News from 2012 PC(USA) General Assembly

Greetings PEC friends Post General Assembly!!
Presbyterians for Earth Care had a visible presence at GA and the experience was excellent. We were represented at the booth and luncheon by our Executive Committee and we were thrilled to make contacts with dozens of Presbyterians who have a deep concern for doing Creation care. 

At our booth we were happy to share information about PEC, including our new policy priorities on Climate Change (see our website) and much more including sharing about Earth Care Congregations, Justice Unbound, and Tevyn East's new "Affording Hope" tour, and more. We also welcomed



There were two environmental related overtures which were sent via Heartland and Baltimore Presbyteries. Diane presented during open hearings and as an Overture advocate, and both of these passed through committee and GA. (More on those with a couple fascinating stories in the upcoming Update!)

Spending time at the PEC Booth - with Sue Smith, Diane Waddell, PEC luncheon speaker Rev. Dr. Randy Bush, and Jane Laping (left to right)

During the PEC luncheon, we highlighted our partnership with Environmental Ministries, the Presbyterian Hunger Program, and the Office of Public Witness, among others. We were blessed to meet in a beautiful space in the chapel of First Presbyterian Church, Pittsburgh, among fresh flowers and Tiffany windows.  We were grateful for the Rev. Dr. Randy Bush bringing us a charge for creation care..."to exist is to co-exist."

We also congratulate the winners of our annual awards, who were present to receive them. Tom Quigley, director of The Garden of Etna, a community garden, has done much in Pittsburgh to further environmental justice. He accepted the William Gibson Achievement Award. Earth Covenant Ministry in Atlanta, a partnership of 10 congregations in Atlanta working toward intentional stewardship, accepted the Restoring Creation Award. In addtion to our award winners, we are grateful to have had many other excellent nominees. You can read about their good work on our blog: Alaska Interfaith Power and Light, Glenshaw Presbyterian Church, Earth Care House Church of Trinity Presbyterian Church, and Lynn Cameron.

A special thanks to Rob Remsburg, previous PEC treasurer, who helped with our booth while serving as commissioner, Lauren Wright, an Eco-Steward and Young Adult Volunteer, as well as many others who helped with the booth and came by to visit!!! We greatly appreciate you all!!

Blessings and strength to all of us as we travel in our many ways post-General Assembly...in furthering our work in tending this beautiful Garden.

Caring for Creation together,
The Executive Committee
Diane Waddell (Moderator)
Jane Laping (Vice-Moderator)
Sue Smith (Treasurer)


P.S. PEC is highlighting two conferences in July: A conference on environmental stewardship will be presented by the Presbyterian Men of the Mid-Atlantic on July 20, 21 and 22 at Massanetta Camp and Conference Center in Harrisburg, VA. Please click here for more information. We also highlight the 2012 Churchwide Gathering of Presbyterian Women, "River of Hope", being held in Orlando, FA July 18-22. Check the link here.  PEC sends our very best to all involved in both conferences.

2012 William Gibson Lifetime Acheivement Award Nominee: Lynn Cameron

Nominee: Lynn Cameron
For: William Gibson Lifetime Acheivement Award
Nominated By: Earth Care House Church, Trinity Presbyterian Church

Lynn is presently pastoral leader of Earth Care House Church, the environmental arm of the home church, Trinity Presbyterian Church.

Lynn has shown Earth Care leadership in the following ways:
1. Took an overture to the 2002 GA in Columbus, Ohio asking PCUSA to accept as the Church’s position its desire to see grandfathered coal-power plants we need to research this and get the actual wording.
2. Led ECHC to its Fall Retreat at Lambert Cabin, a facility owned by PATC. The Potomac Appalachian Trail Club has many members in our congregation. Lynn and her husband are “Caretakers” for a section of the trail and maintain it with non-gasoline powered tools. Church youth are led by Lynn to use old fashioned cross-cut saws to remove fallen trees from the trail. She shows them how to use spades to form trenches to deflect runoff water from the trail reducing harmful erosion.
3. Expended countless hours getting organizations of all stripes and flavors to become sponsors of Friends of Shenandoah Mountain.
4. Does not simply talk: she walks the walk. She and her husband bought a tract of forest land adjacent to the Shenandoah National Park because she had found in her research as a professional librarian that this tract contain a very unique “wet land” high up the mountain side. This wet land provides water for flora and fauna.
5. Love of God’s creatures manifested in their ownership of several llamas. Church youth from area congregations not all Presbyterian, have mingled with her llamas; she shows these young persons how to pretend that they, too, have breaths which llamas need to sample before establishing llama trust. It is amazing to see a second grade girl, hands behind her back, leaning forward while breathing, in an effort to establish trust on the part of the beast.
6. Long history in environmental work in the church. For example, she was a long time friend with Ernie Dickerman who is considered by many to be the father and founder of the Virginia Wilderness Society. With his help, our house church was able to bring Richard Cartwright Austin to Harrisonburg for a three-day workshop and seminar.
7. Worked tireless to bring Harrisonburg’s “Friendly City Food Coop” into existence. Although no official count has been taken it is a safe bet that every member of ECHC is a partner here. One of our church youth (a college student) is an employee of the Coop working her way through JMU.
8. One year ago in 2010, Lynn was the driving force behind Trinity Presbyterian Church’s earning its “Green Congregation” status. After the award arrived here, she and her husband continued finding additional items of interest.
9. Earth Care House Church, the environmental house church at Trinity Presbyterian Church, Harrisonburg, VA, scheduled a retreat near Shenandoah National Park. Lynn and Malcolm Cameron are members of the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club. This club became owners of a most unique cabin near Luray. We were permitted to hold our autumn retreat 2010 in this cabin. The mountain setting, the crisp autumn weather, and the cabin’s legacy gave an extra spirituality to our worship and retreat. This retreat would not have been possible absent Lynn’s contacts in this outdoor hiking organization. Our pastor’s husband who recently died of cancer was a past president of PATC.

