By Leslie McGeorge, Co-chair, Earth and Climate Ministry
How bad is climate change? What do we need to do to avoid the worst? What are utilities, states, and the federal government doing about it? How can I reduce my carbon footprint and save money simultaneously? Can I get incentives for an energy audit, weatherization, buying energy efficient appliances like a heat pump, putting solar on my roof, or buying an electric vehicle?
Left to right: Steve and Pat miller, Mike Aucott, Leslie McGeorge, Mike Winka, and Barbara Drew.
To help answer these questions, on April 16th, our Earth and Climate Ministry (ECM) invited several technical climate experts to speak to us on Climate Change and What You Can Do: Reduce Energy Costs and Climate Pollution. Much of this session focused on actions regarding our energy use and electrification of our homes, houses of worship, and vehicles. The talks and discussions held in the sanctuary and via Zoom, provided information on the basics of climate change trends and what we can do individually and collectively to fight it. About 50 people participated in the session, including congregants, folks from other local churches, Citizen Climate Lobby (CCL) members, former state environmental officials, and community environmental representatives.
For those unable to attend or wishing to revisit the session, the video recording of the 90-minute session is available here. Introductions and slides are available here, and a two-page information sheet with links to helpful resources assembled by our speakers can be found here.
The topics and speakers at the climate session included:
• Climate Disruption Basics: Science, Impacts and How to Avoid the Worse -Dr. Mike Aucott, climate advisor to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
• Why We CAN Win the Climate Mitigation & Energy Battle – Mike Winka, former director of New Jersey’s Clean Energy Program
• Power Your Savings & Cut Climate Pollution with Electrification – Pat and Steve Miller, former Bell Labs engineers, co-leads, New Jersey 50 X 30 Building Electrification, UU Congregation of Monmouth County
• Session Moderators – Leslie McGeorge and Barbara Drew, ECM
Action Items
While climate disruption is already here and we are not doing enough to reduce the impacts, there are many actions we can take. Those include making climate-friendly choices, getting out the vote for climate-friendly candidates, and joining groups fighting for climate solutions (e.g., CCL).
We can also take the opportunities, now and in the near future, provided by our local utilities, PSE&G, and PECO, our states, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and the federal government through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) for tax incentives and rebates on energy efficiency and electrification measures. For example, check out the Incentive Calculator (also on Page 2 of the Information Sheet) to learn what your household might qualify for through the IRA. If you haven’t done it yet, consider starting with an Energy Audit (View links to your utility on the information sheet.) to find out what is best for you. How many audits could we, as UUCWC members and friends, collectively do by the end of 2025?
Contact Earth & Climate Ministry (earthministry@uucwc.org) to learn more about opportunities to become involved in climate and climate justice activities.