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Michigan IPL Chapter Convening
We are excited for you to join us at our very first convening of the regional chapters of Michigan IPL: including the Capital Area Chapter and Hope for Creation (Southwest MI)!
PURPOSE:
- sharing stories about what each chapter has been doing (history, successes, challenges);
- fellowship and relationship-building;
- rooting in hope and our collective vision for the world we want to create
WHENMarch 23, 2025 at 2:00pmWHERE
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Leah Wiste published Michigan IPL Partnering on $20million EPA Grant for Climate Resilience in Blog 2024-12-19 21:38:50 -0500
Michigan IPL Partnering on $20million EPA Grant for Climate Resilience!
We can't wait to get started!
This historic initiative, led by EcoWorks, in collaboration with Solar Faithful, will help 15 community-serving houses of worship and food assistance programs in environmental justice neighborhoods become climate resilience hubs.
We hosted an announcement and surprised our community partners with the news at St. Peter's. Joining us were dignitaries including Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist and Regina Strong, the Environmental Justice Public Advocate at EGLE.
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2022 Year End Reflection
Earlier this year, I was mistaken for someone famous.
A restaurant worker approached me as I waited for lunch: “I just want you to know… I’m such a huge fan," she said, looking at my very intensely. "I love your work."
For a split second there, I sure did think: “Whoa! Michigan IPL is so much higher profile than I realized! How amazing that our good work is being seen by the public and that faithful climate action is on their radar…”
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Look at our beautiful Board!
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Leah Wiste published General Motors is transitioning too slowly to electric vehicles – and at the cost of public health in Blog 2022-09-29 17:02:02 -0400
General Motors is transitioning too slowly to electric vehicles – and at the cost of public health
In my hometown of Detroit, everything revolves around the automotive industry—the steel mills, the oil refinery, the plants that create the plastics and the parts to build our cars. Dubbed the "Motor City," the auto industry is woven into Detroit, for better – and for worse – to power American-made automobiles.
Raised as a lifelong Detroiter from zip code 48217, my roots connect back to the auto industry, too. Like many in my community, I worked in the auto industry as a tenured worker at General Motors (GM) for over 15 years.
Unbeknownst to me, as I played my small part in GM's success, my health was deteriorating both physically and mentally.
The dirty, gas-powered cars and trucks popularized by companies like GM pollute our air and greatly contribute to our growing climate crisis. In the United States, the transportation industry is the single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, so it comes as no surprise that 48217 is the most toxic zip code in Michigan. Air pollution is not only a contributing factor to climate change; it is a national public health concern.
When I left GM, I didn't set out to be an environmental advocate. I had been earning a middle-class living, but despite my experience and years of work, at the time, there was little opportunity to grow as a Black woman in the auto industry. I had to continue working in the plants, and eventually I was forced to leave because of my health.
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Energy Efficiency and Savings for Your Congregation
Don't wait to access energy savings and efficiency options for your community of faith! Put your faith into action and take steps today that will benefit your congregation and creation tomorrow!
Top places to start with energy efficiency:
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Lighting upgrades often pay for themselves in a year or two and result in significant electricity savings. In addition to changing out incandescents for LEDs or fluorescents for T-LEDs, consider motion sensors.
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Weatherization such as caulking and air sealing is relatively low-cost and can reduce drafts, improving comfort and reducing heating costs.
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Boiler tune-ups can yield savings with relatively low initial investment, and your utility may offer attractive rebates that cover the majority of the cost (see University Lutheran's story below).
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Wi-Fi thermostats can help you reduce energy waste by increasing your ability to control your building's temperature at a distance and on-demand (through your smart phone).
University Lutheran Church, East Lansing accessed huge savings and rebates through their utility.
Utility programs offer free energy assessments, rebates and incentives on projects, and instant discounts on qualified purchases.
For University Lutheran Church in East Lansing, utility rebates:
1. covered 50-75% of the cost of upgrading the interior lighting throughout the building
2. replaced their parking lot lighting for just $1,000 on a job for which a contractor quoted them $25,000
3. covered $3,000 of the church's $3,600 annual boiler maintenanceIn Michigan, because of state energy legislation, our utilities are required to help their customers reduce their energy waste. That's why there are several ways to get discounts and rebates on energy saving projects. Connect with your utility provider for information on free energy assessments, rebates and incentives on projects and instant discounts on qualified purchases.
The Lord of Lord's Ministries in Detroit installed a 13.91 kW ground-mounted solar array in the fall of 2023, a project that cost $31,150. The Inflation Reduction Act’s incentives will provide a direct pay refund of 30% of those costs.The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) can provide you with 30% or more back on specific project costs through the direct pay (also known as elective pay) program.
The IRA offers financial incentives for:
- Solar projects
- Back up battery storage
- Electric Vehicle charging stations
- Geothermal Heat Pumps
- Weatherization such as insulation
National Interfaith Power & Light has put together a webpage about IRA opportunities for congregations: Federal Funding for Houses of Worship.
