Environmentalism and religion: The climate of faith

I have an op-ed in the University of Maryland newspaper Diamondback about the growing  intersection between environmentalism and the religious community, with a call to action at the end.  Enjoy!

By Matt Dernoga

You might be surprised who just encouraged Catholics to go green for Lent: the Pope. Pope Benedict XVI has been called “the green Pope” because of his efforts to make the Vatican carbon neutral and his use of religious doctrine to advocate for humanity’s moral responsibility to care for the planet. In 2008, one of the new sins announced by the Roman Catholic Church was “polluting the environment.”

It’s important not to view the leadership of Pope Benedict on environmental issues as an anomaly in the religious community.  Despite the stereotype that environmental disputes such as climate change pit religious conservatives on one side versus godless liberals on the other, environmental stewardship is meteorically rising as a top issue in the religious community.

An organization, Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good (CACG), has taken up the Pope’s challenge, launching the Facebook campaign “Go Green for Lent.” Several Anglican Bishops are calling for a “carbon fast” to reduce their environmental footprint, and the Archdiocese of Washington has made a calendar listing 40 ideas for reducing that footprint.

But it’s not just Catholics and not just for 40 days. Evangelicals, considered some of the most conservative Christians around, have formed several organizations in recent years such as the Evangelical Environmental Network, Evangelicals for Social Action and The Evangelical Climate Initiative. In 2006, 86 Evangelical leaders signed a document titled “Climate Change: A Call to Action.” This included Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church, the largest Evangelical church in America.

And it isn’t just Christians. Green Muslims is a local Washington environmental network founded on educating communities on implementing sustainable ways of living while at the same time relating it to their faith. As part of an event called “No Impact Week” last fall, they created a guide which placed quotes from Islamic texts next to tips on a more sustainable lifestyle and related the two.

The Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life is the leading Jewish environmental organization in the United States that links Judaism and the environment. Their website has a wealth of resources and information on what’s Jewish about protecting the environment, such as commandments to protect God’s creation and Bal Tashchit (do not waste) to conserve resources. Last fall when I was tabling on the mall for my environmental group, a rabbi from Hillel walked over to talk about getting the Jewish student community more involved. He said, “A green Jew is a good Jew.”

The cross-cutting themes I’ve seen in the rationale for religion and environmental protection are those of morality, being stewards of creation and conserving resources. The moral argument is centered on the threat of climate change, “not only an urgent public policy challenge, but also a profound moral issue,” the Pope explained in his circular last week. “It is the poor that are most affected by this grave threat to human dignity.”

There are some things all of us should be able to come together on. This is one of them. Before the seas rise too high, before deserts sprawl across the Earth, before the oceans acidify, before we’ve cut down the last tree and caught the last fish … put your faith into action.

Matt Dernoga is a senior government and politics major. He can be reached at dernoga at umdbk dot com.

Great Video of 2009 Climate Movement

I wanted to share an excellent video from freelance photographer Robert van Warden of some of the memorable snapshots of the climate movement in 2009.  Enjoy!

New College Sustainability Efforts

Every so often I like to include updates I’ve gotten on steps taken by campuses all around the country to go green.  Here are some impressive recent ones!

U Maryland Installs Solar Trash Compactor on Campus
University of Maryland Dining Services has installed a trial solar-powered trash compactor outside a late night campus dining facility. The dining hall was notorious for having trash overflow that would not be collected until the early morning hours. The new trash compactor, which the University currently has as a free trial, can compact what eight trash cans would normally hold.

Portland State U Receives $1M for Geothermal System
Portland State University (OR) has received a $1 million grant to drill geothermal wells near a campus science building and help purchase a 1,000-ton heat pump for additional heating and cooling in the 13-building campus energy loop. Design work has begun, and well construction will start this summer. The system should be operational in 2011.

Luther College Receives Grant for Permeable Pavement Construction
Luther College (IA) has been awarded an $85,979 grant from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to replace the asphalt paving of an existing 24,600-square-foot parking on the Luther campus with a more environmentally beneficial permeable surface. The grant money will pay a major part of the cost of removing the current 120-foot by 205-foot asphalt parking surface, grading the base and constructing a two-section permeable concrete parking surface. The new permeable surface of the lot will allow surface water and snowmelt water to seep through the paving and into the underlying soil, which significantly reduces the rate at which the water enters the river. The permeable surface paving has a design life of 50 years and is expected to function for at least 20 years with minimal maintenance. Construction on the project will begin in summer 2010.

