Hooray for the EPA

By Marco Grimaldo

Hooray for the EPA – now that’s not something you hear in Virginia every day. But, today is Earth Day and 22 years since the first such commemoration, we are still working to raise awareness and increase our efforts to build more sustainable, healthy, and responsible communities.  In Richmond, there will be an outdoor festival with education and resources that everyone can access to improve eco-friendly practices for daily living.  Music, food and activities are one incentive to commemorate Earth Day.  Another is the sense of responsibility that many of us hold for one another and to God. 

For many people of faith, Earth Day offers a chance to call attention to problems like contaminated water, risky mining processes, and polluted air, to name just some of the concerns that impact the environment and our health as well.  Guided by our faith we join together to share the responsibility of caring for creation and for one another.

The Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy and Virginia Interfaith Power and Light (VIPL), work together to speak up for people in need who too often suffer  the consequences of unjust systems.  As part of a national Interfaith Power and Light network, people of faith in Virginia work with VIPL to decrease our dependence on fossil fuels and press for public policies that promote a more healthy and sustainable Virginia.

May is Asthma Awareness Month and according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, Richmond, Virginia has more cases of Asthma that any other metro area in the United States.  Low income communities are more vulnerable to the health consequences associated with industrial carbon pollution and for this reason; VIPL is focused on clean air.  The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is currently working on new standards for air quality that will ensure that less carbon is released into the air from new power plants.  Carbon pollution triggers health problems that affect at-risk families, especially children, the elderly, and those prone to health problems. These new rules can help us win cleaner, more responsible energy for future generations.
The EPA is now accepting public comments about the clean air standards through June 13. Sign the Covenant for Clean Air to tell the EPA that we need and support stronger clean air standards to protect public health. 

Faithfully,

Marco Grimaldo

CEO and President

As people who claim to be worshippers and believers in God, we must take environmentalism seriously. Environmentalism isn’t a fad or a temporary concern, but an enduring responsibility, especially for we who claim to submit ourselves to the will of God. Caring for the environment and for God’s creation is one of the foundational principles in the Quran and in the life and practices (Sunnah) of our Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

 Awareness of our environment and its issues and our responsibilities to care for this creation is essential knowledge required of every Muslim.  Caring for the environment is a timeless and permanent concern of human beings and Islam has many teachings that confirm this. 

Read more here.

 As people of faith, we are driven to stand up for the injustices that are happening in throughout the world and the Commonwealth of Virginia. Virginia Interfaith Power & Light is dedicated to transitioning towards a new, clean energy economy and creating environmental justice.

We look forward to informing and motivating you and your community to take action, use your voice, and live your faith through better stewardship of creation.

I’ll be a guest blogger on faith, my name is Ryan Greene and I am a Christian Environmentalist...

Read more here.

Welcome to our new blog! This is a space for people of faith who have a desire to seek environmental justice, understand, and engage in energy issues.  Follow this blog for great resources on key environmental issues and opportunities to voice your opinion on energy policies and progress, scriptures, and environmentalism.

 Contact us about getting involved and writting about your faith perspective on environmentalism.