As we approach the 10-year anniversary of Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment, Laudato Si, the call for concrete and measurable efforts to address the environmental crisis has become ever clearer.
In his recent Apostolic Exhortation, Laudate Deum, Pope Francis called on the Church to respond to the environmental crisis with urgent and decisive action. Climate change, he says, “is no longer a secondary or ideological question, but a drama that harms us all” as “the world in which we live is collapsing”. This grave reality demands serious action from every sector of society and a bold commitment from the Church.
In response to this call from Pope Francis, the Diocese of Lexington is developing its Laudato Si Action Plan for the entire diocese which includes developing a plan to bring the diocese to net-zero in energy usage by 2030.
In order to accomplish this goal of net-zero carbon emissions, the diocese has convened a task force. Joshua van Cleef, Director of the Office of Peace and Justice, is coordinating the net-zero initiative for the diocese with Adam Edelen and Edelen Renewables as primary advisor. As primary advisor, Adam consults on the overall process and chairs the task force,
“It must be said that some committed and prayerful Christians, with the excuse of realism and pragmatism, tend to ridicule expressions of concern for the environment. Others are passive; they choose not to change their habits and thus become inconsistent. So what they all need is an ‘ecological conversion,’ whereby the effects of their encounter with Jesus Christ becomes evident in their relationship with the world around them. Living our vocation to be protectors of God’s handiwork is essential to a life of virtue; it is not an optional or a secondary aspect of our Christian experience.” - Laudato Si’, 217
Pope Francis
Statistics
- Since 1970…
- Plant and animal life in freshwater has fallen by 84 percent.
- Global wildlife populations have declined by two-thirds.
- We have been consuming more than the planet can sustain.
- Around 4 billion people suffer severe water scarcity for at least one month each year – especially in poorer countries and in rural areas.
- Acute hunger is rising in more than 50 countries, while a third of all food goes to waste.
- 80 percent of the world’s resources are used by only 20 percent of the population.
- Each year around 12 million tons of plastic enter our oceans.
- Half of all plastics ever produced have been made in the last 15 years.
- Climate impacts, such as sea-level rise, extreme weather and lower crop yields, will affect the poor the most.
- By 2050, more than 140 million people in Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia could be forced to migrate because of the climate crisis.
The task force advises the diocese
in three main areas:
Technology
The task force will evaluate relevant data from the diocese to determine its carbon footprint. It will then propose solutions to bring the diocese to net-zero.
Finance
The task force will identify funding sources and partnerships, and propose ways for the projects to be financed.
Communication
The task force will advise on a strategy to communicate this net-zero project to the public from initial planning through the plan’s implementation.
“Can we remain indifferent before the problems associated with such realities as climate change … ? Humanity needs a profound cultural renewal; it needs to rediscover those values which can serve as the solid basis for building a brighter future for all. Our present crises – be they economic, food-related, environmental or social – are ultimately also moral crises, and all of them are interrelated. They require us to rethink the path which we are traveling together.” - If You Want to Cultivate Peace, Protect Creation - 2010 World Day of Peace Message, nos. 4, 5.
Pope Benedict XVI
Questions
Net-zero is the balance between an organization’s amount of greenhouse gas emissions it generates and the amount removed from the atmosphere.
The Catholic Diocese of Lexington is committed to reaching carbon neutrality (net zero) by 2030 for its Scope 2 emissions. Scope 2 is the amount of greenhouse emissions produced by the purchase of power (electricity, steam, heating or cooling). We will also evaluate Scope 1 emissions, which are the greenhouse gas emissions from transportation, furnaces, heaters and boilers.
Bishop Stowe has convened a group of sustainability experts drawn from our region’s leading corporate citizens to make recommendations regarding not only the technical aspects of our mission but our financial options as well. The task force will propose projects and avenues of funding for them.
The taskforce will provide our church a litany of options for offsetting our carbon footprint. Options are likely to include onsite solar, participation in green energy programs with our local utility, energy savings procedures, and other approaches utilized by organizations who are on their own “net-zero” journey.
The first year of the task force’s work will involve data collection to determine the carbon footprint of the diocese for energy usage and making a plan to get to net-zero. During the implementation phase of the plan that will follow, locations included in any projects will be engaged in the process.
Task Force Members
David Absher, Senior Manager of Sustainability and Regulatory Affairs | Toyota
David Butler, Head of Sustainability | Alltech
John Damm, Project Sustainability Manager | Lexmark
Ed Davis, Director of Property and Plant | Catholic Diocese of Lexington
Adam Edelen, Founder and CEO of Edelen Renewables
Stephen “Tay” Gibson, System Director of Property Management | Appalachian Regional Healthcare
Josh King, Vice President of Facilities Planning and Development |
Appalachian Regional Healthcare
Matt Partymiller, General Manager | Solar Energy Solutions
Amy Samples, Chief of Staff, Edelen Renewables
Debbie Swisher, Diocesan Finance Officer | Catholic Diocese of Lexington
Joshua Van Cleef, Director, Office of Peace and Justice | Catholic Diocese of Lexington
“The gradual depletion of the ozone layer and the related 'greenhouse effect' has now reached crisis proportions as a consequence of industrial growth, massive urban concentrations and vastly increased energy needs … When the ecological crisis is set within the broader context of the search for peace within society, we can understand better the importance of giving attention to what the earth and its atmosphere are telling us: namely, that there is an order in the universe which must be respected, and that the human person, endowed with the capability of choosing freely, has a grave responsibility to preserve this order for the well-being of future generations. I wish to repeat that the ecological crisis is a moral issue.”- Peace with God the Creator, Peace with All Creation - 1990 World Day of Peace Message, nos. 6, 9.
St. John Paul II