FAITH LEADERS SPEAK

2018: Faith Leaders Condemn EPA Proposal to Roll Back Methane Pollution Standards

Today, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler proposed to weaken methane pollution standards for the oil and gas industry. These commonsense safeguards were designed to limit the release of methane pollution, a potent greenhouse gas, from oil and gas infrastructure, and also to help protect communities from other dangerous pollutants released alongside methane. Methane is leaked into the air (often wasting millions of dollars) when gas is vented and flared, and also in transport.

Rev. Susan Hendershot, President of Interfaith Power & Light, stated: “All faith traditions share a sacred calling to care for the earth and to care for those who are most vulnerable in our communities. Methane pollution causes deep and irreparable harm to God’s good Creation, polluting not only the land and the air, but also jeopardizing the health of children and those living in frontline communities. Any proposals to weaken or do away with safeguards against methane pollution are unethical and immoral.”

Methane is a significant driver of climate change, and a rollback of these critical health protections would put our families’ health at risk. This rollback marks the beginning of a two-part scheme by Wheeler and the Trump Administration to dramatically weaken standards to control dangerous pollution.

Sister Joan Brown, Executive Director New Mexico Interfaith Power & Light, said: “People of faith made thousands of comments in support of strong EPA methane standards through a long public process. Methane pollution is hurting our children in New Mexico and stealing over $250 million annually from our state budget that funds education. The droughts and fires we experienced this summer are related to methane which is a cause of climate change. This is a grave moral and ethical concern. People of faith in New Mexico will continue to work for the Common Good and our sacred Creation.”

2016: Western faith groups and investment firms call on oil and gas lobby groups to support BLM natural gas waste rule

August, 25 2016

Today, 25 socially responsible investment firms and Western faith leaders joined together in a letter calling on oil and gas lobby groups to drop their opposition and support the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s natural gas waste rule, which was proposed earlier this year.

The letter addressed seven trade associations including Western Energy Alliance, Consumer Energy Alliance, Colorado Oil & Gas Association (COGA), New Mexico Oil & Gas Association, New Mexico Association of Commerce and Industry, Colorado Petroleum Council, and La Plata Energy Council. The coalition’s call to action comes as COGA members and western energy producers gather for the Rocky Mountain Energy Summit which kicked off this past Monday in Denver.
Noting Pope Francis and the text of Laudato Si, Joan Brown, osf, Executive Director of New Mexico Interfaith Power and Light said, “Action to support new BLM methane rules are in line to address creation care, climate change and just economics by calling for change in one area of the ‘throwaway culture'”.
“Our letter (copy here) comes on the heels of a ground-breaking report this month by NASA which found that oil and gas operations were a significant contributor behind emissions that have created a methane cloud the size of Delaware hovering over the Four Corners region,” she stated, also pointing out that New Mexico loses $50 million in royalty revenue annually from methane waste.

The group highlighted the more than $330 million worth of natural gas oil and gas companies waste annually through venting, flaring, or leaks from equipment and infrastructure on federal and tribal lands, located primarily in the Intermountain West.

“We have a moral responsibility to cut methane emissions and reduce natural gas waste from oil and gas operations on public lands,” said Shantha Alonso, Executive Director of Creation Justice Ministries. Alonso expounded further, “When natural gas is wasted, it means lost revenues that could go to our schools and communities and lost energy that could be heating homes for low-income families.”

The group’s letter also pointed to the employment opportunities available in the methane mitigation sector, along with the economic incentive for oil and gas companies to capture and sell natural gas that would otherwise be wasted, referring to research finding oil and gas companies can use already-available solutions to cut methane emissions “by 40 percent for pennies on the dollar.”

2016: Faith Leaders Thank the Bureau of Land Management for Methane Waste Standard

November 30, 2016

Contact: Shantha Ready Alonso, 760.408.0688 (mobile) shantha@creationjustice.org

Cutting Methane Waste on Public Lands Means More Abundance for All

Today, 25 faith leaders sent a thank-you letter to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for their recently released Methane Waste Standard, officially called the “Waste Prevention, Production Subject to Royalties, and Resource Conservation Rule.” The Methane Waste Standard will require oil and gas operations on BLM and tribal lands to detect and plug methane leaks, as well as cut the practice of venting and flaring excess methane.

