Unitarian Universalist FaithAction NJ
A Unitarian Universalist voice for justice, equity and compassion in NJ
Come to the April 19 panel on New Jersey’s transition to 100% renewable energy.
WHEN: April 19, 2018, 7-9 pm
WHERE: Westfield High School Auditorium
550 Dorian Road
Westfield, NJ 07090
Event page: Go to the event page to register.
Click below for a copy of the flyer:
UU Faith Action NJ opposes Senate bill S-877, allowing PSEG to increase its rates in order to maintain the profitability of two nuclear plants. We have objected to the process, which excludes the Division of Rate Counsel from being involved in considering the necessity of the rate hike, and also to the willy-nilly addition of several environmental bills without adequate consideration of their provisions. The bill was scheduled for consideration on Monday, February 26, but was postponed. Here is a news story about it:
Nuclear Subsidy Bill Stalls in Senate
Please call your legislator to oppose this very bad bill.
Date: March 6, 2018
Time: 7-8 pm
Place: Iselin Branch Library, 1081 Green Street, Iselin, NJ 08830
New Jersey has been experiencing its wettest and warmest years over the past century. Extreme events like Sandy and increasingly hot summers point to major climate changes. And these weather changes affect all of us and will have even more severe consequences in the future. Join Dr. David Robinson, NJ state climatologist and leader of the Rutgers New Jersey Weather Network, as he discusses our changing climate, its impact and how you can join a network that monitors weather and climate conditions. Sponsored by the Raritan Valley Group of the NJ Sierra Club as part of our continuing Speaker Series. Admission is free and open to all. Please arrive early, since we will be starting promptly at 7 pm. The Raritan Valley Group serves Middlesex and Somerset counties. Attendees can RSVP at tinyurl.com/RVGSpeakerSeries.
Date: March 7, 2018
Time: 6:30 pm reception, 7:00 pm program
For decades, the people of New Jersey have relied on federal and state legislation to protect their natural resources. And for decades, the laws have let them down. New Jersey water, air, forests, and other special places from the highlands to the pinelands have been allowed to degrade in ways that are harming people’s lives. A Constitutional provision could help change that.
In New Jersey the right to free speech, freedom of religion and other freedoms are protected as fundamental rights in the state constitution. But New Jersey has NO constitutional provision protecting environmental rights in the state.
It is believed that establishing a civil environmental right will drive better government decision-making at all levels of government and will prevent situations or conditions in which land becomes too contaminated, water becomes too polluted, and air too dirty to support healthy lives, including a healthy economy.
Right now, the movement needs the Assembly to support and pass Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 85 (ACR85) currently before them. Every Assembly member needs to hear how important this environmental rights amendment is from their voters.
Rethink Energy Panel: February 23, 2018 at 8 am
Governor Phil Murphy wants 100 percent of New Jersey’s power to come from clean energy by 2050. That’s an ambitious goal since only 4 percent of our current energy comes from sources such as solar or wind. How do we get there and what should our priorities be? Our experts will take a realistic look at those targets and what it will take to reach them.
Hilton Garden Inn Hamilton
800 U.S. 130
Hamilton Township, NJ08690
NJ OFF Fossil Fuels Launch
NJ Statehouse, 125 West State St., Trenton NJThursday will be the legislative launch of legislation to move New Jersey toward 100% renewable energy.
We have a new Governor who supports the move toward 100% renewables, so this is no longer just theoretical,
10:30am Legislative Briefing and Lobby Training.
Meet in the cafeteria in the lower level of the Statehouse Annex (we will have volunteers at the front entrance of the Statehouse Annex to greet people and direct them to the cafeteria).
11:00am – 11:45am – Morning lobbying session
12:00pm – 1:00pm – NJ OFF Coalition Rally and Press Conference.Meet outside directly in front of the Statehouse Annex
1:00pm – 2:30pm – Afternoon lobbying session
Bring friends and family. Bring signs!