Lynn has been working for ten years to obain wilderness status for 90,000 acres located in the George Washington National Forest. Friends of Shenandoah Mountain is a voluntary local coalition of businesses, individuals, faith groups, hunters, conservationists, hikers, mountain bikers, and others who have come together to protect these areas. "From the top of Reddish Knob one can behold the breathtaking beauty of Shenandoah Mountain. As stewards of god's good creation, we need to preserve this unique natural area for generations to come."-Ann Held, Pastor, Trinity Presbyterian Church, Harrisonburg.

2012 Restoring Creation Award Nominee: AK Interfaith Power and Light

Each year, Presbyterians for Earth Care receives nominations for two awards: The William Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award for individuals and the Restoring Creation Award for congregations, governing bodies, ecumenical agencies, or Presbyterian-related entities. In 2012, we received so many excellent nominations and could only choose two awardees. All the nominations bore such good news about what God's people are doing to care for God's Creation, we'd like to share them all with you. Nominee: Alaska Interfaith Power and Light For: Restoring Creation Award Nominated by: - Curtis Karns of the Presbytery of Yukon Interfaith Power & Light (IPL) is a national affiliate of The Regeneration Project, a non-profit organization working to deepen the connection between ecology and faith. To date, TRP's national IPL network comprises 31 state affiliates, transcending socio-economics, cultures and denominations. As an increasing number of scientists, indigenous peoples and other leaders declared Alaska as ground zero for climate change, it became clear an IPL affiliate must be established in the Great Land. In 2006, Alaska Interfaith Power & Light became the 20th IPL state affiliate. Currently, out of the 250 conservation non-governmental organizations in the state, Alaska IPL is the only organization calling attention to our moral obligation to serve as stewards of creation and subsequent symptoms of the human family not living-up to this responsibility to the best of our ability, including human-induced climate change.

Although AKIPL has worked to engage faith communities in common sense practices like energy audits for buildings and changing light bulbs, Mary Walker's vision led to one particular project that needs to be especially recognized. Since May 2011, AKIPL has been holding a series of interdisciplinary public forums aimed both at raising public awareness regarding the moral imperative for dealing with human-caused climate change, and lobbying for governmental and and personal responses. These public forums are held under the title of One People, One Earth (http://onepeopleoneearth.org/), Participants include scientists (an ecologist, a biologist, a physicist and an oceanographer) from the University of Alaska, Alaska Native Elders from three Native American peoples (Tlingit, Aleut and Yupik), and four Alaskan faith leaders from Roman Catholic, Protestant [PCUSA], Islamic and Jewish). Though these participants embody important differences, they also speak passionately about the importance of this issue and their absolute unity in dealing with this as a world people. One interesting outworking of this has been a particular interest in the comments from the faith leaders. Their latest pubic forum was held in Juneau, where a separate public meeting was held just to spend more time talking with the faith leaders. It is hoped this public, interdisciplinary approach will continue to build momentum and add to the public will for the change necessary to mitigate the damage caused by a carbon fueled industrial age.

One People, One Earth continues to gain recognition. In the past two weeks, there has been conversation abut bringing this interdisciplinary panel to events outside of Alaska. it would be helpful for PEC to recognize this effort.

2012 Restoring Creation Award Nominee: Glenshaw Presbyterian Church

Each year, Presbyterians for Earth Care receives nominations for two awards: The William Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award for individuals and the Restoring Creation Award for congregations, governing bodies, ecumenical agencies, or Presbyterian-related entities. In 2012, we received so many excellent nominations and could only choose two awardees. All the nominations bore such good news about what God's people are doing to care for God's Creation, we'd like to share them all with you. 