Signers included national religious leaders as well as leaders of the West and Southwest, including the Directors of the Wyoming Association of Churches, Colorado Council of Churches, and New Mexico Interfaith Power and Light – all organizations that have been extremely active on the issue.

The letter lifts up faith communities’ shared faith principle of stewardship: “As people of faith, we believe in good stewardship of all the gifts of God’s creation. We consider it part of practicing our faith to counteract wasteful attitudes and behaviors, which Pope Francis call ‘throwaway culture’.”

Since the Bureau of Land Management first announced their effort to cut methane waste, religious communities have championed the cause. Religious leaders highlighted in their letter their collective reaction to learning about the issue: “As our communities learned of the methane waste problem, we found it shocking how much leaked, vented, and flared natural gas is lost from oil and gas operations.” Annually, oil and gas operations in the United States waste enough methane to power the entire state of Wyoming for a year.

When methane leaks from oil and gas operations on public land, a useful gift of God’s creation instead becomes a burden to communities. The religious leaders spoke of this burden in their letter: “Many states count on revenue from these operations to fund projects that care for the common good, including schools and roads. Yet, oil and gas companies allow methane, a finite gift of God’s creation, to waft into the air. This not only pollutes our air, but it also endangers our health and harms our climate. It also sends millions of dollars in potential earnings for the companies and tax revenue for our communities up in smoke.”

As the Methane Waste Rule proceeds from finalization to implementation, religious leaders will continue to monitor its effectiveness, and continue to advocate for cutting methane waste.

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Full text of the letter below.

Creation Justice Ministries represents the creation care policies of 38 Christian communions, including Baptists, mainline Protestants, Historically Black Churches, Peace Churches, and Orthodox communions. Learn more at www.creationjustice.org

Sister Joan Brown, osf, the Executive Director of New Mexico Interfaith Power and Light, commented, “People of faith in New Mexico are grateful for the new BLM methane rules addressing pollution and waste. This is an important step in reducing the large methane cloud in our Four Corners region that will protect the health of those who are most vulnerable. Our schools and the children will benefit from more funds into our state budget from royalties. New Mexico Interfaith Power and Light is grateful for the leadership of this rule that cares for God’s creation and our communities.”

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President Obama

The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20500

Secretary Sally Jewell, Department of the Interior, 1849 C St. NW, Washington, DC 20240

November 30, 2016

Dear President Obama and Secretary Jewell:

Thank you for your Administration’s new Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Methane Waste Standard.

As people of faith, we believe in good stewardship of all the gifts of God’s creation. We consider it part of practicing our faith to counteract wasteful attitudes and behaviors, which Pope Francis call “throwaway culture.”

As our communities learned of the methane waste problem, we found it shocking how much leaked, vented, and flared natural gas is lost from oil and gas operations. Many states count on revenue from these operations to fund projects that care for the common good, including schools and roads. Yet, oil and gas companies allow methane, a finite gift of God’s creation, to waft into the air. This not only pollutes our air, but it also endangers our health and harms our climate. It also sends millions of dollars in potential earnings for the companies and tax revenue for our communities up in smoke.

For our communities’ health, the wellbeing of our climate, companies’ bottom line, and states’ budgetary sustainability, the new BLM Methane Waste Standard is an excellent step in the right direction.

