transportation fleets will be carbon-neutral by 2020, energy efficiency of new construction will increase 75% by 2015, and individuals and businesses will receive incentives to achieve carbon neutrality.
Inconvenient Truth Presentation at First Presbyterian Church of Austin
Do you want to know more about climate change and what you can do about it? We invite you to spend an evening with First Presbyterian Church as we learn more about this important issue. Join us for Colin Rowan's live presentation of "An Inconvenient Truth", with an emphasis on what the faith community can do about the climate change crisis.
Colin will lead us through an educational presentation and discussion, including:
Basic premise of global warming
Evidence that something is happening now around the world
Focus on Texas - our impact and contributions
Solutions - we can do something, but we have to get going!
We hope you can join us for this powerful presentation. Dessert will be provided!
Tuesday, April 29, 2008 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Rissman Hall
First Presbyterian Church
8001 Mesa Drive
Austin Church Women United Inconvenient Truth Screening April 26th
Church Women United and Texas Interfaith Power & Light co-sponsor a screening of the award-winning documentary on Al Gore's campaign to make global warming a recognized problem worldwide. April 26th, 2008, 3:00pm-5:00pm at Faith Lutheran Church of Austin. Read more
Helpful Information on Congregational Energy Audits and Efficiency
If you are thinking about making your house of worship more energy efficient, the following sites should be very helpful to you. The first step in energy efficiency is getting an energy audit. Call your electricity provider to find out whether they do energy audits. If they do not, use the following link to find your transmission and distribution company you use:
When you enter your ZIP code, look on the left-hand column and read the name underneath the heading "TDU Service Areas". This company will be the one to provide you with an audit.
This link is an on-line energy audit provided by Austin Energy that you can do yourself:
Submitted by Shelley on Thu, 2008-03-20 15:25
Cool Cities Team Formation Meetings in Central Texas!
People in Central Texas are cordially invited to attend the Sierra Club's Cool Cities Team Formation meetings in the upcoming weeks. These meeting will show many towns how to
make teams to encourage their mayors to sign on to the Mayor's Climate Protection Plan. If you are interested in attending a meeting in your area, please see the information below:
United Methodist Caring for Creation Conference at Mt. Sequoyah
John Hill, Bee Moorhead, Reverend Pat Watkins, Dr. Katy Hinman, Mt. Sequoyah's Marilyn Braswell and Oona Moorhead
More than 140 United Methodists and others attended the UMC South Central Jurisdiction's first annual Caring for Creation Conference at Mt. Sequoyah in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The event featured keynote presentations by John Hill, Program Director, Economic and Environmental Justice at the United Methodist General Board of Church and Society, Dr. Mark Davies, Dean, Wimberly Professor of Social Ethics at Oklahoma City University, and Dr. Katy Hinman, director of Georgia Interfaith Power & Light, as well as workshops on a variety of topics. Bee Moorhead, director of Texas Interfaith Power & Light, Reverend Pat Watkins, director of Virginia Interfaith Power & Light, and Katy Hinman all led workshops.
San Antonio Earth Stewardship: Great Turnout Despite the Rain
The Earth Stewardship meeting organized by Solar San Antonio and the San Antonio Community of Congregations was a great success. About 40 people from San Antonio congregations and environmental groups gathered at Beacon Hill Presbyterian Church for presentations and conversation on local and state enviromental issues.
The event was a kick-off for Solar San Antonio/SACC's Stewardship Earth Weekend April 18-20. For more information, visit http://www.solarsanantonio.org/
Brooke Ferguson of Meridian Energy Systems explains how a solar panel works to Lois Heger of Beacon Hill Presbyterian Church.
What do you love most about Texas? The stars at night? The sage in bloom? The prairie sky?
The Austin Community Climate Protection Plan, which aims to make Austin the leading city in the nation in the fight against climate change, has created a Carbon Footprint Calculator which can be used anywhere in the state. Carbon dioxide (CO2), and other greenhouse gases, can have a profound effect on the climate. The first step in decreasing this impact and protecting our climate is to know your carbon footprint.