Nominee: Glenshaw Presbyterian Church
For: Restoring Creation Award
Nominated by: Beth Egan of Glenshaw Presbyterian Church

Glenshaw Presbyterian Church's accomplishments include: Establishing the GPC Goes Green Program; Became a certified Earth Care Congregation in 2011; Member of Presbyterians For Earth Care; Earth care components in worship services; Planting trees for new members; Eco palms are used on Palm Sunday; Provide earth care disciplines and devotionals for members during advent and lent; Designed and planted an outdoor prayer garden; Offer earth care Sunday School classes for children, youth and adults including outdoor activities. Earth care pages are available on the church
web site www.glenshawchurch.org; Monthly emails on earth care are sent out to members and information is provided on a bulletin board, through Sunday bulletins and in the church newsletter; Energy efficient windows and air conditioning was installed; All office and church school wastepaper is recycled as well as metal cans, plastic, glass, electronic equipment and ink cartridges; A large bin is available in the parking lot for community use for paper recycling; Have begun to reduce toxic cleaning products; Offer vegetarian choices at dinners; Limit use of paper products at dinners; Children participate in church sponsored camping trips; Establishing and being an ongoing sponsor of the Etna Community Garden; Collaborate with other community groups concerning earth care; Have shared information concerning earth care with other groups.

Glenshaw Presbyterian Church with the backing of their pastor, the Rev. Dr. Mike Hoyt, an advocate of environmental stewardship and their "Green Team" of volunteers have implemented numerous programs within the church and out in the community. They see their responsibility for the earth as an outgrowth of their relationship to God. Two major projects have been: transforming a former playground on the church grounds into a lush, beautiful prayer garden and helping to start the Etna Community Garden. Through the community garden fresh produce is donated to the local food pantry and it also gives residents of the community the opportunity to grow their own fresh produce.

Educating and involving members in environmental stewardship, including the children and youth of the church, is a high priority. It is their hope that other churches in the area will also work to become Earth Care Congregations and GPC members are willing to mentor others to reach that goal.

2012 Restoring Creation Award Nominee: Earth Care House Church of Trinity Presbyterian Church, Shenandoah Presbytery, Synod of the Mid-Atlantic, PC(USA)

Each year, Presbyterians for Earth Care receives nominations for two awards: The William Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award for individuals and the Restoring Creation Award for congregations, governing bodies, ecumenical agencies, or Presbyterian-related entities. In 2012, we received so many excellent nominations and could only choose two awardees. All the nominations bore such good news about what God's people are doing to care for God's Creation, we'd like to share them all with you. 

Nominee: Earth Care House Church of Trinity Presbyterian Church, Shenandoah Presbytery, Synod of the Mid-Atlantic, PC(USA)
For: 2012 Restoring Creation Award
Nominated by: Emily Riehl of First Presbyterian Church, Richmond

Each house church is approved and operates under the aegis of the Session. A covenant renewed each year stipulates that four marks of the church will be observed: mission, worship, nurture, and fellowship. The covenant also requires this particular hose church to engage in Care of Creation. To meet these requirements, Earth Care House Church has acted in several arenas.

Augmenting Youth Activities in the Wilderness:
• A member of ECHC received a grant from Virginia Wilderness to take children on field trips to Hone Quarry for a period of several weeks. The third and fourth grade students from Keister Elementary were recently highlighted in local Daily New Record Article. ECHC paid for the water testing kit.
• ECHC included youth on a recent hike to High Knob Tower.
• ECHC (then known as Restoring Creation House Church) led the congregational youth on a hike and worship on the west sloop of the Blue Ridge Mountains near Grottoes, Virginia. Carried Hymnals to high sloop near Sky Line Drive in the Shenandoah National Park. This land, which is on the Wetlands Registry, is owned by members of our group.
• ECHC donated to Massanetta Springs Camp and Conference Center several trees. These were planted under supervision by adult members.

