From the Catholic Register, the newspaper of the Catholic Diocese of Salina. Click here for full story and photos.
Clergy learn how to become better stewards of energy
Written by Doug Weller
Thursday, 07 May 2009 08:00
Concordia — Climate and energy shouldn’t be a political issue but a spiritual one, Bishop Paul Coakley told clergy gathered here April 30.
“Creation is God’s handiwork … and we have been made stewards of the goodness of Creation,” he said.
So even if one is skeptical about the reasons for climate change, our faith tells us to do a better job caring for what we have, he said.
Eighteen clergy gathered for a continuing education day that included suggestions on reducing personal and parish energy consumption, as well as a tour of the new wind farm just south of here.
“Even if a small bit of what we are told (about the reasons for climate change) is true, we ought to be concerned as good stewards of God’s Creation,” Bishop Coakley said.
That spiritual approach to climate change is growing rapidly among all believers, said Eileen Horn, who spoke to the group as a staff member of the Climate and Energy Project based at the Land Institute in Salina.
On Earth Day April 22, a coalition of Catholic organizations launched the Catholic Climate Covenant, which seeks to curb carbon emissions, and just recently, Kansas became the 28th state to join the Interfaith Power and Light campaign, which is mobilizing a national religious response to climate change while promoting renewable energy, energy efficiency and conservation.
A recent poll shows 55 percent of Catholics agree climate change is a serious problem, Horn said, and about 65 percent say that even though scientists don’t know everything about the cause of climate change, people still should take action.
It comes down to the “principles of prudence,” Horn said. That means having respect for Creation, wanting a safer world, protecting the poor and helping those with fewer resources.
“It’s not just Catholics,” said Horn, the product of Catholic grade school, high school and university educations. She cited campaigns by the Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopal, Evangelical and Jewish faiths that focus on reducing energy consumption and raising consciousness about climate change.
Many scientists, Horn said, now believe that global warming has advanced so far that there is little humans can do to turn it around. The focus, she said, then has to be on mitigation.
“Reducing energy use is the biggest impact we can have on greenhouse gases,” she said.
Taking action can range from no-cost behavioral changes to substantial investments in heating and cooling technology. Saving energy can be as simple as unplugging cell phone chargers when they’re not in use or using compact fluorescent lighting, she noted.
Energy audits can help homeowners and parishes alike learn where they can realize the biggest savings.
For example, replacing infrequently used sanctuary lighting with more efficient bulbs won’t have as much of an impact as reducing the energy consumption in the parish office, which is utilized throughout the week, Horn said.
Supporting renewable energy sources also helps reduce greenhouse gases, she said.
Participants toured the Meridian Way Wind Farm south of Concordia to learn more about the project, one of eight in Kansas and the second located in the Diocese of Salina.
The project can produce a peak of 201 megawatts of energy from 67 turbines located east and west of U.S. Highway 81.
Project administrator Michelle Graham, a parishioner at St. Anthony’s Parish in nearby Miltonvale, described the 10-month construction process before leading the clergy on a tour.
While construction costs for wind farms are high — industry estimates are $1 million per megawatt produced — the energy source is free. Horizon Wind Energy of Houston, which owns and operates the Cloud County project, says Kansas ranks 12th in the nation for wind energy potential.
The scale of both wind farms in the diocese is massive.
At Concordia, the Meridian Way Wind Farm uses 3-megawatt turbines on towers that jut 240 feet into the sky. Each turbine blade is 146 feet long, and the turbine housing is about the size of a tour bus, Graham said.
Each tower’s foundation took 41 tons of reinforcing bar and 525 cubic yards of concrete to build.
It takes at least an 8 mph wind to move the blades. Computers adjust the angle and twist of the blades to get the most generating capacity from the wind.
The turbines produce peak energy when the wind is blowing between 20 and 40 mph. They must be shut down when winds exceed 45 mph because of potential damage to the blades.
Peak production of 201 megawatts is enough to power 60,000 homes, Graham said.
So far, the Horizon Wind team at Concordia has learned that it’s actually windier at night than during the day and that April and October are the windiest months.
The Smoky Hills Wind Project south of Lincoln has far more turbines, but each produces less energy, from 1.5 megawatts to 1.8 megawatts per tower.
The project, operated by TradeWind Energy, has 155 towers primarily along Interstate 70 west of Salina.
Horn, of the Climate and Energy Project based in Salina, said using wind and solar energy won’t replace traditional sources of power, but they can reduce the need to build more power plants that emit greenhouse gases.
Still, she said, cutting energy consumption will have the greatest effect in addressing climate change.
“Conservation is the cheapest, most efficient solution we have,” she said.
Covenants seek individual, parish participants
Parishes and families can become better stewards of the earth by participating in two covenants.
Kansas Interfaith Power and Light sponsors the Congregational Covenant. Parishes can commit to any of seven steps to help reduce energy consumption and promote stewardship of natural resources.
Eileen Horn, director of community outreach for the Climate and Energy Project at the Land Institute in Salina, said 16 Kansas congregations have signed the covenant.
The covenant asks congregations to commit to one or more of these policies:
• Engage in ongoing education on environmental stewardship, energy production and energy usage.
• Incorporate elements of ecological spirituality in worship.
• Conduct an energy audit of church buildings.
• Make energy efficiency improvements to facilities and vehicles.
• Promote renewable energy.
• Analyze, reduce and offset the environmental footprint of the congregation.
• Support public policies that contribute to KIPL’s mission to help halt the Midwest’s contributions to global warming and climate change.
More information is at www.kansasipl.climateandenergy.org.
Meanwhile, the Catholic Climate Covenant asks individuals and families to take the St. Francis Pledge:
• Pray and reflect on the duty to care for God’s Creation and protect the poor and vulnerable.
• Learn about and educate others on the causes and moral dimensions of climate change.
• Assess how we contribute to climate change by our own energy use, consumption, waste, etc.
• Act to change our choices and behaviors to reduce the ways we contribute to climate change.
• Advocate for Catholic principles and priorities in climate change discussions and decisions.
More information is available at www.catholicclimatecovenant.org.
RESOURCES
Energy Star for Congregations
www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=small_business.sb_congregations
Energy Star says most congregations can cut energy costs by up to 30 percent by investing strategically in efficient equipment, facility upgrades and maintenance.
The Regeneration Project and the Interfaith Power and Light campaign
www.theregenerationproject.org
This ministry is devoted to help people recognize and fulfill their responsibility for the stewardship of creation.
Kansas Interfaith Power and Light
www.kansasipl.climateandenergy.org
Kansas Interfaith Power and Light is working with congregations to put faith into action by promoting energy conservation, energy efficiency and renewable energy.
Catholic Coalition on Climate Change
catholicclimatecovenant.org
This coalition of numerous Catholic organizations advocates for those who will be left out of the public policy debate on climate change.
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[...] Kansas IPL has begun hosting Energy Stewardship Days, with priests from the Salina Archdiocese and the Sisters of St. Joseph of Concordia gathering to [...]