Op Ed in Citizen-Times by Jane Laping, interim coordinator of the Creation Care Alliance of Western North Carolina, NCIPL’s western regional partner. As a Christian, I believe that creation is a gift intended to sustain life. The earth has an intricately balanced system that relies on clean air, clean water and fertile land to nourish and sustain plant and animal life of all kinds, including our own. Along with a growing number of people of faith and conscience, I am concerned that the energy sector is putting this sacred balance at risk by continuing to rely on burning fossil fuels […]
WITN UPDATE: Gov. McCrory applauds Carolinas offshore drilling plan
From WITN Updated: Wed 11:42 PM, Jan 28, 2015 Watch the WITN 6 o’clock news Wednesday, January 28, 2015 recording: Penny Hooper, co-chair of NCIPL Executive Committee, and her husband, Mark Hooper, were interviewed concerning offshore drilling. “Environmentalists say they have proposed a Clean Energy Plan to Governor Pat McCrory based around wind and solar power, but the governor is still backing President Barack Obama’s proposal to bring offshore drilling to the coast of North Carolina and other areas. Emerald Isle town officials are optimistic and open-minded about the plan, saying the economic benefits could be significant. The proposed plan […]
JDNews.com article: Program looks at potential coastal impacts of fracking
By Jannette Pippin – Jannette.Pippin@JDNews.com Published: Saturday, January 17, 2015 at 3:29 PM MOREHEAD CITY | Lee County is considered the epicenter of any future fracking operations in North Carolina, but Eastern North Carolina isn’t immune to possibly damaging impacts, according to leaders fighting to keep such activity out of the state. “That’s just where fracking itself may happen,” said George Mathis of Frack-Free NC, referring to a map of areas of North Carolina potentially containing shale gas. “Just about anywhere in the state can be impacted in one way or another.” A program entitled Keep NC Frack-Free was held […]
National Preach-In on the Environment
Get your Faith Community to Join in the “Preach In”! Environmental Stewardship Greensboro is helping to recruit as many Faith Communities as possible in the Triad to participate in the “National Preach In on the Environment. This national and statewide program is sponsored by the North Carolina Council of Churches and North Carolina Interfaith Power and Light. Interfaith Power & Light Invites Congregations to join Valentine’s Weekend Preach-In on Climate Change Interfaith Power & Light expects its 2015’s Preach-In on Climate Change to be the biggest yet. The organization and its 40 state affiliates are aiming to sign up 3,000 faith […]
Lake Chatuge GreenFaith Team (a NCIPL Regional Partner) to Launch Energy Saving Campaign
The Lake Chatuge GreenFaith Team, (LCGFT), a group of environmentally concerned churches from Northern Georgia and Western North Carolina, will be publishing environmental “tips” in local papers and radio outlets as well as church bulletins aimed at showing how simple energy saving practices can save money and make a big difference in reducing environmental damage due to carbon emissions. “If every home would institute just a few energy saving practices, we would reduce the need for fossil fuel generated electricity by as much as all the energy now being generated by all the solar units in the country”, according to […]
We Drew a Line in the Sand
On Saturday, May 17, at noon, about 30 people gathered at the Atlantic Beach/Fort Macon Swimming Beach for the nation-wide “Hands Across the Sand Demonstration” to promote clean energy and protest offshore oil drilling. The following organizations were represented: NC Interfaith Power and Light, Croatan Group of the NC Sierra Club, the Surfriders Association and the Unitarian Coastal Fellowship Green Sanctuary Committee.
People got “Fired Up” Watching “Shored Up”
Penny Hooper, NCIPL Executive Committee. On Friday night, May 9, the movie “Shored Up” was shown at the Unitarian Coastal Fellowship in Morehead City to 40 people. Afterwards, we discussed what we could do as coastal residents in the face of all the issues covered in the movie: increased severe storms, sea level rise and demands by second home owners and developers for hardened shorelines, and more costly beach re-nourishment along our shores. These are part of our everyday coastal existence. Several of the people in the audience decided to go before the Coastal Resources Commission (CRC) which met in Morehead […]
Energy Saving Volunteers Receive Earth Day Grant
by Donna McAuliffe The 2014 BodySense Earth Day Grant was awarded to a local group committed to reducing energy consumption. An offshoot of Lake Chatuge Greenfaith Team, a NCIPL Regional Partner, the volunteers visits the homes of people who face high energy bills and need information and assistance reducing their usage, saving them money and saving valuable natural resources. The assessment identifies simple energy saving solutions such as efficient lighting, weather stripping, changing water heater temperatures, adding insulation and more. Volunteers provide the service at no cost and supplies are provided through donations. “The BodySense grant will be used to purchase […]