Please arrive at the State House at 10:30am
for the lobby training and legislative briefing.Please share this Facebook Event Page and RSVP page. Food and Water Watch will help coordinate transportation.Facebook Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/219407621935876/ OFF Fossil Fuels Event RSVP Page: https://go.offfossilfuels.org/event/action_attend/541
Read the Most Recent Volume of Environmental Justice Newsletter: July 2024
Environmental Justice Task Force Chair Peggy Middaugh (UU Ocean County Congregation) Contact: environment@uufaithaction.org For national information: UU Create Climate Justice Network
As Unitarian Universalists, we affirm and promote all UU principles, but our environmental justice perspective emphasizes “respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part” (our seventh principle) and “justice, equity, and compassion in human relations” (our second principle). For more perspective on our focus on environmental justice, see What is Environmental Justice?
Environmental Justice Task Force Goals for 2022/23:
1. Advocating for the adoption of the Green Amendment in New Jersey through work in our congregations and as a Task Force;
2. Working toward resolving the many challenges in NJ related to food-insecurity, including but not limited to promoting regenerative agriculture, increasing accessibility of healthy food, reducing food waste, and encouraging community and family gardens;
3. Supporting 100% renewable energy and energy conservation through measures such as the Clean Energy Equity Act, and those effecting transportation and Electric Vehicles (EVs).
4. Advocating for better health and reducing climate change for all by protecting and expanding New Jersey’s public and urban forests.
Reports are prepared for each Spring Plenary and Fall Issues meeting describing progress on issues.
Americans Against Fracking and Pennsylvanians Against Fracking have organized the March for a Clean Energy Revolution. It is being organized by a broad coalition of organizations and grassroots groups from all over the United States, including the Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry of NJ.
Fracking is impacting community health, water, air, and the climate on which we all depend, and we are calling on both the Democratic and Republican Parties to include a ban on fracking, environmental justice, keeping fossil fuels in the ground, stopping dirty energy, and a quick and just transition to 100% renewable energy in their platforms. There is a major action planned on the eve of the Democratic National Convention because Pennsylvania is one of the states that has been most impacted by the expansion of fracking.
The convention will afford a national spotlight on these important issues and the need for our elected leaders to take action. Also, with the national attention afforded by the convention and the presence of many key elected leaders there, it is a tremendous opportunity to bring the message of the need for bold action to these leaders and the public at large.
The March for a Clean Energy Revolution will be a peaceful action expressing our power through our voices, presence, and creativity. We will demonstrate the strength and commitment of our movement, demand the end to dirty fossil fuels and catapult the need for 100% renewable energy onto the national agenda on the eve of the Democratic National Convention.
In order to create a peaceful, family-friendly, and uniting event, those participating in the march agree that:
1. Violence, either physical or verbal, has no place in this event.
2. We will not vandalize or damage anything during this event.
3. We will maintain a tone of respect and honesty, as well as commit to calming any escalatory situations that arise.
4. We will not carry weapons, illegal drugs, or alcohol during this event.
5. We are all responsible for supporting each other to uphold these agreements.
Please help us in our effort to account for our New Jersey UU contingent by signing up here.
For all who are attending, especially for those who are not entirely familiar with the city, it is necessary to know where to be, where to go, and when to move. On this page, you can find a schedule that outlines all of this for you, so that you can be fully involved in the march.
The weekend starts on Saturday, July 23 with the activists’ Summit at the Friends Center, 1501 Cherry Street in Philly. The Summit will run from 9:00AM til 6:30PM, and will feature a mix of educational workshops, organizing skills training, and strategy development sessions. Come prepared to acquire new skills and strategies to take back to your local campaigns and to meet people working on similar efforts in their communities across the country. Check here for updates.
The Interfaith Service starts at 12 noon, in the interior courtyard at City Hall. Contingents will line up on the south side of City Hall – exact location TBD, but there will be plenty of marshals to help folks get organized. UULMNJ meet up to be determined.
