
Special Kip Coerper at The Citizen
Taking care of God’s bountiful land is our responsibility to be good stewards of creation. Each of us can make a difference in the impact of global warming and a clean environment. The environmental damage we experience these days – polluted air, major hurricanes, droughts, wildfires – is magnified by the unpleasant reality of man-made carbon in our atmosphere.
That carbon will only increase if we don’t address the excess carbon, largely caused by deforestation and the burning of fossil fuels.
The good news is that there are solutions. Forward-thinking companies, technologies and organizations make a difference. Solar energy and wind power are as cheap as fossil fuel energy. We can encourage more production by supporting politicians who believe in climate change. We can also reduce our energy use, by carefully insulating and sealing our homes and workplaces, and/or by considering installing solar panels. Explore the solar possibilities at the nyserda.ny.gov website and find “4 easyA way onward.
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Chicken Coerper
To have a greater impact on your carbon footprint, consider aligning your money with your environmental values. The big banks (Chase, CITI, Capital One, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Barclays) are all using your money to support climate destruction. Instead, choose a local credit union or local bank to invest your money in your community. Find them at greenamerica.org/get-a-better-bank. Looking for a credit card that promotes and invests in green technologies, Beneficial State Bank is one. Consider getting a new insurance quote. Insurance companies have large fossil fuel holdings, Liberty Mutual being the largest. And look for green long term investments at GreenAmerica.org or asyousow.org. All of these proposals are clearly explained with graphs, comparisons, and specific information at www.rivers-mountains-greenfaith.org/divest-invest-workshop. This document contains all the information you need to make smart financial choices that will reduce the impact of your money on the environment and will put you on a course that supports the types of organizations that care about a more clean world and “green” corporate responsibility.
To simply enjoy the wonders of our creation, consider attending the one-hour MasterWorks Chorale Fall Concert at 4 pm October 23 at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Auburn. The 45-voice chorale will sing with masks (a surprisingly effective sound) with “music of a beautiful world alive – to praise the earth, water, sky, and stars” that there is a PowerPoint of images of our beautiful land. See masterworkscny.org for more information.
Kip Coerper is an organist and choirmaster at St. James’ Episcopal Church in Skaneateles and music director of the MasterWorks Chorale in CNY. In St. James’ he also coordinates EarthWorks, St. James’ eco ministry. In that capacity he offers some monthly reflections on how humans can respond to climate change, save money, become more energy efficient, and simply take care of our beautiful creatures.