Testimony by William Rosenow . ................................ email - biljan9rose@gmail.com 

Retired Pastor - ELCA - Evangelical Lutheran Church in America 

1119 Royal Court, Harrisonburg, VA 22802-8313 --- Cell Phone (540) 209-3779 

Thank you for the opportunity of testifying at this gathering. AII of us 

present are deeply grateful for the work that you are doing. We want 

the EPA to know that many of the Churches of our nation are willing to 

assist you in the Care of the Earth. We are keenly aware that the 

Biblical directive we all have received from a loving God, is to care for 

this fantastic planet - as long as we live. 

We are also acutely aware, that you must weigh choices, and make 

decisions that affect life here on planet earth. We know that it is not 

easy, for evil in the form of money and power always presents itself as 

an attractive option. Know that we support you in all you do. 

We have a lot of work to do. We know that we must choose between a 

RENEWABLE ENERGY and the present form of energy known as 

FOSSIL FUEL (i.e. oil, gas, and coal) that has served us for 

centuries, but is one of the primary causes of Climate Change. 

I know that the adult members of our churches will help us educate the 

young people and their families regarding the care of the earth. In 

1971 the Mission congregation that I was serving formed a recycling 

agency known as Ecocycle. We operated 6 recycling collection sites 

in Arlington, Falls Church, Fairfax, McLean, Sterling and Vienna. 

(Please reference the Washington Post during the years of 1971-1973.) 

We cooperated with Fairfax County Conservation, who had been doing 

programs in the public schools to teach the students about Wild Life 

conservation. They joined us in doing a program in the schools near 

the collection sites, to involve the students and their families in a 

contest to determine which class would recycle the most recovered 

materials. It was a very effective program that involved the families 

with school age children to REDUCE solid waste, RE-USE containers, 

and, RECYCLE to conserve resources and energy. One of the 

statements that was always effective in getting their attention was, "Do 

you know how much energy and raw materials it takes to make 

throw-away containers?" They were always amazed to learn 

that it takes 250 times as much water to make a paper cup, as it 

does to WASH a reusab/e one. 
In 1973 Ecocycle contracted with the City of ALEXANDRIA to set up 

6 centers in the city, for collecting recyclables. We began 

implementing education programs in the public schools. Within a 

few weeks, the compartmentalized containers were filled to 

overflowing. That wonderful program came to an abrupt end when 

the Arab Oil embargo caused fuel prices to rise, and we could 

no longer afford to operate the system. 

Most pew sitters of the time were not ready to listen. Times have 

changed and awareness has changed. We DON'T have the luxury of 

waiting until everyone is in agreement to act. 

We need YOU to step up and make NEW policies: 

Policies that make it mandatory for every town 

to provide easily accessible recycling facilities; 

Policies that say all emissions from buildings and vehicles 

MUST meet the new carbon restrictions; 

Policies that are incentives for EVERYONE to convert 

to renewable resources for their heat and lights. 

THIS WOULD BE A GREAT START! 

It will not be easy, and there will be many who will sound 

all kinds of alarms. But the instructions are clear and simple: 

TAKE CARE OF PLANET EARTH 

The responsibility falls on YOU, the 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY 

Finally, PLEASE keep us informed. 

When YOU make the RIGHT decisions the clergy 

and the churches STAND READY to support you. 

As long as I am God's agent here among you, 

I will work to preserve PLANET EARTH 

Thank you for listening, it has been a long time coming.