The March steps off from City Hall at about 12:45 – 1:00. The March will be led by representatives of indigenous communities and other front-line folks who are particularly impacted by fracking and other extreme energy extraction. The exact order of march is still being determined, but as of now the Faith Contingent will be towards the end. This puts some responsibility on us to make sure the March has a big finish!
We’ll march one mile to Independence Hall where we’ll end with a collective action.
If you need mobility assistance, please email accessibility@cleanenergymarch.org for more information.
– In order to maintain everyone’s safety, it is important to be prepared for what the day provides us: weather, exercise, and a time-sensitive schedule.
– Bring your own water bottle! There will be water tanks for filling up, but no bottles.
– Wear weather appropriate clothing. As of Monday morning the Philadelphia forecast for July 24 is a high of 97 and mostly sunny! (Bring sunscreen, a hat, sunglasses, etc.)
– We’ll be walking (marching) a lot, wear comfortable shoes.
– This March will be hours long, bring snacks.
– Feel free to bring a sign or poster to show your support for a Clean Energy Revolution! No metal or wooden poles. If you wish to hold your sign high we recommend rolling poster board into a tube and attaching to your sing with tape.
Other details will be posted here as they become available!
Click on an image below to download a PDF for print
In a 2006 Statement of Conscience the Unitarian Universalist Association stated:
“Earth is our home. We are part of this world and its destiny is our own…. As Unitarian Universalists, how can our faith inform our actions to remedy and mitigate global warming/climate change? We declare by this Statement of Conscience that we will not acquiesce to the ongoing degradation and destruction of life that human actions are leaving to our children and grandchildren. We as Unitarian Universalists are called to join with others to halt practices that fuel global warming/climate change, to instigate sustainable alternatives, and to mitigate the impending effects of global warming/climate change with just and ethical responses. As a people of faith, we commit to a renewed reverence for life and respect for the interdependent web of all existence.”
Along with other members of the coalition NJ FREE, the UULMNJ Environmental Task Force has helped to write the Renewable Energy Tranisition Act, or RETA. The bill would require 80% renewable electricity by 2050, with an intermediate requirement of 30% renewable electricity by 2025. It also seeks a requirement that the total electric usage in New Jersey be reduced by 20% by 2025 relative to 2012 usage, and be reduced by 30% by 2050 relative to 2012 usage. The bill passed the senate on March 14 by a vote of 23-15.
Is 80% Renewable Electricity by 2050 feasible? This question is already being answered in the real world. Many European countries have already adopted requirements that are as ambitious or even more so. Denmark’s goal is 80% of overall energy by 2050. Germany, on the other hand, has a much lower solar resource than New Jersey, and has adopted a requirement of 80% renewable electricity by 2050 and 30% by 2025. Furthermore, it is well ahead of schedule, achieving 26% renewable electricity in the first half of 2012. Germany’s rapid transition toward renewables and equally rapid phase‐out of nuclear power has not hurt its economy. According to the country’s top economic research institutions, Germany’s “Renewable Energy Transformation” has been a net benefit to the economy, and has created 370,000 new jobs.
RETA (A1759) was referred to the Assembly Telecommunications and Utilities Committee on January 27, 2016. We are calling for the Chairman, Assemblyman Wayne P. DeAngelo, to move the bill to a vote in honor of Earth Day, which will be celebrated around the globe on Friday, April 22. Please write Chairman DeAngelo and ask him to move this landmark legislation through to a vote in the Assembly.
Watch the Senate bill’s sponsor, Sen. Bob Smith, discuss the legislation with NJTV news.
Bill Potter, Chair of the UULMNJ Environmental Task Force has written an excellent article emphasizing the need to act now on climate change.
His conclusion: Governor Chris Christie’s ability to deny evidence — and reality — doesn’t bode well for a presidential candidate.