St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Detroit found denominational grant funding to replace old, single paned windows in their historic building. As a result, the congregation has been better equipped to generate revenue by renting space with an improved building envelope.
Financing is often provided at low rates for faith communities.
Michigan Saves is a green bank that offers financing for an array of energy improvements. Qualifying commercial and municipal customers could access 0% interest rates for eligible improvements, like building insulation, HVAC systems, lighting, solar energy, and more.
Here are some denomination-specific funding programs we're aware of:- American Baptist Extension Corporation
- Catholic - Knights of Columbus Church Loans
- COGIC - Griffin Loans
- Disciples Church Extension Fund
- Evangelical Presbyterian Church Loan Fund
- General Baptist Investment Fund
- Hebrew Free Loan
- Jewish Solar Challenge
- LCMS - Lutheran Church Extension Fund
- RCA - Church Growth Fund
- UCC Cornerstone Fund
- United Methodist Foundations
Our recommendations for Michigan congregations:
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Take action today. Don't wait for grants that may or may not be available to make building upgrades that will benefit your congregation and the environment immediately.
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Form a Green Team. Integrating sustainability into the life and habits of your congregation is a team sport! Our Stewards of Hope Guide to Building a Green Team can help.
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Get 2 or 3 quotes from qualified contractors. Find contractors on your utility website or use this contractor search tool.
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Plan to do the work yourself? Access discounts and rebates on materials with your utility provider.
- Learn about the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Know how to apply and what projects are covered.
- Go on a treasure hunt! Use this handy informational tool to learn all of the options for savings at your house of worship and get members of your community engaged.
Education and Inspiration for Congregational Energy Efficiency
Watch our Energy Stewardship Webinar
In this webinar, you will learn:
- where to start in your energy saving journey
- how to access discounts and rebates offered by your utility
- of inspiring examples of faith communities who have put faith into action with energy stewardship
Check out other past webinars:
- How Royal Oak First United Methodist Church renovated their historic building for energy efficiency and solar.
- How Victorious Believers Ministries (Saginaw) used Consumers Energy rebates to upgrade their parking lot lighting and add high-efficiency LEDs to the gymnasium, and how they plan to upgrade the lighting in the sanctuary.
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Lighting upgrades often pay for themselves in a year or two and result in significant electricity savings. In addition to changing out incandescents for LEDs or fluorescents for T-LEDs, consider motion sensors.
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2021 Year End Reflection
As 2021 draws to a close, I'm writing this to share with you where our issues stand and what I believe our movement of people of faith and conscience for climate justice must do next.
The possibility of a world where all beings can thrive has taken some big hits recently.
The agreement coming out of COP 26—November’s global climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland—has been called a “death sentence” for the poorest people on our planet. Our nation’s most ambitious investment in climate and communities to date, the Build Back Better Act, is now stalled in the Senate. Meanwhile, earlier this fall, a military budget that dwarfs any proposed climate spending was rubber stamped with bipartisan support and without fanfare.
Thousands of starlings move together as one before resting for the night. Scientists hypothesize that they may do this to confuse predators and minimize individual risk.
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Energy Savings at Haven House Mean Helping More Families
At Haven House, every dollar saved on utilities can be put toward sheltering families and helping them on their paths toward stable homes.
Founded in 1983, Haven House’s emergency shelter facility was built in the 1950s, which meant there were a lot of opportunities to improve improve comfort and efficiency and lower operating costs.
If we can save money on our electric bill, then we can spend that money on helping our clients with moving costs.
Representatives from Michigan IPL, the Islamic Center of East Lansing, Haslett Community Church, and University Lutheran Church present Haven House with a donation of $5,500 to be used toward energy improvements.
With a $5,500 donation from Haslett Community Church, University Lutheran Church, the Islamic Center of East Lansing, and Michigan IPL's Carbon Fund, Haven House made energy upgrades to its facility. They upgraded the lights in their emergency shelter to LEDs, installed energy efficient air conditioning, new windows, and additional insulation.
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Leah Wiste published Rebates on Lighting Put Energy Savings Within Reach for Saginaw Church 2021-10-06 13:16:14 -0400
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Leah Wiste published A Rabbi's Reflection on Being an Eco Chaplain in Blog 2021-10-04 12:48:12 -0400
A Rabbi's Reflection on Being an Eco Chaplain
I had never thought in depth about my relationship with nature or anything having to do with the environment until the summer of 2013.
At the time, I had just finished my second year of Rabbinic School and was spending the summer working as a Young Adult Interfaith Coordinator at the Chautauqua Institution, an education and arts community in southwestern New York state. Each week, we heard from speakers from around the country, who addressed themes from various religious and scientific perspectives. From clergy and scientists, we learned the creation stories of different cultures and about our roles at this point in the Universe’s history.
One idea changed the trajectory of my life: humanity’s resourcefulness, creativity, and wisdom have not only brought unimaginable blessings to the world, but these same strengths have made us so destructive to other species and our very own habitat that we are unleashing a global extinction.
