INTERFAITH GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE CAMPAIGNS

WEST VIRGINIA

Coordinator: Marcia Leitch


P.O. Box 226
Talcott, WV 24981-0226
home: 304-466-0982
fax: 304-466-4790
email: jmleitch@mountain.net


Interfaith Climate & Energy Campaign
A Call for Responsible Power Plant Planning
From the West Virginia Interfaith Global Climate Change Campaign

What We Believe:

We believe in the following moral principles:

  1. We have a responsibility towards all of God’s children. Power plant emissions pose a growing threat to human health because of global warming.
  2. We have a responsibility towards our own children and grandchildren. Their health tomorrow is affected by the harmful air pollution that is produced today.
  3. We stand shoulder to shoulder with people who live in poverty in our own country and around the world. The poorer someone is, the less chance they have to escape the harmful effects of air pollution and global warming.
  4. We recognize God’s call for us to be good stewards of the balance of creation that sustains all life on earth. In respecting creation, we also respect the Creator.

What We Support:

We support the following actions by government and industry related to climate change and the reduction of global warming:

  1. Require reductions in emissions of the four major power plant pollutants (the 4 Ps): carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and mercury.
  2. Require that all power plants, including older coal-fired plants, meet appropriate modern standards for pollution sources. Set reasonable time frames for bringing older plants into compliance.
  3. Apply these requirements to any planning for new power plants and support the development of new viable jobs and energy sources as alternatives to coal-fired plants.

We invite you to sign on in support of this statement of principles and actions.

Who We Are:

We are Christians, Jews, Muslims, and members of other faith groups, united by our common belief of the preciousness of all life. The Interfaith Global Climate Change Campaign of West Virginia is one of many state campaigns active in a national Interfaith Climate & Energy Campaign. This coalition of religious leaders, institutions, and individuals have been working to

  • Educate congregants and the general public about the causes and effects of global climate change and
  • To speak out about the religious and moral imperatives to protect all creation – human and non-human. Over 1,200 leading religious leaders have joined in calling for federal policies for energy conservation and climate justice.
    Concerns about the effects of climate change have also been documented in a report from the current Bush administration to the United Nations and in The Framework Convention of Climate Change, which was signed by the former President Bush and unanimously ratified by the U.S. Senate.

Why We Care:

  • Too much carbon dioxide in our atmosphere is changing the Earth’s climate.
  • The largest source of carbon dioxide in the United States is the electric power industry, which accounts for about 40% of all U.S. emissions.
  • More than 88% of the carbon dioxide emissions come from older coal-fired facilities.
  • The older coal-fired power plants are also a source of nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide, which cause smog and asthma and other breathing-related illnesses, and mercury exposure, which can cause birth defects.
  • Minimal target levels for reductions in emissions of the four pollutants are:
    • Carbon dioxide: to 1990 levels
    • Nitrogen oxides: to 75% from 1997 levels
    • Sulfur dioxide: by 75% below Phase II Acid Rain levels; and
    • Mercury: by 90% from 1999 levels
    • We agree with the following statement by senior religious leaders from America’s leading faith groups:
      "At stake are the future of creation on earth; the nature and durability of our economy; our public health and public lands; [and] the environment and quality of life we bequeath our children and grandchildren. We are being called to consider national purpose not just policy."

Won’t You Join Us?

We, West Virginians, have the power to change things! For further information contact:
Marcia Leitch, Coordinator, P.O. Box 226 Talcott, West Virginia 24981
(304) 466-0982, jmleitch@mountain.net. Join the network at http://www.protectingcreation.org

Youth CFL (Compact Fluorescent Lights) Project

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