With Gratitude,

WESTERN LEADERS

Adrian Miller, Executive Director, Colorado Council of Churches, Denver, CO

Chesie Lee, Executive Director, Wyoming Association of Churches, Riverton, WY

Rev. Kay Huggins, Interim Director, New Mexico Conference of Churches, Albuquerque, NM

Sr. Joan Brown, osf, Executive Director, New Mexico Interfaith Power and Light, Albuquerque, NM

Rt. Rev. Bishop Bailey, Bishop of Episcopal Church of Navajoland New Mexico, Arizona and Utah

Sr. Rose Marie Cecchini, mm, Office of Life, Justice, Peace and Creation Stewardship, Gallup, NM

Rev. Peter Sawtell, Director Eco-Justice Ministries Denver, CO

Ty Markham, Chair, Mormon Environmental Stewardship Alliance, Torrey, UT

Genny Rowley, President, Utah Interfaith Power & Light, Salt Lake City, UT

Rev. Doug Bland, Executive Director, Arizona Interfaith Power & Light

Rabbi Harry Rosenfeld, Congregation Albert, Albuquerque, NM

Rabbi Neil Amsych, Temple Beth Shalom, Santa Fe, NM

Tina Yankee, President, Colorado Interfaith Power and Light, Marie Venner, Denver Catholic Network, Denver, CO

Linda Sosa, Community Organizer, Por La Creación: Faith Based Alliance, Denver, CO

Dr. Richard Mansfield, Pastor, New Beginnings Church, Albuquerque, NM

Daniel Barajas, President, Ministerios Aposento Alto, Phoenix, AZ

Miguel Angel Perez, Pastor, Monte de Sion Community Church, Albuquerque, NM

NATIONAL LEADERS

Shantha Ready Alonso, Executive Director, Creation Justice Ministries, Washington, DC

Susan Stephenson, Executive Director, Interfaith Power and Light, San Francisco, CA

Patrick Carolan, Executive Director, Franciscan Action Network, Washington, DC

Rev. Carol Devine, Minister for Green Chalice, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Nicholasville, KY

Kyle Meyaard-Schapp, National Organizer and Spokesperson, Young Evangelicals for Climate Action, Ann Arbor, MI

Gerry Lee, Director, Maryknoll Office of Global Concerns, Washington, DC

CC:

Dan Utech, Deputy Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change

Neil Kornze, Director

Bureau of Land Management

Christy Goldfuss, Director

Council on Environmental Quality

Global Warming Express & Interfaith Clergy Testify to PRC Opposing PNM (1/20/2015)

Santa Fe Interfaith Clergy Testify to PRC Opposing PNM Replacement Power Plan (1/20/2015)

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New Mexico Faith Leaders Advocate for Obama to Reject the proposed Keystone Pipeline

NMIPL is pleased that two prominent NM faith leaders were listed as signers in the letter that appeared in Politico in Washington, DC. We are grateful that of the more than 150 faith leaders who signed this letter, approximately 25 were from New Mexico. Thank you for strong prophetic witnesses of faith in action for caring for creation and the future generations!!!!!

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New Mexico Advocacy Action

Your stories about what you love and how climate change is affecting these things, people, plants and creatures are needed. NMIPL will share some stories on our website and we will deliver these to our legislators, petitioning them to work for stronger energy efficiency, climate change and water legislation.

Send your story, a photo if you have one, name, city and e-mail to joan@nm-ipl or to NMIPL, PO Box 27162, ABQ, NM  87125.

2011: People of Faith Act to Stop Ford Motor Company’s Efforts to Weaken Our Environmental Protections

In 2011, Ford Motor Company was part of a historic breakthrough in cooperation on climate solutions when the company supported the Clean Car Standards, which would raise fuel efficiency standards to an average of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. This represents a 50 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, in addition to reductions in air pollution. With 24 million Americans—including more than six million children—suffering from asthma, these standards safeguard the health of vulnerable communities.

Under the current Administration, Ford began lobbying for a review of the standards, asking for “additional flexibility” in meeting the standards. It is unconscionable for the company to renege on their commitment to cleaner cars now, after the American taxpayers loaned Ford billions of dollars to invest in advanced vehicle manufacturing in 2009.

As people of faith, committed to environmental and climate justice, we call on Ford Motor Company to stand by the Clean Car Standards. Please add your voice by clicking on one of the links below.