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Cultivating Community
At Sunnyside UMC, garden manager Rachelle Yeaman tells the story of the Growing Community Garden, a collaboration with Fresh Fire AME Church, as tour-goers gather under the welcome shade of a centrally located maple tree.
Recognizing that, in work at the intersection of racial and environmental justice, trusting and mutually beneficial relationships are key, Hope for Creation (MIIPL’s southwest Michigan affiliate) is building connections around shared interests in working the soil.
With the support of generous grants from the Congregation of St. Joseph and the Mesara Family Foundation, we are engaging master gardeners and other volunteers in our member congregations to develop partnerships in neighborhoods facing food insecurity, with the twin goals of expanding capacity to produce healthy food and safe neighborhoods and of building lasting healing relationships between people of faith from diverse communities. Our focus in 2021 is supporting collaboration in neighborhoods that are environmental hot-spots in Kalamazoo and fostering connections between established and emerging gardening efforts.
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Capital Area Chapter
What is our response, as people from faith communities, to the challenges of climate change and racial injustice? Individually, our houses of worship have already begun to highlight a path to a renewable future. Together, we can do much more!
Members of congregations from the Lansing area are joining together to promote transformative climate action in our community.
In 2022, the Lansing Area Chapter raised funds for a solar installation at the South Side Community Coalition. The array was installed in the spring and celebrated on Earth Day! Read more about that project here.
In 2023, the group is raising money to fund the installation of a solar array for an all-electric home in a new affordable housing development not far from the South Side Community Coalition.
The Capital Area Chapter's efforts currently involve members from the Presbyterian Church of Okemos, Haslett Community Church UCC, Edgewood United Church (E. Lansing), the Islamic Center of East Lansing, First Presbyterian Church of Lansing, Unitarian Universalist Church of Greater Lansing, All Saints Episcopal Church (E. Lansing), University Lutheran Church (E. Lansing), Kehillat Israel (Lansing), Community of Christ (Lansing), People's Church (E. Lansing), Faith Lutheran (Okemos), and Charlotte Congregational UCC.
To make a donation to the Lansing Home Solar Project.
Contact David Arnosti ([email protected]) to join the email list and get involved!
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Leah Wiste published We Need the Strongest Clean Car Standards to Meet this Moment in Blog 2021-08-26 11:06:06 -0400
We Need the Strongest Possible Clean Car Standards to Meet this Moment
Today, I spoke at an EPA hearing about the draft Clean Car standards proposed earlier this month. This is my testimony:
My name is Leah Wiste, and I’m the Executive Director of Michigan Interfaith Power & Light. We work with over 300 member congregations throughout the state, which comprise thousands of people of faith and conscience committed to bold climate action and protecting our communities. Thank you for allowing me to offer testimony today.
When President Biden announced the draft tailpipe emissions standards earlier this month, Michigan Congressman Dan Kildee offered a strange kind of praise, saying “This is sort of a Goldilocks goal… Not too much, not too little. It’s just right.” But it’s clear that the time has passed for moderate, “not too much, not too little” policy.
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Cultivating Community
At Sunnyside UMC, garden manager Rachelle Yeaman tells the story of the Growing Community Garden, a collaboration with Fresh Fire AME Church, as tour-goers gather under the welcome shade of a centrally located maple tree.Recognizing that, in work at the intersection of racial and environmental justice, trusting and mutually beneficial relationships are key, Hope for Creation (MiIPL’s southwest Michigan affiliate) is building connections around shared interests in working the soil.
With the support of generous grants from the Congregation of St. Joseph and the Mesara Family Foundation, we are engaging master gardeners and other volunteers in our member congregations to develop partnerships in neighborhoods facing food insecurity, with the twin goals of expanding capacity to produce healthy food and safe neighborhoods and of building lasting healing relationships between people of faith from diverse communities. Our focus in 2021 is supporting collaboration in neighborhoods that are environmental hot-spots in Kalamazoo and fostering connections between established and emerging gardening efforts.
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Cultivating Community
See all posts
Posted by Joan Hawxhurst · July 15, 2021 9:49 AM
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Energy Stewardship
Michigan Interfaith Power & Light is helping congregations who have already received a free Energy Analysis take the next steps in your energy stewardship journey:
Earn $
Save $
with House of Worship Rewards
with Discounts and Rebates
Your congregation can earn up to $5,000 by helping members and friends save energy at home with a free Home Energy Analysis offered by Consumers Energy. Residents receive free installation of energy saving upgrades.
St. Margaret of Scotland Church in St. Clair Shores earned $2,000 by helping members and friends save energy at home.
Because of state energy legislation, discounts and rebates on energy-saving projects-- from lighting and refrigeration to HVAC-- are available through Consumers Energy. These can cover up to 100% of the cost of some projects.
New Hope Missionary Baptist Church in Saginaw got 60% off new lighting. This not only cuts energy bills, it also makes the building feel fresh and bright.
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Leah Wiste published Send a Faith Delegation to the Treaty People Gathering 2021-05-20 09:16:45 -0400