Urge President Biden to take bold and just climate action at the COP27 in Egypt

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Dear President Biden,
As people of faith/conscience from across the United States, we urge you to bring the full power and persuasion of the U.S. government to achieve agreement at COP27 in Egypt to rapidly cut emissions and keep global warming to no more than 1.5 degrees. We ask you to also ensure that the U.S. does our fair share to support developing nations and people on the front lines of extreme climate impacts by scaling up funding, investments, and clean technology transfer.

To lead by example, the U.S. must take bold action and make serious and ambitious investments. U.S. faith communities are proving this can be done, cutting emissions in their own facilities and supporting vulnerable people and communities in the U.S. and globally. Fueled by a sense of moral responsibility to care for our neighbors, our common home, and protect our children’s future, congregations and families around the country are reducing their climate pollution.

The U.S. must also have domestic policy in place to curb our own emissions, and we strongly support the climate elements of the Inflation Reduction Act as well as administrative actions to reduce carbon pollution. This year’s COP comes at a critical moment. We are witnessing the tragic effects of climate change affecting every community on Earth, but it is the poor and historically disenfranchised who are least responsible for the problem who suffer the most.

As the wealthiest country in the world and the country that has emitted more carbon pollution than any other, the U.S. has a moral responsibility to solve this crisis and to commit to our fair share. We ask the U.S. government to make these commitments and advance priorities during the COP27 negotiations:

  • Accelerate Ambition. We urge the U.S. to accelerate ambition and reduce carbon emissions to keep global warming to no more than 1.5C degrees above pre-industrial levels.
  • Increase Climate Finance Commitments. We urge the U.S. to pay its fair share of the $100 billion commitment to climate finance through the Green Climate Fund and finance mechanisms by increasing its commitments by 2025.
  • Support Loss and Damage Finance. We urge the U.S. to prioritize commitments to the most vulnerable populations, such as Indigenous peoples, small island nations, least developed countries, and climate-displaced persons.
  • Include Climate and Environmental Justice in Adaptation/Mitigation. We urge the U.S. to include climate justice and reject environmental racism in adaptation/mitigation efforts, and ensure a just transition for fossil-fuel workers. We also urge the U.S. to ensure protection of human rights, especially for Indigenous and local communities.

We are prepared to partner with you to help solve the climate crisis as we care for the needs of the most vulnerable. We pray for the moral leadership of the U.S. government at this critical moment. Please lead the nations of the world to a meaningful and lasting agreement to protect our climate, on behalf of all of us, and for the future of our children and the generations yet to come.

Use this link to sign the letter to President Biden

Amplifying the Message about Leaky Wells on the Radio

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Public News Service recently interviewed Kayley Shoup, organizer for Citizens Caring for the Future (an affiliate of NMEP-IPL), about the push by the The Independent Petroleum Association of New Mexico to exclude smaller-producing wells removed from new rules for oil and gas production in counties that are pushing the federal ozone threshold.

Here is a text of the report

“Despite participating in the extensive public process and originally supporting the new rules, the Independent Petroleum Association is now claiming its members should not have to comply and says the rules could cause hundreds, if not thousands, of wells to cease operations prematurely.”

And Kayley’s quote:

“Every other industry is regulated,” she said. “The least they can do is inspect these wells that are leak-prone and causing methane emissions that are warming the planet and also harming the health of communities.”

Read and Listen to Full Report

 

Ann T. McCartney: Oil and gas industry needs to clean up mess

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In good conscience, as oil and gas operators are realizing record profits, they should step up to clean up after themselves and act as better neighbors to New Mexico communities. People of faith and conscience are working now for strong federal rules for pollution that follow New Mexico’s lead.

Ann McCartney, co-chair of the board of New Mexico El Paso Interfaith Power & Light,  had a letter to the editor published  in the Valencia County News-Bulletin on Thursday, September 8. The same letter was published in the Albuquerque Journal on Monday, September 12. Here is an excerpt followed by a link to the full letter in the Valencia County newspaper.

I am very concerned about the health of communities in New Mexico suffering from ill effects of oil and gas.

As a board member of Interfaith Power and Light, our faith communities and people of faith and conscience worked hard on the oil and gas air pollution rules finalized earlier this year by the Environmental Improvement Board.

We offered many comments and spoke in public hearings for rules to address spills, leaks, venting and flaring, which take a toll on all New Mexicans’ health and access to clean air and water. The rules passed by EIB were an important step and safeguard for New Mexicans.

The news that the Independent Petroleum Association of New Mexico (IPANM) intends to sue the state to reverse key provisions of the rules was very disheartening after such a long public process. Industry was part of the long rule-making process. As an ordinary person, I do not understand why IPANM would want to harm the health of our communities — except out of greed.

Read Full Letter