From the office of U.S. Senator Brian Schatz: Washington, DC – Immediately following votes on the evening of Monday, March 10 until approximately 9 am ET Tuesday, March 11, Senators from the Senate Climate Action Task Force will be holding the Senate floor to urge action on climate change. A significant number of Senators are expected to participate throughout the night. “Climate change is real, it is caused by humans, and it is solvable,” said Senator Schatz. “Congress must act. On Monday night we’re going to show the growing number of Senators who are committed to working together to confront climate change.” Senator Boxer said: “So many […]
Climate Activists Must Heed the Lessons of North Carolina
Joe Wainio begins his wonderful article on TruthOut, “Climate change activists should look to North Carolina for lessons on how to build a broad and diverse movement powerful enough to challenge the corrupt status quo on several fronts. Single-issue organizing won’t do.” To make a difference in our current political climate takes massive numbers of people, and so far the environmental movement has not drawn the numbers and diversity needed. In the article, he captures what we have been building in our North Carolina “Forward Together Movement.” He concludes, That’s the significance of what is happening in North Carolina. People […]
Our NC “What do You Love Campaign” dovetails with the February Friends Committee for National Legislation’s call to conscience
“The seemingly simple action of communicating with your elected representative is powerful, vastly underrated, and accessible to all.” In October our executive director, Susannah Tuttle, was featured in the Indy Weekly, speaking about her efforts to forge ties between environmentally conscious faith leaders and conservative legislators. Since then, Susannah has been encouraging people of faith to meet with our legislators, to build relationships and share our faith voice on the importance of our quality of life for generations to come. In February, Faith Street published an article by the Friends Committee for National Legislation (FCNL). In it, they also […]
Do Your Legislators Represent You or Not?
The 2013 legislative session exhibited an anti-regulatory agenda, endangering North Carolina’s natural beauty and our quality of life, including our health. Numerous bills were introduced that weakened pollution control, sought to rush through fracking, underfunded many of the state’s important environmental programs, and removed experienced members from critical oversight commissions and boards. Non-partisan science, which should be an important tool in environmental policy-making, was also ignored in many critical instances such as in regard to possible sea-level change and the evaluation of Jordan Lake water quality. A poll released by NRDC on July 15, 2013 found that North Carolinians overwhelmingly […]
In the face of economic crisis, how to make the world a better place
Start with what you love. Susannah Tuttle said that to me on Saturday, and it was perfect for the moment. I loved the bluegrass festival in Raleigh and the way it lifted our spirits. I broke away from the festival in the afternoon and strode up to the state government mall for the iMatter rally. I loved that too. The iMatter Youth NC March for Our Planet was led by Hallie Turner, 11, who dates her activism on climate change to a dinnertime conversation with her parents—and a subsequent visit to the library where she read Al Gore’s book An Inconvenient Truth—at age 9. […]
NCIPL Steering Committee Member Penny Hooper Speaks Out at Moral Monday
People may think that Moral Mondays are over now that the state legislature is no longer in session. That is not so. Starting in April, numbers of attendees have ranged from hundreds to thousands. This Monday may be the largest one yet. Rev. Dr. William Barber, II, President of the North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP since 2005, is taking it to the streets. He invites everyone to gather at Halifax Mall at 5 pm, Monday, July 29, and march to the State Capitol at 5:30 pm for the largest interfaith service to ever be held in the southeast. […]
Recent Poll Shows North Carolinians Want More Clean Energy
Most North Carolinians oppose fracking, favor clean energy and think current regulations are sufficient or should be stronger. Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) released the North Carolina poll results on July 15, 2013. From the mountains to the beaches, it’s clear that North Carolinians take special pride in their state, and see state environmental safeguards as protecting our heritage and ensuring that our children can enjoy this place we know and love,” said NRDC senior attorney Luis Martinez, who is based in Asheville. Among the poll’s key findings: 61% say state environmental standards and regulatory standards do more good than […]
Environmental Groups Push for Stronger EPA Regulation of Toxic Poisons from Coal-Fired Power Plants Routinely Dumped Into U.S. Waters
After 3 decades of delay, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to set long-overdue standards to limit the dumping of billions of pounds of toxic pollutants from coal-fired power plants into U.S. waterways and drinking water sources. On Tuesday, July 23, 2013, in a press conference held on the banks of Mountain Island Lake near Charlotte, NC, a coalition of environmental organizations and clean water groups released a national investigative report analyzing the multiple options comprising the proposal titled Closing the Floodgates: How the Coal Industry is Poisoning Our Waters and How We Can Stop It. Environmental experts […]
2013 Walk for Our Grandchildren
This summer dedicated activists walked 100 miles from Camp David to Washington, DC. to ask President Obama and other policy makers to take strong action to keep the majority of fossil fuels in the ground. They are demanding climate action now! As they walked, they talked to the people in the communities along their route. They are listened for their concerns and ideas about how together we can respond to the dangers posed by fossil fuels. And then they took this message to the White House. The first stop on the second day of the walk was Myersville, MD, the […]
In the Shadows of Riverbend
Across the street, a small, unassuming, idyllic Catholic church faces the Duke Power Riverbend Coal Plant at the center of litigation and outrage in response to consistent pollution and lack of effective coal ash pond treatment. For a new intern at NCIPL, the physicalized contrast contained powerful irony that drove home the nature of our relationship as faithful North Carolinians with utility companies; we will always be living side by side. While utilities provide us the basic comforts of modern life, we see the destructive nature of their work and feel called to act and react against it. Such was […]