CLIMATE ❂ CARECHALLENGE

CLIM

ATE

CARE

CH

ALL

ENG

EA

s peo

ple

of fa

ith, w

e be

lieve

that

God

crea

ted

this

wor

ld, c

alle

d it

good

an

d to

ld h

uman

s to

care

for i

t. W

e ar

e bl

esse

d to

hav

e th

is sa

cred

task

.

Burn

ing

carb

on-b

ased

foss

il fu

els—

like

coal

, oil

and

natu

ral g

as—

for o

ur

ener

gy p

rodu

ces g

reen

hous

e ga

ses w

hich

war

m th

e pl

anet

. This

caus

es a

n in

crea

se in

dev

asta

ting

fires

, floo

ds, d

roug

hts,

and

stor

ms.

Thes

e eff

ects

oft

en im

pact

impo

veris

hed

and

vuln

erab

le co

mm

uniti

es fi

rst a

nd m

ost

deep

ly. W

hile

not

all

Pres

byte

rians

hav

e th

e sa

me

pass

ion

arou

nd cl

imat

e ch

ange

, we

all w

ant a

hea

lthy

wor

ld w

ith cl

ean

air a

nd cl

ean

wat

er fo

r ev

eryo

ne.

Cha

nges

mad

e by

us i

n th

e U

.S. h

ave

a gr

eate

r im

pact

bec

ause

of o

ur

ener

gy u

sage

. Am

eric

ans u

se 4

0% o

f the

wor

ld’s

oil a

nd e

mit

25%

of t

he

wor

ld’s

gree

nhou

se g

ases

, eve

n th

ough

we

are

less

than

5%

of t

he w

orld

’s po

pula

tion.

We

can

and

mus

t cha

nge

thes

e pa

ttern

s.

In 2

006

the

Gen

eral

Ass

embl

y pa

ssed

a p

olic

y ab

out b

ecom

ing

“car

bon

neut

ral.”

In th

is po

licy,

Pres

byte

rians

are

cal

led

to ta

ke th

e re

sults

of

our e

nerg

y co

nsum

ptio

n se

rious

ly, to

pra

y as

king

for G

od’s

forg

iven

ess

and

guid

ance

, to

redu

ce e

nerg

y co

nsum

ptio

n, a

nd to

cal

cula

te c

arbo

n em

issio

ns a

nd o

ffset

thei

r neg

ativ

e im

pact

. Chi

ldre

n an

d yo

uth

are

pass

iona

tely

act

ing

to p

rote

ct th

e ea

rth

and

thei

r fut

ure,

and

they

en

cour

age

us in

our

live

s to

beco

me

prot

ecto

rs o

f God

’s cr

eatio

n. A

s w

e fo

llow

this

polic

y, w

e ca

n he

lp m

ake

this

eart

h a

safe

r pla

ce fo

r our

ch

ildre

n an

d gr

andc

hild

ren.

We

have

the

know

ledg

e, sk

ills,

and

reso

urce

s to

redu

ce o

ur e

nerg

y co

nsum

ptio

n an

d sw

itch

to a

ltern

ativ

e en

ergy

sour

ces t

hat a

re le

ss

harm

ful t

o th

e en

viro

nmen

t. Pr

ompt

act

ion

and

lead

ersh

ip c

an k

eep

glob

al cl

imat

e ch

ange

from

cau

sing

its w

orst

impa

cts.

Let’s

act

now

to a

nsw

er G

od’s

call!

Car

bon

neut

ral a

chie

ves a

stat

e in

whi

ch th

e ne

t am

ount

of c

arbo

n

diox

ide

or o

ther

gre

enho

use

gase

s em

itted

into

the

atm

osph

ere

is

bala

nced

by

actio

ns w

hich

redu

ce o

r offs

et th

ese

emis

sion

s.

For m

ore

reso

urce

s an

d to

acc

ept t

he c

halle

nge

go to

:

pcus

a.or

g/cl

imat

ecar

echa

lleng

e

Out

war

d st

eps

clim

ate

care

❂ H

ost a

n Ea

rth

Day

Sun

day

wor

ship

or b

ecom

e an

Ear

th

Car

e C

ongr

egat

ion.

(ww

w.

pcus

a.or

g/ea

rthd

ay a

nd

ww

w.p

cusa

.org

/ea

rthc

arec

ongr

egat

ions

)

❂ L

earn

abo

ut a

nd su

ppor

t gr

oups

and

com

mun

ities

w

orki

ng fo

r env

ironm

enta

l ju

stic

e.

bit.l

y/ou

rpow

erco

mm

uniti

es a

nd

bit.l

y/e-

raci

sm

❂ M

ake

ener

gy effi

cien

t re

nova

tions

, tra

nsiti

on to

m

ore

rene

wab

le e

nerg

y at

you

r ch

urch

, sch

ool,

or w

orkp

lace

.

❂ U

se y

our v

oice

! Adv

ocat

e fo

r st

rong

clim

ate

actio

n on

loca

l, na

tiona

l, an

d in

tern

atio

nal

leve

ls. (c

apw

iz.co

m/p

cusa

)

❂ F

ollo

w, le

arn

from

, and

pa

rtic

ipat

e in

glo

bal

conv

ersa

tions

abo

ut cl

imat

e ch

ange

—fr

om th

e U

N cl

imat

e ta

lks t

o gl

obal

par

tner

stor

ies

(usc

limat

enet

wor

k.or

g a

nd

ww

w.pr

esby

teria

nmiss

ion.

org/

toge

ther

-justi

ce/c

ateg

ory/

clim

ate-

chan

ge)

❂ C

halle

nge

your

scho

ol,

wor

kpla

ce, c

hurc

h or

oth

er

inst

itutio

ns to

set a

goa

l, su

ch a

s go

ing

100%

rene

wab

le e

nerg

y or

car

bon

neut

ral b

y 20

30.

❂ H

elp

mov

e in

vest

men

ts a

nd

pens

ion

fund

s to

clim

ate-

supp

ortiv

e op

tions

and

ch

alle

nge

clim

ate-

harm

ing

prac

tices

. (bi

t.ly/

TIA

Aac

t and

bi

t.ly/

ffpen

sion

and

bit.l

y/in

vest

-gre

en)

Pers

onal

ste

ps c

limat

e ca

re❂

Wal

k/bi

cycl

e, ta

ke p

ublic

tran

spor

tatio

n, c

arpo

ol, d

rive

m

ore

effici

ently

, and

avoi

d ai

r tra

vel.

❂ E

at a

(mor

e) p

lant

-bas

ed d

iet o

r gro

w y

our o

wn

food

.

❂ P

lant

a tr

ee o

r hel

p re

stor

e a

wet

land

.

ww

w.ar

bord

ay.o

rg

❂ R

educ

e yo

ur e

nerg

y us

e: re

plac

e yo

ur li

ghtb

ulbs

with

LE

Ds,

add

insu

latio

n, a

ir

dry

clot

hes o

r do

an e

nerg

y au

dit.

❂ R

educ

e w

aste

: rec

ycle

, com

post

, and

buy

less

.

❂ P

urch

ase

rene

wab

le e

nerg

y or

car

bon

offse

ts.

❂ T

alk

abou

t why

you

car

e ab

out c

limat

e ch

ange

to

your

frie

nds a

nd fa

mily

. bit.

ly/b

tletst

alk

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2

1

CLIMATE ❂ CARECHALLENGE

Visit www.pcusa.org/climatecarechallenge to download resources