Yale U Kroon Hall Achieves LEED Platinum
Yale University’s (CT) Kroon Hall has received LEED Platinum certification. The new home of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies was designed to use 81 percent less water and 58 percent less energy than a comparable building, and to generate 25 percent of its electricity on site from renewable sources. The east-west orientation of the building takes advantage of solar access and natural ventilation. The building is highly insulated and a green roof serves as a courtyard and covers a service lot and storage rooms below. Fresh air ventilation and free cooling cycles on air handling units reduce the need for air conditioning most of the year. Indicator lights alert occupants when conditions are suitable for opening windows. Concrete walls and exposed concrete ceilings retain heat in winter and help cool in the summer.

98 New Campuses Complete Climate Action Plans
98 new campuses have submitted Climate Action Plans (CAP) as part of the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) since the last update in the AASHE Bulletin on December 21, 2009. The plans illustrate the specific steps schools are taking to reach climate neutrality. The CAP is the second major reporting requirement of the Commitment and is due within two years of signing.

U New Hampshire, State Partner to Create Green Jobs
The University of New Hampshire and the State of New Hampshire have partnered to create the Green Launching Pad, an initiative that will bring new green technologies to the marketplace, help innovative clean technology companies succeed, and support the creation of green economy jobs in New Hampshire. Through the Green Launching Pad, companies, both established and start-ups, will receive extensive financial, operational, technical, and managerial support to launch and commercialize green energy products and services. By accelerating these products and services to market, the program aims to help reduce energy use and carbon emissions while creating new jobs and economic opportunities in New Hampshire. The program, which starts immediately, will draw on the engineering, energy, environmental, and business research at UNH.

Saint John’s U Opens Solar Farm
Saint John’s University (MN) has partnered with the Order of St. Benedict and Westwood Renewables, a local company who received a $2 million solar grant from Xcel energy, to build a 1,820 panel solar farm. Located on a 14-acre farm field, the 400-kilowatt solar array is expected to produce four percent of the University’s energy needs. The solar farm is also being used as an educational tool, providing tours and other learning opportunities.

King Abdullah U Receives LEED Platinum
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (Saudi Arabia) has been awarded LEED Platinum certification. Green features include 100 shared electric vehicles spread across campus; four megawatts of solar power; and a long-term habitat preservation, restoration, and protection plan.

NIIT U Builds Campus to Harvest Rainwater
NIIT University (India) has inaugurated its environmentally-conscious 100 acre, 54-building campus. The campus was built to harvest and recycle 95 percent of waste water and some buildings have been designed not to use air conditioning.

Beloit College Science Center Awarded LEED Platinum
The Beloit College (WI) Center for the Sciences has received LEED Platinum certification. The 117,000-square-foot building, which opened for classes in the fall of 2008, houses 10 academic departments and programs. The Center contains a green roof, high-recycled content in building materials and furnishings, significant reduction in energy and water use, and a storm-water cistern for watering plants in the greenhouse. Furthermore, as Chamberlin Hall—Beloit’s former science building—was deconstructed, 98 percent of those construction materials were recycled or repurposed, contributing to the new Center for the Science’s platinum rating.

Central College Academic Building Receives LEED Platinum
Central College (IA) has received LEED Platinum Certification for its newly constructed education, psychology, and communication studies building, which opened this past fall. Green features include a vegetative roof that occupants can enjoy via a rooftop patio, natural ventilation, daylight harvesting systems, and radiant floors which serve to heat and cool the facility. Rain water is captured and re-used for flushing low-flow toilets and urinals, and building materials contain high recycled content. Drought tolerant native plantings, rain gardens, and pervious pavers were incorporated into the landscape design. In addition, materials were recycled from the college’s University Apartments and several houses which were razed to make room for the project.

Iowa State U Education Addition Earns LEED Platinum
Iowa State University’s King Pavilion addition to its College of Design has been awarded LEED Platinum certification. The $6.6 million, 23,735-square-foot addition features a central, two-story “forum” surrounded by instructional studios. The structure is expected to save more than $22,000 per year in energy and reduce water usage by 20 to 30 percent over that of a similar structure. In addition, the King Pavilion contains 32 percent recycled content, including recycled steel, recycled blue-jean insulation, recycled plastics, and restroom countertops made out of 100 percent post-consumer recycled paper.