As the price of gas climbs toward three dollars a gallon, and houses and jobs are lost in the widest economic downturn since the Great Depression, reducing product consumption has become a necessity for many in Southern California.
For the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, it has also become a moral concern about the stewardship of the area's natural resources.
To spread the idea of environmental justice and to educate attendees about the environment, archdiocesan regional council members, local church leaders and interested individuals met June 6 at St. John Baptist de La Salle Church in Granada Hills.
Entitled "Issues of Sustainability: Understanding Their Impact," the environmental conference was sponsored by the archdiocesan Office of Synod Implementation and Stewardship, under the direction of Msgr. Royale Vadakin, Moderator of the Curia/Vicar General, and Deacon David Estrada, director of Synod Implementation.
"The purpose of this conference is to focus on the important environmental conservation issues of air, water, and energy that have been emerging over the last several years and the need for the local Church to embrace these issues and begin to take action, helping to resolve them," Deacon Estrada said. "It is hoped that every Catholic household will do something in response."
Sustainability, attendees were told, means limiting consumption and the destruction of natural resources in order to meet the needs of the current generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. Catholic social teaching demands that in this process the needs of the poor and vulnerable be met.
Brothers Andrew and Joseph Byme, pro-bono sustainability consultants to the archdiocese, provided the results of a parish sustainability survey and information on water conservation. John Solomon, of Southern California Edison, explained how Catholic schools and churches could save money by taking part in Edison's Summer Discount Program.
More than half of all people in the U.S. affected by dangerous particles in the air live in Southern California, Barry R. Wallerstein, of the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD), told the audience in his keynote address. The social cost to the community is high. The closer a person lives to industry, the greater the health effects on that individual, he said.
To illustrate this point, Wallerstein passed around two paper filters like those AQMD uses to measure the amount of soot breathed in by the public at various areas throughout the region. One was white, its condition at the beginning of the test. The other was black with soot.
Holding up the blackened filter, Wallerstein said, "This is what you might breathe in at certain locations in Southern California. The darker the color, the more carcinogens [cancer-causing substances]."
Surprisingly, Wallerstein indicated that the cost of cleaning up the air in Southern California would be less than the present cost to the region's economy because of air pollution. Poor air quality costs the Southland 2.8 million lost workdays a year, he said and the cost to the state of California is $28 billion annually.
Reducing harmful emissions while growing the economy is the answer. As an example of this "win-win" solution to the problem of air quality, Wallerstein pointed to Nissan's recent development of a small battery, all-electric car to be introduced to Southern California in the near future. Its sales, he said, would not only help clean the South Coast's air but boost its economy, as well.
All-electric cars would go a long way toward solving the Southland's serious air pollution problem, which Auxiliary Bishop Oscar Solis, director of the Office of Justice and Peace, finds "worrisome," along with other elements contributing to global climate change.
In his "Caring for God's Creation" presentation, Bishop Solis said that both the Holy Father and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops have "expressed urgency" that faithful Catholics respond to "God's call to become caretakers of creation." One way they can do this, he said, is by taking the Saint Francis Pledge, which entails five responsibilities:
---Praying about one's duty to creation and vulnerable communities.
---Learning about Catholic teaching and climate change.
---Assessing one's contributions to the problem.
---Acting to change behaviors and choices.
---Advocating for those without a voice. John Solomon explains how Southern California Edison can save Catholic schools and parishes energy and money.
photo by Eileen Dugan
AQMD's Barry Wallerstein shows areas of South Coast air pollution to Msgr. Royale Vadakin, Moderator of the Curia/Vicar General, and Deacon David Estrada, director of Synod Implementation.
phto by Eilenn Dugan |