Our Solutions Partners provide pathways to action in order to help our audiences to learn more about the climate crisis, take action at home and locally, and to build community around the issue to accelerate action nationally. This month, we are delighted to shine the spotlight on Interfaith Power and Light (IPL), which inspires and mobilizes people of faith and conscience to take bold and just action on climate change. We caught up recently with IPL’s president, the Reverend Susan Hendershot, to talk about her work.
For those who are not aware of IPL’s work, can you provide a short description of its mission and where folks can learn more?
The mission of Interfaith Power & Light is to inspire and mobilize people of faith and conscience to take bold and just action on climate change. We work with individuals and congregations of all religious and spiritual traditions throughout the United States through our programs and policy advocacy, providing a moral voice on the issue of global warming. To learn more they can visit our website.
How are you moving your work forward during the Covid-19 pandemic?
The issue of climate change is as relevant and important as ever, and we remain committed to providing resources and opportunities for action to our supporters. We know from emerging research that there is a connection between those communities that are most impacted by COVID-19 and air pollution. Scientists have also predicted the spread of disease because of a warming climate. Right now we are focused on policy advocacy around what is included in the recovery packages being debated in Congress, including a moratorium on utility shutoffs, increased funding for the low-income heating assistance program (LIHEAP), no bail-outs for fossil fuels, and investment in renewable energy and green infrastructure. We also have COVID-19 resources on our website .
Are you finding that people are receptive to talking about climate during the immediate crisis of the pandemic?
Absolutely. In fact, we have found that climate remains a top-tier issue for our supporters, and that polling of likely voters also supports this.
Tell us a little about your background. What led you to this work?
I am ordained clergy in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) denomination, and prior to this work I was serving local congregations. The issue that I was most passionate about was the issue of hunger, so I wasn’t giving much attention to climate change. However, I read an article about the geopolitics of food that connected the dots for me between hunger and climate change, and I realized in order to solve hunger I needed to work on climate. Because I have two sons who are now young adults, I started to recognize the issues of generational justice—that their generation would be tasked with solving a crisis that they didn’t create. This has focused my work and given it meaning, because I’m working on their behalf. Since then I’ve come to recognize all of the intersected justice issues—racial justice, gender justice, economic justice—and how centering justice in this work is critical to its solutions.
If a reader would like her/his congregation to become part of the IPL network, what steps should s/he take?
There are two great steps that a person can take. First, definitely sign up to receive our emails. This will put you on the list to receive information about programs and action alerts. For example, you can find out about our Cool Congregations program offerings, and/or sign up to be a Faith Climate Voter in 2020.
Second, check our website to see if there is a state affiliate in your state. Our affiliates are working at the state and local levels to provide programs and advocacy on state policy, and you can connect with other supporters in your area.
Once you’ve established a relationship with a congregation, how do you engage with them? What does IPL offer that that might be different from other climate advocacy organizations?
IPL has a very unique approach to our work, because we engage at multiple levels on climate change. We run programs that teach people how to lower their carbon emissions in their homes and places of worship, and in fact we just launched a new carbon calculator designed for congregations that is one-of-a-kind.
Secondly, we focus on policy advocacy at the federal level, and with our 35 active state affiliates around the country we can also provide advocacy at the state and local levels. We are the only faith-based climate organization working at all of those levels.
And, in 2020 we are also focused on a voter mobilization campaign to turn out faith-based climate voters at the polls in November (or, more likely, to mail in their ballots.) We know that in order to enact comprehensive climate policy in 2021, we need to elect climate champions to Congress as well as to state legislatures. You can access our voter campaign here.
What intrigued IPL about working with The ClimateMusic Project?
Well, first of all, I love music. I listen to some type of music every day, and I think that’s true for a lot of people. Right now I’m thinking of people singing from their balconies in Italy while they were in lockdown as a way to connect with their neighbors and their community. It’s emotional, spiritual, and engages our senses. Of course, most spiritual traditions use some type of music within their worship services, and sacred music has been around as long as religion has existed. Maybe even before.
And, we also know from research that children who are involved in music also do better when it comes to math and science, engaging and stimulating those parts of the brain. So I can’t think of anything better than bringing together music and science to help people better make a connection to climate change. The music, the visuals, it really provokes our thinking in ways that mere charts and graphs never will.
What gives you hope?
I really love this quote from Rebecca Solnit on hope. She says, “Hope is a belief that what we do might matter, an understanding that the future is not yet written.” In other words, what I choose to do today—any actions large or small—create the future. The outcome is not predetermined. It’s true, we need to act quickly in order to stave off the worst impacts of climate change, but we do have the ability to create a thriving Earth home for both current and future generations IF collectively we choose to do so. I believe that people of faith and conscience can lead the way.
Thank you for your work and partnership.