Speak Out

Maybelle Kagy, Anglican Episcopal Church of the Ascension, speaks out at Appalachia Rising rally against mountain-top removal coal mining.

Interfaith Power & Light (MD•DC•NoVA) provides regular opportunities for people of faith to speak out for creation in the public square, and to bring a uniquely powerful moral voice to local environmental advocacy campaigns. Right now, we are wearing the religious “hat” in the following coalitions and campaigns:

Climate Ethics Campaign
The Climate Ethics Campaign seeks to make clear to leaders at every level of society that when deciding if or how to respond to climate change we must acknowledge and act on our nation’s long held moral and ethical principles: to protect current and future generations from unjustifiable suffering and death, to act in a just and equitable manner, and to protect the Earth’s natural systems that support all life, including ours. Sign the Statement of Our Nation’s Moral Obligation to Address Climate Change and be sure to include Interfaith Power & Light as an affiliation!

Choose Clean Water Campaign
The Choose Clean Water coalition brings together people and nearly 200 organizations from Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia, working together to help everyone in the Chesapeake watershed region choose clean water. Interfaith Power & Light (MD•DC•NoVA) is committed to ensuring local implementation of state/district Watershed Implementation Plans, improving policies that stop polluted runoff in cities and towns, protecting communities from water pollution created by gas drilling, an ensuring continued federal investment in Chesapeake Bay watershed restoration and protection.

Stopping the Keystone XL Pipeline

The Keystone XL pipeline would carry dangerous crude oil from the Canadian tar sands across over a thousand miles and six states, and “would,” writes climate scientist James Hansen, “make it implausible to stabilize climate and avoid disastrous global climate impacts.” Interfaith Power & Light (MD•DC•NoVA) has worked tirelessly and powerfully on this campaign, resulting in the Obama Administration announcing a delay for further study! While recent legislation has fast-tracked a decision, the White House has indicated that the bill “simply shortens the review process in a way that virtually guarantees that the pipeline will NOT be approved.”

Washington, DC

DC Solar United Neighborhoods (DC SUN)
DC Solar United Neighborhoods is a coalition that is leading the charge to make Washington DC a solar city. Solar cooperatives help neighbors, businesses, and non-profits understand the steps needed to harness the power of the sun to produce electricity and lower our reliance on more environmentally-harmful forms of electricity. Now, more than ten coops have sprouted up in all wards within DC. DC SUN brings these cooperatives together under one umbrella to advocate for better solar incentives, improved customer service from Pepco, create jobs in DC, and spread the word about the benefits of going solar.

DC Environmental Network

Interfaith Power & Light (MD•DC•NoVA) is a member of the DC Environmental Network, which is working toward a vision of rebuilding Washington, DC’s neighborhoods and communities for long-term economic stability — accomplishing this by protecting and restoring the Capital City’s urban environment.

Maryland

Marylanders for Offshore Wind
The Marylanders for Offshore Wind coalition seeks to enact ground-breaking off-shore wind legislation, enabling Maryland to become a clean energy leader on the East Coast.

Maryland Citizens’ Campaign for the Environment
Through our membership in Citizens’ Campaign for the Environment, we join with environmental organizations from across the state to select environmental legislative priorities each year.

Northern Virginia

GenOff Campaign  – won!
Interfaith Power & Light (MD•DC•NoVA) engaged congregations in Northern Virginia and across the river in DC and Maryland in the GenOff Campaign to shut down the GenOn Potomac River Coal plant on the Alexandria waterfront.  In August of 2011, the city of Alexandria announced that GenOn would take the plant off-line by October 2012.  Watch the video below to learn more!

Wise Energy for Virginia Coalition
Wise Energy for Virginia is a coalition of organizations committed to securing a clean energy future for Virginia. Originally formed to fight a proposed coal-burning plant in Wise County, Virginia, the coalition continues to promote clean and affordable energy that will protect our mountains and southwest Virginia communities from mountaintop removal coal mining, invigorate the economy by creating jobs that cannot be exported, and commit the Commonwealth to science-based reductions in global warming pollution. IPL (MD•DC•NoVA) engages Northern Virginia congregations in the coalition’s work.

Virginia for Wind Coalition
“VA4Wind” is a coalition that has come together in an effort to spur offshore wind energy development off of  Virginia’s coast. No other state has more opportunity for economic gain and to be a leader in the offshore wind industry than Virginia. Boosting the economy, transforming Virginia’s energy future, and slowing and ultimately reversing climate change and its consequences will require a clear commitment and aggressive timetable. Interfaith Power & Light (MD•DC•NoVA) engages Northern Virginia congregations in the coalition’s work.

Keep the Ban on Uranium Mining in Virginia
Our partners at Virginia Interfaith Power & Light are engaging Virginia faith communities in the fight to keep the ban on uranium mining in Virginia. No effort to lift the ban was introduced during the 2012 legislative session, but communities need to be vigilant for next year. Virginia Uranium, Inc, a Canadian-owned company, has been trying to repeal a nearly 30-year statewide ban on the mining of uranium, the milling of yellowcake, and the disposal of radioactive waste in Virginia. A proposed mine and mill in Pittsylvania County would generate over 28 million tons of mill tailings waste. This type of waste has been linked to increases in leukemia, kidney disease, and other severe health problems. Learn more here.

Northern Virginia Climate Action Network
Interfaith Power & Light (MD•DC•NoVA) is a member of NOVACAN, a coalition of organizations in Northern Virginia formed to address climate change policy at the federal, state and local level. NOVACAN’s mission is to educate and empower Northern Virginians to advocate for policies to curtail climate change.

Virginia Clean Air Defense Campaign
Power plants are one of the leading polluters of our air, contributing to global warming and skyrocketing rates of asthma in the U.S. More than half of all Americans live in places with unsafe levels of air pollution, which causes heart attacks, asthma attacks, emergency room visits, and even deaths every year. We join this coalition to help defend clean air rules.