~ ....... 0~ .. ? ... ·.·· ·· .• North Carolina Interfaith Power & Light 

· JJ · www.ncipl.org • info@ncipl.org 

27 Horne Street 

Raleigh, NC 27607 

(919) 828-6501 

July 29, 2014 

Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2013-0602 

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Good afternoon, I am Ste!~-~pastor at Community United Church of 

Christ in Raleigh, NC. I ·today to provide testimony as a faith leader, and as clergy 

representative of NC Interfaith Power and Light, a statewide organization addressing the 

ecological and justice issues of climate change as a faith-based initiative. 

NC Interfaith Power & Light is a program of the North Carolina Council of Churches. This 

role provides access to the Council's membership of over 6,200 congregations. The 

North Carolina Council of Churches is comprised of 25 distinct judicatories from 17 

denominations with 1.5 million congregants across the state of North Carolina. In 2005, 

NCIPL became the 16th state affiliate of the national Interfaith Power & Light Campaign. 

There are now Interfaith Power & Light affiliates in 40 states in over 15,000 

congregations. 

NCIPL has active programs preparing for the consequences of climate change from sealevel rise to human health impacts. Experts advise us to "avoid the unmanageable and 

manage the unavoidable;" change is here and it is frightening. NCIPL offers hope with 

programs that congregations can use to build local resilience and reduce the magnitude 

of future change. 

As people of faith called to care for God's people and Creation, especially the most 

vulnerable, we have a moral obligation to address the profound impacts of the way we 

produce and use energy. In addition to protecting our climate, curbing pollution from 

power plants offers many important benefits, including saving lives and reducing health 

risks to those suffering from heart disease and respiratory ailments such as asthma. 

As a United Church of Christ pastor and clergy representative to NC Interfaith Power & 

Light, I am very proud that UCC's executive minister for Justice and Witness Ministries, 

the Rev. Linda Jaramillo publically proclaimed "The United Church of Christ applauds the 

Obama Administration's efforts to take real action on climate change. A proposal like the 

one introduced by the EPA has been a long time coming and is just the first of many 

steps that need to be taken by the U.S. government and big business to begin to curtail 

the damage that has already been done to our precious Earth." 
·President Obama and the EPA are acting on our moral obligation to address unlimited 

carbon pollution coming from the nation's power plants, the single largest source of 

global warming pollution in the country. The new standards will help usher in clean 

energy solutions like improved efficiency and solar power: things that North Carolina 

Interfaith Power & Light congregations have been using in their facilities for years to 

reduce emissions and save money. Emerging wind and solar companies have been in a 

David and Goliath struggle against the well-funded coal and gas industries. The new 

standards will create a dynamic move toward cleaner energy. 

"These days faith and science are close allies. The science is clear and peer proven that 

global warming and climate change in our time is human induced by our tremendous 

emissions of carbon in the air- causing carbon pollution and the "green house" effect. 

Science tells us this reality. The role of religious faith is to give us the moral imperative to 

change our lifestyle and safeguard our environment for future generations and welfare 

of human life and the integrity of God's creation. The EPA's carbon safeguards are one 

important element in changing our lifestyle to meet this threat. 

Communities of faith are identifying and implementing hope-filled responses to climate 

change as a moral imperative. We want to influence people to be good caretakers or 

stewards of God's good gifts in creation. We seek energy conservation, energy efficiency, 

and renewable energy sources in order to safeguard our environment now and for 

future generations as is guided by the wisdom of our faith traditions. 

Climate change is a moral issue. The impacts can already be felt through heat waves, 

droughts and wildfires, but the impacts will get far worse if we continue to do nothing. 

The EPA is looking to take one critical step by reducing pollution from power plants. 

On behalf of NC Interfaith Power & light I have contacted North Carolina's Senators, Kay 

Hagan and Richard Burr, to let them know that we support this positive action to reduce 

industrial carbon pollution. 

I am hopeful that the EPA's new carbon emission safeguards will be embraced by 

business and industry as the right course of action for the people, both rich and poor 

and all in between, of our nation. 

Rev. Steve Halsted 

Pastor of United Church of Christ 

Clergy Representative to NCIPL's Executive Committee