PCUSA Climate Care Challenge
Our daily experience, confirms that these extreme climate events keep taking place with greater frequency and intensity each year. This is threatening our food and energy security…. Climate change represents an imminent threat to balanced and well-adjusted development in our country… ultimately, we are seeking to motivate the search for new paths, both of theory and practice, for new opportunities and strategies. We seek to facilitate the development of individual lifestyles and comprehensive government policies that provide protection, care, and access for all of creation.
-Conrado Oliveria, RED Uniendo Manos, Joining Hands Peru
As people of faith, we believe that God created this world, called it good and told humans to care for it. We are blessed to have this sacred task.
Burning carbon-based fossil fuels—like coal, oil and natural gas—for our energy produces greenhouse gases which warm the planet. This causes an increase in devastating fires, floods, droughts, and storms. These effects often impact impoverished and vulnerable communities first and most deeply. While not all Presbyterians have the same passion around climate change, we all want a healthy world with clean air and clean water for everyone.
In 2006 the General Assembly passed a policy calling Presbyterians to take the results of our energy consumption seriously, to pray asking for God’s forgiveness and guidance, to reduce energy consumption, and to calculate carbon emissions and offset their negative impact. As we follow this policy, we can help make this earth a safer place for our children and grandchildren.
We have the knowledge, skills, and resources to reduce our energy consumption and switch to alternative energy sources that are less harmful to the environment. Prompt action and leadership can keep global climate change from causing its worst impacts.
Take the Climate Care Challenge Here!
The Challenge
The Climate Care Challenge is a two part commitment that first asks participants to make a personal step to help decrease the impacts of climate change, then asks for an outward step that engages the participants community.
Download the Climate Care Challenge resource!
Personal
- Walk/bicycle, take public transportation, carpool, drive more efficiently, and avoid air travel.
- Eat a (more) plant-based diet or grow your own food.
- Plant a tree or help restore a wetland. arborday.org
- Reduce your energy use: replace your lightbulbs with LEDs, add insulation, air dry clothes or do an energy audit.
- Reduce waste: recycle, compost, and buy less.
- Purchase renewable energy or carbon offsets.
- Talk about why you care about climate change to your friends and family. bit.ly/btletstalk
Outwards Steps
- Use your voice! Advocate for strong climate action on local, national, and international levels. (capwiz.com/pcusa)
- Host an Earth Day Sunday worship or become an Earth Care Congregation.
- Learn about and support groups and communities working for environmental justice.
- Help move investments and pension funds to climate-supportive options and challenge climate-harming practices. (bit.ly/TIAAact and bit.ly/ffpension and bit.ly/invest-green)
- Make energy efficient renovations, transition to more renewable energy at your church, school, or workplace.
- Follow, learn from, and participate in global conversations about climate change—from the UN climate talks to global partner stories.
- Challenge your school, workplace, church or other institutions to set a goal, such as going 100% renewable energy or carbon neutral by 2030.
The Presbyterian Church (USA) is a proud partner of Blessed Tomorrow, a coalition of faith leaders committed to serve as faithful stewards of creation. Founded by ecoAmerica, Blessed Tomorrow offers tools, resources, and communications to demonstrate visible climate leadership, inspiring and empowering faith leaders to speak about, act on and advocate for climate solutions. Learn more about our partnership and the resources available to you at pcusa.org.
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