Environmental Recognitions and Actions:
• Trinity Presbyterian Church was re-certified as a Green Congregation by PC(USA); originally certified on December 12, 2010 as one of two PC(USA) Churches in Virginia, with this status.
• Members of ECHC are working to provide garden fresh vegetables by planting a raised bed on the church property. These vegetables will be distributed to the clients of Trinity’s Kara House Church.
• Members of ECHC then RCHC traveled in a 15 passenger van to Charlotte, North Carolina to receive an award for our environmental efforts.
• Members of ECHC attended the General Assembly in Columbus, Ohio with the express purpose to carry a resolution to remove grandfathered power plants from the nation’s power plants. Lobbied and were successful in getting approval of this landmark legislation. This congressional act would require that scrubbers be placed on these coal fired power plants.
• Members of ECHC attended the General Assembly in Richmond, Virginia where we received an award from the Washington DC Office of PC(USA) for our environmental work.
• Members of ECHC joined PDR in a mission trip to rebuild private homes in Gulf Port, MS following the Hurricane Katrina disaster. Two such mission trips were completed; one of our members just returned from a mission trip to Aurora, NC.
• Members of ECHC assisted a college student in her attendance to the Lake George Conference by securing a scholarship; as a result she was able to enter graduate school to pursue environmental studies at Duke University. She is one of three of our young people that have chosen environmental studies.
• After the Lake George, NY Environmental Conference members of ECHC met “Biz” at the SNP to view land terrapins that had been electronically equipped for scientists to monitor their breeding and survival stats.
• Members of ECHC traveled to Richmond to inform Massy Coal Company that their actions at the Marsh Fork School in West Virginia were unacceptable and required correction. (A coal tipple was adjacent to the school). Recently, the coal industry has built a new school to replace the contaminated structure.
• In three consecutive planting seasons, members of ECHC traveled to the Volunteer Farm located on the Eastern slope of Shenandoah Mountain near St. Luke, Virginia to plant potatoes, onions and other seasonal vegetables to donate to the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank.
• Led summer night studies or bible school based on the valuable information and inspiration gained by members of ECHC at the National Presbyterians for Earth Care held at Montreat Environmental Conference near Black Mountain, North Carolina.
• ECHC was an exhibitor at Green Innovations Tour 2012 held at Turner Pavilion, sponsored by Downtown Harrisonburg Renaissance.

Grants:
• A member of ECHC applied and received grant from Shenandoah Bicycle Coalition to place a bike rack on Trinity’s lawn.
• A member of ECHC, who was a Stewardship Creation Enabler, received a $400 grant from PC(USA) for environmental work in Harrisonburg. He purchased 8 rain barrels and donated them to families with young children in our congregation.
• An anonymous donation of $1,000 was given to ECHC to bring author and sustainable farmer, Richard Cartwright Austin, for a Friday night and Saturday workshop held at Trinity.

Retreats:
• Members went to Lambert Cabin in the Shenandoah National Forest. The cabin is owned by the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club. Additional members joined for worship and a shared meal later during the retreat.
• Members went to Highland Conference Center, a Mennonite center on the edge of North Mountain in the George Washington National Forest.
• Members went to Kayford Mountain, WV, to view first hand mountain top removal spending an afternoon with Larry Gibson, a mountaineer whose family lived in the area. Residents have literally been driven from their Cabin Creek homes by continuous blasting. The tour was followed by an overnight retreat at Hawks Nest State Park.

Miscellaneous:
• ECHC member organized a group of volunteers to tutor students at Keister Elementary School. Four of the 19 volunteers were members of ECHC . Worked with youth of Trinity for six weeks during Sunday School weatherizing the older part of our building. ECHC routinely assists Health Helpers House Church by furnishing food for the doctors and nurses who volunteer at the Harrisonburg Rockingham Free Clinic. Members of ECHC prepare and deliver food to the Free Clinic ECHC hosted with Cooks Creek Presbyterian Church one night of feeding the clients housed in the HARTS shelter. We prepared for approximately 50 clients. Harrisonburg and Rockingham Thermal Shelter operates in the larger churches in the downtown area. We served, ate with the clients, cleaned up the kitchen. Several members counseled those clients who wanted to verbalize how they came to be at the shelter and some of ECHC members stayed overnight.

ECHC continue their forward thinking and leadership in caring for God’s creation. Their very large group of 16, concentrate on environmental, peace, civic, social and eco-justice issues. They have co-sponsored Town Hall Meetings on air pollution. Outdated power plants in Virginia and other states appear to be harming the streams and forests in the Shenandoah Valley. Several members went to SNP to get signatures and present them to Congress in an effort to get scrubbers placed on these plants. ECHC is very interested in hydro-fracking that is beginning to be discussed in the northern area of Rockingham County. As part of their church audit, ECHC worked with the youth to weatherize the older section’s doors and windows. The General Presbyter of Shenandoah Presbytery appointed one of the ECHC members to serve on the Board of VICPP (Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy). Her work was focused on the environment, at risk children and youth and payday lending. Several members promote peace efforts through their affiliation with Veteran’s For Peace. In an attempt to keep the community and their congregation fully informed members of ECHC make presentations at churches, universities, Sunday school classes, summer night studies, wineries and other facilities. They refer to scripture and hymns that relate to God’s creation. They prepare and participate at the Church House on Earth Day Sunday and write articles of interest for Trinity’s monthly newsletter.

Presbyterians for Earth Care Present Annual Awards at 2012 General Assembly

PITTSBURGH, PA - Presbyterians for Earth Care will present their annual recognition awards at their Annual Meeting and Luncheon at General Assembly on July 5. The William Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to Tom Quigley of Glenshaw Presbyterian Church and the Restoring Creation Award will go to Earth Covenant Ministry in Atlanta.  

Since 1997, Presbyterians for Earth Care (PEC) has given awards annually to recognize individuals and groups/institutions for their forward thinking and leadership in caring for God's creation.  Individuals receive the William Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award and congregations, governing bodies, ecumenical agencies, and Presbyterian-related entities receive Restoring Creation Awards for environmental work that is particularly praise-worthy and creative.


The Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to Tom Quigley who is currently the Director/Coordinator of The Garden of Etna, a community vegetable garden which has been quite successful in its first year. When Tom became aware of several grants available to start community gardens in Pittsburgh, he became an enthusiastic supporter of starting a garden in Etna Borough. Working through contacts in the Etna Outreach Partnership, Tom made borough officials aware of these opportunities and spearheaded the effort with the borough manager. Tom was the obvious choice to coordinate the garden which is now planting summer crops.
 
Earth Covenant Ministry in Atlanta will receive this year’s Restoring Creation Award. Earth Covenant Ministry (ECM) is a partnership composed of ten congregations of the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta who direct and implement its mission. ECM seeks to be a tangible resource for congregations of all shapes and sizes in their practice of creation care. Throughout its history, ECM has been a constant presence in its presbytery on the issue of creation care, sustainability and intentional stewardship and actively promotes Earth Care Certification throughout the Presbytery. ECM is also committed to equipping seminarians in the work of creation care by joining forces with Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, GA.  In 2011, ECM launched a new program "Mision Verde" to engage Latino Presbyterian youth in a week-long eco-adventure. ECM continues to strive to be a model for what is possible in other Presbyteries across the country.


Presbyterians for Earth Care (formerly Presbyterians for Restoring Creation) was founded in 1995 as a national, grassroots organization to support people of faith working towards “environmental wholeness with social justice." PEC helps the church to fulfill its current environmental policies, to create new policies and practices, and to energize and educate church members about eco-justice - the well-being of all humankind on a thriving earth.

In July 2011 a vibrant group of Latino youth, along with their five fearless leaders, spent the week exploring faith in God's good creation in Georgia as part of  Earth Covenant Ministry's Misión Verde. While enjoying refreshing waters, they learned   about being good stewards of this precious resource in our midst and responding to the call of environmental   justice.  As one youth was overheard saying at the close of the excursion, "I came to learn about God and was not disappointed!"

Past Award Recipients
William Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award*

    1997 Dr. William E. Gibson
    1998 Richard Cartwright Austin
    1999 Terri Swearingen
    2000 Dr. Dieter Hessel
    2001 Rev. Bill Knox
    2002 Rev. Holmes Rolston III
    2003 Rev. John H. Jackson
    2004 Rev. Carol F. Johnston
    2005 Jenny Holmes
    2006 Dan and Elizabeth Turk
    2008 John Topping
    2009 Linda Gray Sonner
    2010 Robert Stivers and Kristina Peterson
    2011 Rev. William Somplatsky-Jarman

Restoring Creation Award

    1998 Trinity House Church, Harrisonburg, VA
    1999 Community of Servant Savior, Houston, TX
    2000 Solana Beach Presbyterian Church, San Diego, CA & St. Mark Presbyterian Church, Newport Beach, CA
    2001 Synod of Living Waters: Living Waters for the World, TN
    2002 Central Florida Presbytery, FL & First Presbyterian Church, Kirkwood, MO
    2003 First United Presbyterian Church, Loveland, CO & Ferncliff Camp & Conference Center, AR & Eco-Justice Ministries, CO
    2004 Warren Wilson College, NC
    2005 Susquehanna Valley Presbytery, NY
    2006 Presbytery of Sheppards and Lapsley, AL
    2007 Foothill Presbyterian Church, CA
    2008 Village Presbyterian Church, KS
    2009 Montreat Conference Center, NC
    2010 North Como Presbyterian Church, Roseville, MN
    2011 Montview Boulevard Presbyterian Church in Denver, CO

*William E. Gibson: Founding PEC member, author and eco-justice advocate, William Gibson was a true earth care pioneer.  He served in the U.S. Navy in WWII and earned a Bachelor's of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary and a Doctorate in Christian Ethics from Union Theological Seminary New York. He was an ordained Presbyterian Minister. He was in campus ministry at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Rochester, RIT, and Cornell University. In 1974 he led in the founding of the Eco-Justice Project which was a part of the Center for Religion Ethics and Social Policy at Cornell. He was editor of the Egg: A Journal of Eco-Justice, for nine plus years. He wrote numerous articles and book chapters and was editor of the book Eco-Justice-The Unfinished Journey. He loved God and humankind his whole life by working for peace, justice, and the environment. He was a part of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s, spoke out against every war since WWII, was a leading member of the Presbyterian Eco-Justice Task Force, Presbyterians for Restoring Creation, and the Eco-Justice Working Group of the National Council of Churches, and served on the Loaves and Fishes Board and the Fair Wage Coalition in Ithaca, to name a few of his activities over the years.

