In celebration of Earth Day 2021, your Advocacy Action Committee is asking you to lobby your state legislators, requesting their support for three energy bills currently making their way through the state legislature. The bills are HB 2021 (100% Clean Energy For All), HB 2842 (Healthy Homes), and HB 2475 (Energy Affordability).
Whether you call, email, or write a letter, you need to give your personal reason for asking for their support. You can identify yourself as a person of faith and as a member of St. Michael & all Angels Episcopal Church. One reason for your request could be that you believe God asks us to be stewards of creation.
HB 2842
This bill establishes the Healthy Homes Program within the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) to provide grants for financial assistance to persons in low-income households, or environmental justice communities, to repair, rehabilitate, or make health and safety upgrades of their residences. The Healthy Homes Program’s grants and administrative costs are funded by the Healthy Homes Repair Fund, which this bill also establishes.
HB 2475 Energy Affordability
This bill authorizes the Public Utility Commission to consider differential energy burdens and other inequities in setting rates. It also addresses “Environmental justice” which means equal protection from environmental and health hazards, and meaningful public participation in decisions that affect the environment in which people live, work, learn, practice spirituality and play. “Environmental justice communities” include communities of color, communities experiencing lower incomes, tribal communities, rural communities, coastal communities, communities with limited infrastructure and other communities traditionally underrepresented in public processes and adversely harmed by environmental and health hazards, including but not limited to seniors, youth and persons with disabilities.
For more information on these bills, Google oregonstatelegislaturebill #_ in Google Search, or whatever search engine you prefer.
More Earth Day resources can be found at the following:
Creation Justice Ministries (www.creationjustice.org) has a program called A New Heaven and a New Earth, which includes excellent information on critical environmental issues, recommended actions, and even a liturgy. For this specific program, go to www.creationjustice,org/newheaven.
Interfaith Power & Light provides materials for Faith Action Week, April 16-25 (or anytime during the year), through their program: Sacred Ground: Cultivating Connections Between Our Faith, Our Food, and the Climate. This program examines the way our food systems contribute to injustice and to climate change, and how our faiths call us to respond through practical solutions. They provide plenty of information, suggest actions (home or community garden anyone?) offer a template for a letter or email you can send directly to Agriculture Secretary Vilsack, and provide and conclude with a blessing for your garden.
