Faith in Action: Addressing Links Among Climate Change, Poverty, Migration

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New Mexico Interfaith Power & Light is among the more than 300 organizations from the U.S., Central America and Mexico to participate in Faith in Action, a global campaign that seeks to draw a link among climate change, poverty and the root causes of migration, immigration and refugees.  Stay engaged via action alerts from Faith in Action

Join Faith in Action on Thursday, January 14,  at 12p PT /1p MT /2p CT / 3p ET for its  monthly Root Causes Initiative call.  Organizers will use that time to share updates on the campaign’s progress, assess new opportunities given the results of the Senate races in Georgia, and plan our strategy to achieve important policy changes in the first 100 days of the new Biden administration.  Register for the call.

Sign and share this online petition urging President-elect Biden to change U.S. policy toward Central America, to address the root causes of poverty, unemployment, climate change, corruption, and violence that force so many people from the region to leave home and migrate north.

Adopting a Green Amendment for NM

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Community Health, Pure Water, Clean Air, Healthy Environment for Present & Future Generations: Adopting a Green Amendment for NM

What is a Green Amendment?

A New Mexico Green Amendment will recognize and protect the human rights of all our people, including future generations, to healthy water, air and environments including the human health and cultural benefits they provide. A Green Amendment added to the bill of rights of the New Mexico constitution will allow us to honor our sacred trust to care for our earth and future generations, and to equitably protect the rights of all people to access and benefit from healthy environments. Since all life is dependent upon clean air, pure water, a stable climate and healthy environments, it is appropriate and just that we would recognize and protect environmental rights as powerfully as we protect other fundamental civil and political rights such as free speech and freedom of religion. The constitutional environmental rights amendment (i.e. the New Mexico Green Amendment) sets guidelines for working toward a cleaner environment and also empowers communities to hold officials accountable to these standards.  Learn More

A #FaithClimateJusticeVoter in 2021 and Beyond

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Even though the Nov. 3 election has come and gone, our commitment to engage in the public arena as #faithclimatejusticevoters is as strong as ever.

This commitment motivated our vote in the recent election, not only on matters related directly to protecting the environment and addressing climate change but also on other justice-related issues connected to climate policy.

“As people of faith across the country, we believe the 2020 election is a referendum on the values that will shape our future,” said the Democracy, Values & the 2020 Election guide released by Interfaith Power & Light and Faith in Public Life earlier this year.  “How can we renew our fragile democracy? How do we honor the human dignity of every person? Will we protect God’s creation for future generations? What policies will prioritize the common good and confront global pandemics that remind us of our interdependence? These questions require a societal examination of conscience.”

Some polls show the public sentiment leading into the election favored actions to reverse climate change and protect our earth. Here is a summary of an public opinion survey released by IPL in October.

IPL and our partners released a new poll that finds American voters of faith, including evangelical and mainline Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, and religiously unaffiliated voters, overwhelmingly believe climate change is happening and are worried about it. The poll from Climate Nexus, Yale University Program on Climate Change Communication, and George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication also finds more than seven in 10 (72%) voters support increasing federal funding to protect vulnerable communities from the impacts of extreme weather as part of the COVID-19 recovery.   Read full article

Another poll conducted by the respected Pew Research Center  offered a similar result.

Opinions are mixed on what impact the recent election will have on our environmental efforts. Here are reports from The Guardian, Axios and The National Catholic Reporter.

So as we look forward to elections in 2021 and beyond,  we reaffirm our commitment to remain #faithclimatejusticevoters