Women Shave Heads to Save God's Mountains - by Rev. Robin Blakeman

Why are shaved heads appearing in the anti-mountaintop removal movement? The reasons given by individuals who participate in the two organized actions so far are varied; they include: 

“For my kids to have a better future;”

 “Because this seems to be a powerful – some would say spiritual - statement which might be heard by those in power;” 

and 

“Because we are grieving for the lost mountains, destroyed communities, and degraded streams.” 

Whatever their reason, more than 30 women and men have participated so far in shaving their heads as a visible sign of their opposition to mountaintop removal coal mining. I am one of them, having shaved my head last week during an Appalachia Rising rally in Upper Senate Park in DC.

I want to speak to this from a faith based perspective, although that is not the only reason I, or anyone else engages in this type of action. From my perspective as an ordained Presbyterian (PCUSA) minister, mountaintop removal (MTR) coal mining is the epitome of abusive power structures exploiting marginalized people and God’s good Creation. Results of MTR include the following:
•    thousands of miles of buried and polluted headwater streams
•    hundreds of mountain eco-systems destroyed forever
•    depopulated communities
•    decimated family cemeteries and cultural sites
•    steady decrease of mining jobs, especially Union jobs
•    severe health effects – including higher cancer and birth defect rates – amongst populations living near MTR sites

For all these reasons, the phrase: “desperate times dictate desperate actions” could apply to the Central Appalachian region states of Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia and Tennessee where MTR coal mining is taking place.

Citizens of these states have attempted to talk civilly with their elected representatives about these grave problems, but are feeling unheard, unrecognized, and unrepresented. 

My personal experience with this process is recent; some have been fighting the battle against MTR for almost two decades. I have been lobbying for change for three years, with at least one annual visit to DC. When I attended the NCC Ecumenical Advocacy Days event last March, I was asked to accompany NCC eco-justice reps as they went to elected officials’ and regulatory agency offices in DC. In one day, we visited the offices of Congressman Rahall, Senators Manchin and Rockefeller, and the Obama administration CEQ office. We were only granted meetings with staffers in the elected officials’ offices, but we took that opportunity to make them aware of the NCC position on MTR. Since two of those elected representatives are PC(USA) members, I also gave them the PC(USA) statement of opposition to MTR (from our 2006 General Assembly).
 

While in the office of Senator Rockefeller, I asked his staffers directly to seek a response from the Senator on various peer reviewed health studies, which show – among other things – highly elevated risks of cancer and birth defects amongst populations living near MTR operations. Fast forward to June: I returned to DC for the annual Alliance for Appalachia’s Week in Washington and went with a group of West Virginia residents to Senator Rockefeller’s office. Senator Rockefeller is known for his good and important advocacy on health issues, so his silence up to that point on the growing scientific evidence of the links between serious health issues and MTR operations confused and frustrated me. I also reached another conclusion: If Senator Rockefeller won’t listen directly to people being harmed by MTR operations, then who – amongst powerful people - will? As a member of the same faith community he claims membership in, I had to wonder: had he forgotten Jesus’ mandate to care for the least among our communities? Who is it that he now recognizes as his neighbors? 

On the day after this meeting, a group called “Appalachia Rising” held a rally in Upper Senate Park. One of the actions happening at the rally was the shaving of heads. This type of action was initiated by a group of women in West Virginia on Memorial Day 2012. Some of those women were present at the Upper Senate Park rally, and had been in the meeting with Senator Rockefeller’s staff the day before. Other West Virginia residents were sitting in Congressman Rahall’s office this day – due to similar frustrations I felt in Senator Rockefeller’s office.

Congressman Rahall is also one of my PC(USA) brethren. At the moment when I knew people in that office would be speaking to Congressman Rahall, trying to persuade him to end his blockage of the Clean Water Protection Act – a bill which would end the Valley Fills associated with MTR – I made an announcement about their efforts, and then sat down and allowed my head to be shaved. It was an act of grief – over what I know we have lost in Central Appalachia, and can never get back, and over the fact that our elected officials will NOT listen to those who are most affected by these radical mining practices.

An embrace of support is shared among those who shaved their heads in mourning and protest.

On June 6th, 2012, seven West Virginia residents got arrested in Congressman Rahall’s office because the meeting with him did not result in his agreement to stop blocking the Clean Water Protection Act. Others – from Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee – engaged in similar actions in the offices of their stubborn congressmen. Seven people – including me - shaved their heads in Upper Senate Park.

My action was an act of solidarity with those who are suffering from pollution and other effects of MTR. I am now wearing this visible sign of my grief and frustration. Doing so has given me the opportunity to talk to many, many people regarding my stance on, and opposition to MTR. I have also felt humbled by the loss of my hair – the part of my body I have always been most proud of. In that way, I believe I am doing what Jesus would do if faced by this problem today: weeping, mourning, yelling, screaming – driving the money changers out, perhaps - comforting those afflicted, and doing whatever we can to end the madness that is MTR. As I told my daughter, losing my hair is a small thing that I can do to raise awareness about a BIG problem. I hope you will join me – with hair or without – and do what you can to learn about and raise awareness of MTR issues, too.


