On July 30, I once again testified at the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) on behalf of the Clean Power Plan. It is the first attempt to make coal powered plants reduce their pollution. Rather than give statistics or a story, a little reflective wisdom…..
Peace and Blessings to all. The last time I testified on behalf of standards for power plants, I cited the facts from a report published by the N.A.A.CP. entitled The Coal Blooded Report: Putting Profits before People. I won’t repeat all of the shocking statistics contained in that report such as the death rate from asthma is 172% higher for African Americans than for Whites or the fact that people who live within 3 miles of a coal power plant—regardless of ethnicity– tend to have an average per capita income of $18,400.
Today I want to speak to the moral principle behind your decision making. The principle of rightly dividing the word of Truth. The reference for that is in 2 Timothy 2:15; where we are asked to study to show yourself approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly dividing / explaining the word of Truth.
We’ve started off on the right foot with these hearings, because these hearings are a type of study. It’s good to study, to listen to different points of view and perspectives so that we can make WISE choices which balance the pursuit of wealth with the pursuit of health. Where we tend to go a little astray is in dividing the word of truth. We can tell we have gone a little astray because somehow in this whole energy production business, we’ve taken an abundant and beautiful creation which was gifted to us and turned it into a battlefield with profits on one side and the Earth with its people on the other. There is NO Truth in that scenario. I don’t think that is nice or necessary, or what God calls us to do.
In Genesis, the second chapter, fifteenth verse, the very first thing that God asks man to do is serve and preserve the earth. Before man was asked to love his neighbor, love God or care for the least of these, he was asked to love the earth. You could say that it was a type of first commandment. And it should be the easiest commandment to keep because God already gave us a beautiful, abundant, self regenerating planet. All we had to do was keep it moving.
Along with this planet, we were given a lot of intelligence and the power to be co-laborers with God, so we don’t need to decide between our health and a job; we can create a proud and productive work culture that doesn’t require tearing up the earth. We can be wealthy AND healthy, and these standards, the Clean Power Plan is one step in right direction. Let’s remember that every time standards have been proposed in every time of history, industry has always cried and whined like a spoiled brat. And every time the standards pushed back, innovation saved the day.
Americans are known for innovation and if we put half the energy into refining solar energy and wind energy that we put into fighting each other, we would already have the right solution. Don’t you believe that workers in the fossil fuel industry have the right to a safe, healthy work environment? Don’t they deserve the opportunity to transition into a clean energy economy with the rest of us? If you had attended the recent meeting in Wytheville,Virginia., you would have heard them responding 5 to one, YES!! People in Southwest Virginia want the fossil fuel industry to obey standards which make coal safer for everyone as well as the planet.
I say this Clean Power Plan is just the kick in the pants we need to innovate ourselves into a more productive energy business. Let’s stop crying and whining and just do it.
Rev. M. Dele, is founder of Nature’s Friends and board member of VA Interfaith Power & Light. With UCC and Baptist affiliations, she weaves her roles as meditation teacher, Permaculturist, storyteller, and Climate Reality leader into a social fabric which redeems soil and souls together. http://www.naturesfriends.ning.com