Faith, Justice and the Environment

Published in the Mt. Airy Times -

NW congregations discuss environmental justice
By Charing A.Ball; Staff Writer

Religious leaders and environmentalists convened last Thursday, October 18, for a panel discussion on how religious leaders can influence their congregations to work universally to improve quality of life for all people, whatever their religious denomination may be.The panel discussion, entitled "Faith, Justice and the Environment," was jointly sponsored by the Northwest Interfaith Movement, the Cecilian Center for Earth, Arts, and Spirit, and Sustaining Creation, Protecting God's Creation for God's Children. It bought nearly 30 local residents and members from many faiths to the Second Baptist Church of Germantown, Germantown Avenue and Upsal Street, for frank talk about how environmental concerns should be treated as social injustice. "There is definitely a connection between social justice and environmental justice," said Sister Mary Elizabeth Clark, director of the Cecilian Center for Earth, Arts and Spirit. "Humans are related to the creation of the earth, which we believe are one and the same. We believe that if the Earth is sick, so are we. And its time that we all have a calling to working on these environmental issues and make the connection that without the Earth, there is no us."

At the core of the panel discussion was a belief that science and faith have finally come in line in terms of the importance of preserving the Earth and its environment. The goal of the discussion was to inspire attendees to take a message back to their home congregations; that environmental issues are just as much a spiritual crisis as a material one.To help them achieve that goal, attendees received an "Environmental Toolkit," which included spiritual reflections, volunteer opportunities and ideas for action."Faith has caught up with science in that we are all one with the earth," said Clark. "At the Cecilian Center we teach this through arts, healing spirits and alternative living. However, we have to collectively begin to teach green living as not just a campaign but a means to an end."

According to Joy Bergey, a representative from PennFutures and a member of the Chestnut Hill United Methodist Church, in order to understand how individuals could work toward justice in environmental issues, they must first define "injustice.""Environmental injustice is best defined by environmental damage or destruction which disproportionately effects a portion of society which is not getting the benefit of what is being done and doesn't have the resources to get out of the way," she said.The displacement of thousands after Hurricane Katrina is a perfect example of this, said Bergey. Another example is poor air quality and high rates of asthma in predominately minority and poor communities, which she charged is not only the result of the federal government's failed energy policy but was also a universal failure in morality."If you do something that is intentional and it's hurting others and you know it's hurting people, than I would say that you are morally wrong," she said.And while alternative fuels and green options including recycling and conservation have become more prevalent in mainstream culture, Bergey said, she believes the country as a whole still remains behind the curve as those options tend to exclude or do not provide benefits to the people who are most effected.Instead, she said, we should be focusing on "green building," which would create more "green jobs" that not would not only help the environment but also fuel the economy.

Dion Lerman, an environmental health program specialist for thePennsylvania Integrated Pest Management Program and a member of the Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting, stated that many health disparities are caused by the deterioration of the environment and said that research has linked people's health risk to factors such as poverty, the age of buildings and vacant properties, and the high presence of pests and pesticide exposure, which he said effects indoor air quality.Using Germantown Avenue for example, he said that communities in Chestnut Hill, which have a 0.5 percent vacancy rate, have only two reported cases of lead poisoning and 56 cases of pesticide exposure, whereas communities in Germantown, which has an 18 percent vacancy rate, have 66 cases of lead poisoning and 139 cases of pesticide exposure reported."The biggest indicator is housing stock," he said. "When you have vacant properties, you also have pests such as roaches and mice, which we know carry diseases and increase the percentage of chance that you will get sick. Basically, what this research shows is if you have money, than you don't have problems but if you don't, the chances are you do."Lerman said that factors such as poverty, availability of health care and fresh fruits and vegetables are also factors and have been linked to other diseases such as asthma and cancer in majority minority and poor communities. However, he said that the number one root cause is a feeling of disempowerment, which he said could also contribute to mental health issues."Basically we are talking about people who have been systematically robbed of power and beat down to the point that they feel they can do nothing about it.""The remedy is to develop programs that empower the community to take action in demanding that their neighborhoods are environmentally safe," he said.

The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, for example, is one organization that offers community-geared programs that help to push the "green" agenda, according to Claire Baker, organizer of the PHS's City Harvest program. Through the City Harvest program, residents are taught community organic gardening on 22 vacant lots throughout the city.~ Each year, it is estimated that this program provides over 7,700 pounds of vegetables to the 122,000 low-income families throughout the area."Food access is a major issue for a lot of people in this city and there are communities that don't have convenient access to grocery stores. This is one of the benefits of this program: we are not only able to teach people how to grow their own food, we are also able to supply 22 food cupboards and 440 families with vital produce to maintain a healthy lifestyle," said Baker.Joe Walsh, a volunteer through the City Harvest program, said that he too would like to see similar programs on the 31,000 vacant lots throughout the city as it would help to turn back the great environmental injustice that many poor communities are facing. He also said that any change in mindset would have to begin with the congregations.

"Studies have shown that people look towards their churches for guidance in their lives and there is plenty of things that we as religious people can do that are low-cost and have a high impact, including beginning green lots of their own or creating green sanctuaries," he said. "We all have to understand that when it seems like there is nothing you can do, the reality is there is something we all can do. We just have to do it."