An update on this story: on Wednesday, June 20th – West Virginia Day, no less – Senator Rockefeller delivered an amazing and moving speech on the U.S. Senate floor, in opposition to a bill that would have severely curtailed the EPA’s ability to regulate air and water quality. In his speech, he called on coal industry executives to stop fear mongering, and to start embracing a future in which there will necessarily be a more diversified energy economy. He did so while expressing his concern for miners and their families, and for the health and safety of all West Virginians. This was an amazing speech to those of us who are used to getting a cold shoulder from most of our elected officials. I have sent my thanks to Senator Rockefeller for these brave and wise words. I hope you will join me in doing the same, and encouraging other elected officials – especially those from Central Appalachian states – to follow his example. For now, and hopefully for the foreseeable future, I am proud to identify him as one of my Presbyterian “brothers.” 

Rev. Robin Blakeman is ordained in the PC(USA) and is a member of the Environmental Ministry Action Network.
***

Follow updates at https://twitter.com/#!/App_Rising

#AppRising #StopMTR

and http://www.facebook.com/AppRising

Join Rev. Robin Blakman in solidarity and call your member of Congress: http://ilovemountains.org/call-your-rep

Why I Got Arrested in DC - by Mary Love

Rev. Mary Love walking out of Hal Rogers' office

On Wednesday, June 6 in Washington DC, I was arrested at the age of 67 and for the first time in my life. I was arrested with 5 other Kentuckians—three of whom are his constituents—for refusing to leave the office of Kentucky 5th District Congressman Hal Rogers.

Twenty of us went to his office that morning to speak with him about the problems with Mountain Top Removal coal mining in his district. We did not have an appointment because he has consistently refused to meet with constituents who want to talk about the MTR issue. When we were told that he was too busy to see us, we told his staff that we would just wait in his office until he was able to speak with us. Eventually, his chief of staff called the Capitol Police and seven of us were arrested for refusing to leave.

I don’t live in the 5th district, so why was I willing to be arrested? I am a Kentuckian, and what Hal Rogers does affects me as well as the people in his district. The non-profit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics has hailed him as the most “corrupt member of Congress” and the Lexington Herald-Leader has called him the “Prince of Pork” for all of the money that he has brought into his district. Yet his district ranks at the bottom of the nation in virtually every quality of life indicator and contains four of the five poorest counties in the nation.

As a person of faith, I went to Washington to speak truth to power. The Old Testament Biblical story is filled with courageous men and women who stood before kings and rulers and spoke on behalf of the poor, widows, and orphans who had no voice. I have added my voice to this prophetic tradition.

The grip of King Coal on eastern Kentucky—and all of central Appalachia—is loosening every day. We are already in another downward phase of the boom and bust cycle that has been the history of coal in the region. But this bust phase will not be followed by another boom.

Government studies and projections have shown that the amount of mine-able coal in the region has reached its peak and is rapidly declining. Natural gas is fast replacing coal as the fuel of choice for our nation’s electric power plants. Coal mines are being shut down and workers are being laid off, and the coal companies are admitting to their shareholders that this is due to market conditions, not EPA regulations.

And when the coal jobs are gone, what has been put in place to replace them? Basically, nothing. Central Appalachia is based on a mono-economy—coal. It is almost too late to begin building economic alternatives for the region, and our politicians—state, federal, and local—seem unable or unwilling to address the issue.

I am fighting for an end to Mountain Top Removal coal mining. It destroys God’s creation in our beautiful mountains, any chance for a vibrant tourism industry, the quality of our water and air, and most importantly the health and welfare of the people of the region.

I am also fighting for a transition to a just and sustainable economy for our mountain communities. Without this effort, the mountain communities will ultimately die and become a deserted wasteland.

And I will continue to speak truth to power—in the tradition of the prophets of old—even if it means risking arrest!

Mary Love is an ordained pastor in the PC(USA). 

 * * *
Join Rev. Love, the 22 people who were arrested in June, and thousands of Appalachian people suffering from Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining. 

Act now and call your representative. Ask for an end to mountaintop mining: http://ilovemountains.org/call-your-rep

Coal Exports: 2012 PEC Advocacy Brief

By Jenny Holmes, PEC Advocacy Committee Co-chair and Former PEC Moderator

 

When an activity raises threats of harm to human health or the environment, precautionary measures should be taken even if some cause and effect relationships are not fully established scientifically. In this context the proponent of an activity, rather than the public, should bear the burden of proof. The process of applying the Precautionary Principle must be open, informed and democratic and must include potentially affected parties. It must also involve an examination of the full range of alternatives, including no action.”  

