Today, Acting EPA Administrator and former coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler sent his proposal to the Federal Register to declare that mercury pollution limits on coal plants are no longer “appropriate and necessary.” 

This is his way of rewarding a few coal companies, like Murray Energy which he used to lobby for, in spite of united opposition from health professionals, utilities, moms, environmental leaders, and faith communities. But Wheeler cannot act unilaterally, and the EPA is required to take public comment into consideration in setting or changing regulations.  
​
Tell the EPA you oppose this proposal: click here to send a message today.

Mercury pollution impacts the most vulnerable among us: unborn babies and children. Babies exposed to mercury in the womb suffer long-term impacts on their memory, cognitive thinking, language, and fine motor skills. 

As people of faith we are called to defend the vulnerable and care for future generations. This attack on our community's health and goes against our core morals and values. 

Take action today and let the EPA know you oppose any weakening of life-saving mercury standards.
Since 2011, thanks to the Mercury and Air Toxics standards, mercury emissions were reduced by 70% or more. But now, Acting Administrator Wheeler wants to endanger that progress.

Of all the anti-environmental actions taken by the Trump administration, this one may be the most egregious. It threatens the health of children and babies. It’s also dangerous for adults: exposure affects vital organs like the lungs, kidneys, brain, and heart. And it disproportionately impacts people of color and lower income families who are more likely to live and work in areas near polluting power plants that emit mercury.

We will not stand for the sacrifice of human life and health just to make dirty coal a little more profitable. With your help, IPL will educate and inspire faith leaders and people of faith across the nation to stand up in defense of future generations. Make your voice heard today: click here to register your opposition to this outrageous proposal.
Thank you,
Susan Stephenson
Executive Director

CA Poor People's Campaign presents: 
A Poor People's Hearing on Homelessness, Mass Incarceration and the Criminalization of Poverty
Saturday, April 6th from 2-4 pm
Taylor Memorial United Methodist Church
1188 12th Street, Oakland
Poor People's Campaign: A national Call for Moral Revival organized by California Poor People's Campaign Bay Area.  ppcbayarea.org  * facebook.com/californiappc
​

​Summer Solstice Sunrise Service

Friday June 21, 2019
Sunrise and ritual at the summit of Mount Diablo at 5:00 am

Offerings of tobacco to the ancestors, prayers for peace, and a toast to the sun.  This year's intention to  Honor Mother Earth.  

For more details click here.

Colonisation of the Americas at the end of the 15th Century killed so many people, it disturbed Earth's climate.
That's the conclusion of scientists from University College London, UK.
The team says the disruption that followed European settlement led to a huge swathe of abandoned agricultural land being reclaimed by fast-growing trees and other vegetation.
This pulled down enough carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the atmosphere to eventually chill the planet.
It's a cooling period often referred to in the history books as the "Little Ice Age" - a time when winters in Europe would see the Thames in London regularly freeze over.
"The Great Dying of the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas led to the abandonment of enough cleared land that the resulting terrestrial carbon uptake had a detectable impact on both atmospheric CO₂ and global surface air temperatures," Alexander Koch and colleagues write in their paper published in Quaternary Science Reviews.