The Interfaith Green Network (IGN) has been a network in the faith community of Oak Park and River Forest for six years. Twenty-two congregations have participated in IGN activities.
The IGN email list, which numbers 140 individuals, is used regularly to communicate new green opportunities. IGN has hosted evenings in which congregations have reported on their sustainability work; it has hosted evenings with Oak Park trustees to look at green issues, such as solar, waste and new intergovernmental initiatives.
When Oak Park decided to go brown on electricity aggregation, IGN organized a One View from the pastors objecting to this decision and a trustee meeting protest. IGN has had Gary Cuneen of Seven Generations Ahead present PlanItGreen to the congregations, hosted a congregation building engineers PlanItGreen lunch, and circulated among congregations a PlanItGreen check-off list.
There is no doubt that the faith tradition has taken a renewed interest in caring for God’s creation. With the Pope’s encyclical, Laudato Si, and other denomination faith statements, it is clear that the moral issue of our time is saving our endangered earth. The recent Paris agreement has set in motion a global process of accelerated climate action to “avoid dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system.”
As part of this movement, Oak Park and River Forest have made significant strides in reaching common sustainability goals through PlanItGreen. The time is right for a more effective, stronger citizen driven effort to bring to fruition the vision of PlanItGreen.
The population of Oak Park is 52,008 and River Forest is 11,210 of which 60% are religious or affiliate with a religion with over 70 houses of worship. Oak Park alone has four Jewish and 45 Protestant congregations, five Roman Catholic parishes and four Buddhist centers. In principle, Oak Park and River Forest host 37,930 (60% of 53,218) people of faith.
The Pew Research Center has shown that 71% of Americans identifying as Christians and 54% of Americans see global climate change as a very serious problem and 30% are very concerned that climate change will harm them personally. It is clear that the faith community provides a great resource and opportunity to deepen and widen the work of PlanItGreen and other sustainability efforts. This faith initiative will reach a third of the faith population (12,643 people).
Richard Alton and Jim Babcock are co-chairs of the Interfaith Green Network.