Wingspread Statement on the Precautionary Principle, January 1998

When social and environmental costs are not considered, coal is the cheapest fuel for generating electricity in the United States, but coal industry plans of the past several years for a massive expansion of coal-burning plants for electricity have been thwarted.  Increasingly, wind power is price competitive with coal.  Citizen action and better regulation are also key reasons for a decline in coal consumption. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, domestic coal consumption during the fourth quarter of 2011 was down by 18.8 percent from the third quarter of 2011 to 227.1 million short tons.

Rather than allowing coal to stay in the ground, coal companies see a growth opportunity in exporting coal, especially from the Powder River Basin of Montana and Wyoming. The plan is to transport it on long coal trains and massive cargo ships through Washington and Oregon, and sell it overseas. Some ports on the East and Gulf Coasts currently export coal overseas, but the proposals for West Coast terminals would exceed their volume.  In April 2012, Oregon's Senator Ron Wyden stated that a “timeout” is needed on coal exports to consider the implications. PEC strongly agrees. The agency with federal  jurisdiction over coal leases in the Power River Basin is the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Currently, there is no national policy on coal exports, but clearly the time has come. 

The Powder River Basin (PRB) represents one of the largest coal reserves in the world. According to the BLM, coal from the PRB used in power plants accounts for nearly 14% of all U.S. carbon dioxide emissions. The nation's two largest coal companies, Arch Coal and Peabody, and the Australian-based Ambre Energy, are working on massive coal export terminals at Longview, WA and Cherry Point, north of Bellingham, WA. There are also potential proposals for many other communities, including: Grays Harbor, WA, Boardman, OR, Coos Bay, OR and St. Helens, OR.

Shipping up to a hundred million tons of coal a year to primarily to Asia through West Coast ports would spread toxic coal dust in rail communities and clog  railroads and ports, disrupt traffic at at grade crossings, risk health, pollute  air and water, and contribute to climate change. Trains will go through low-income and people of color communities already facing disproportionate environmental injustice. 

Investment in infrastructure to ship strip-mined PRB coal through Northwest ports translates into decades of carbon emissions and toxic pollution from new coal plants across Asia built to take advantage of cheap coal. The pollution would come right back to the West Coast by winds across the Pacific Ocean.

Although new jobs are touted as a reason to export coal, committing shorelines, rail lines, and port communities to coal export would foreclose options for more robust and sustainable economic development. Also, the Northwest is known as a leader in sustainable energy and establishing the area as the center of US coal export flies in the face of that image. 

Proposals to ship coal to Northwest communities to be burned in Asia are in conflict with  with eco-justice norms of sustainability, participation, sufficiency, and solidarity and the 12 ethical guidelines. The guidelines of  equity, efficiency, risk, cost, appropriateness and flexibility are especially relevant.  By further entrenching the use of coal through exports God's creation and God's people are put risk, especially the poor and vulnerable and future generations. The moral and spiritual costs of coal export are too high too move ahead without participation and consideration of all that is at stake.  

Programmatic Environmental Impact Statements (PEIS), under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) are needed to adequately assess the environmental and health impacts of coal export terminals and rail transport before any permits for building or expanding use of existing infrastructure are approved. A PEIS considers all of the cumulative impacts on communities and land.  Federal policy around the use of coal from the Power River Basin under the Bureau of Land Management and coal exports in general are called since impacts of coal export proposal are so significant. 

Resources

Background

• Northwest Coal Exports: Some common questions about economics, health, and pollution http://www.sightline.org/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2012/02/coal-FAQ.pdf
• Occupational Safety and Health Guideline for Coal Dust, U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/healthguidelines/coaldust-greater5percentsio2/recognition.html 
• U.S. coal consumption fell while exports increased during the fourth quarter of 2011 http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=5990
• William J. Bounds and Karen H. Johannesson, “Arsenic Addition to Soils from Airborne Coal Dust Originating at a Major Coal Shipping Terminal,” Water, Air, & Soil Pollution, June 21, 2007, 185: 195-207, http://www.springerlink.com/content/98146r1160021h13/
• Energy Information Administration. Coal information. http://www.eia.gov/coal/
• Bureau of Land Management, Powder River Basin Coal, http://www.blm.gov/wy/st/en/programs/energy/Coal_Resources/PRB_Coal.html
• Coal Train Facts, Information on the Proposed Bellingham,WA Cherry Point Terminal http://www.coaltrainfacts.org/
• Public Financing: Federal Fair Market Value Coal Leases in the Powder River are a Public Subsidy, Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis  Training: Financial, January, 2011 http://policyintegrity.org/documents/6.1_Sanzillo_coal_lease_PDF_.pdf 
• Oregon Town Weighs a Future With an Old Energy Source: Coal http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/19/us/boardman-ore-considers-a-future-in-coal.html?pagewanted=all

Campaigns and Organizations

• Power Past Coal, www.powerpastcoal.org
• Sierra Club Beyond Coal, http://www.beyondcoal.org/

 

 

Thanks to Dr. Bob Stivers for initial framing and drafting of the introductory section of this document.