Article published March 22, 2008
STEWARDSHIP AND SOCIAL JUSTICE
New Ohio interfaith group promotes ecological action
Caring for Earth seen as spiritual obligation
Al Compaan, left, Maxine Reiter, and the Rev. William Chidester of Ohio Interfaith Power & Light.
(
THE BLADE/ANDY MORRISON
)
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By DAVID YONKE
BLADE RELIGION EDITOR
People who feel moral and spiritual responsibility to care for the environment have a new group they can plug into: Ohio Interfaith Power & Light.
The statewide organization, which held its first public event last weekend in Columbus, is rallying religious groups and individuals to take action against global warming and to promote conservation and renewable energy.
"We're standing at a unique moment in human history," said Sister Paula Gonzalez, a Cincinnati Catholic nun and co-founder of OhIPL. "It's an unprecedented moment where humanity recognizes the situation we're in and right now, if we act yesterday, we have the technologies to actually deal with the situation and offset what would become a disaster."
The 75-year-old Sister of Mercy nun, who has a degree in biology, became involved in environmental causes in the 1970s and is buoyed by the growing attention to global warming among the U.S. public in general and the religious community in particular.
Sister Paula said Al Gore's documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, is "completely factual" and there is "a 99 percent certainty that this is caused by human activity. Unless you like to live in denial big time, you've got to deal with it."
She calls global warming and soaring gas prices "a blessing" because it snapped Americans out of their lethargy when it comes to energy efficiency and conservation."Gasoline will hit $4 a gallon by the end of the summer, and frankly I'm delighted by it," Sister Paula said. "I waited forever for it to hit $2 a gallon."
A number of people from northwest Ohio are helping to get the Ohio Interfaith Power & Light going, including three from the Sylvania United Church of Christ: the Rev. William Chidester; University of Toledo physics professor Al Compaan, and member Maxine Reiter of Sylvania.
Ms. Reiter said Sylvania UCC's Green Team, which meets regularly to promote environmental issues, introduced her to OhIPL, and she is now a member of its steering committee.
She is encouraged that more than a dozen different religious groups have signed up with the effort in Ohio, which is the 24th state - plus the District of Columbia - to have a Power & Light organization.
"Within the religious communities there is such diversity and different ways of looking at things, but this is one issue we are all pretty much on board with," Ms. Reiter said.
Mr. Compaan, a leading proponent of solar power and alternative energy, said one of the first tasks of OhIPL is to try to influence energy-related legislation such as Senate Bill 221 that deals with electricity deregulation.
He considers energy use and protection of the environment to be spiritual concerns, not just biological issues.
"It's the stewardship of the environment, of God's creation, that is the driving force," Mr. Compaan said. "And another aspect that is not discussed as much but one I feel is equally important is the issue of social justice."
Poorer countries often pay the most for energy, but using alternative energy sources could cut that financial burden.
"The solar and wind resources are distributed practically uniformly across the Earth. We don't have countries that are haves and have nots," Mr. Compaan said. "If we develop these resources - wind turbines, solar modules - they will be useful for anyone across the world."
Keith Mills, an engineer from Cleveland, is the other co-founder of OhIPL along with Sister Paula.
"I'm a father, and that's one of my personal motivations," Mr. Mills said. "I felt I had a responsibility to do all I could to make life for my daughter and others that will follow us to have as good life as we have had. Our actions today are setting the stage for life to come."
More information on Ohio Interfaith Power & Light is available online at http://ohipl.blogspot.com, or by writing to Ohio Interfaith Power & Light, P.O. Box 9611, Columbus, OH 43209. Information on its parent organization, the Regeneration Project, is available at
www.theregenerationproject.
org or by calling 415-561-4891.
Contact David Yonke at:
dyonke@theblade.com
or 419-724-6154.
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