Nicole Haines and I became co-leaders of the Climate Action Team a year ago. We took the reins from co-leaders Lizanne Moore and Bert Pearce, who kept the group – founded by Pat Russell and Hoke Kimball – working during the pandemic and the transition from Cliff Valley to our present campus.
In a world of groups dominated by “talk,”not “walk,” the Climate Action Team is demonstrating that it takes its name seriously. Here’s a quick list of some ways the CAT is “acting”:
- Through increased publicity and personal invitations, we’ve seen this passionate team grow from 8-10 core members to almost two dozen regulars and an email list that includes almost 50 recipients. Want to be added?
- Over the past 18 months, this Save & Savor the Earth blog has published original weekly posts authored by a dozen of our members..
- We have developed an agenda that centers our mission and vision by focusing on efforts to educate, advise, advocate, and collaborate. Laura Rose has coordinated RE sessions on electric vehicles and solarizing homes. Julie Simon and Bert Pearce have supported staff efforts to monitor and adjust energy use in the new building. Susan Perz has brought divestment from fossil fuels investments to our advocacy efforts. Several of our members have coordinated campus tours for Presbyterian congregations that are looking for ways to “green” their facilities. This is just a sampling! Take a look at all that we have been up to here.
- We are very active in Georgia Interfaith Power and Light, tabling as a non-profit sponsor at its spring Green Team Summit and presenting on a panel at that conference and, later, at a leadership panel for Agnes Scott College students. Our members regularly attend GIPL’s monthly Green Team Roundtables, and we’ve sent representatives with them to tour Georgia Tech’s innovative Kendeda Building and Westrock’s massive recycling facilities.
- Our efforts to rally voters during the fall election earned us a Faith Climate Justice Voter award. Our team participated in postcard campaigns as well as phone and text banks.
- Several of our members joined dozens of others to lobby with the Georgia Water Coalition at the Gold Dome during this past legislative session.
- Nicole Haines and Julie Simon are helping unite the efforts of the church’s landscape and memorial garden teams to design and implement a holistic plan for the campus’s planted areas. This includes a pollinator garden as well as a future community garden.
- Sue Certain has worked tirelessly to grow donations to the Carbon Offset Fund, which now stands at over $16,000. She has collaborated with church staff to propose a major grant from the fund to offset the cost of the electric vehicle chargers that are now operational in the parking lot. Our team is set to vote on the proposal soon.
There’s more, of course, like the growth of our 100-title lending library, our participation in Seventh Principle Sunday worship, our programming leadership of April’s congregational retreat, our solstice and equinox mini-retreats… but you get the idea. We are proudly a Climate ACTION Team, and we welcome you to bring your unique passions and talents to join us in action to help save and savor our extraordinary planet.
JOURNEY WITH US: The Climate Action Team extends a radical welcome to activists, contemplatives, readers, meditators, questioners, tree hugging hippies, scientists, policy wonks, radicals, pacifists, nature enthusiasts, and all who seek community as we navigate our changing times together. Learn all about the group here, and check out our lending library and Carbon Offset Fund grant opportunity. Contact Nicole Haines to connect to the CAT.