Advocacy
“Do not be afraid to be—differences teach. Do not be afraid to sing your heart’s song to earth with honor and love. Walk gently, sing loudly, teach.” ~Lone Wolf, Chirichawa Apache
Our moral reflection and personal behaviors matter a lot, if our religions are any guide (and at Faith in Place we believe that they are). But we don’t get to sufficient scale by modifying individual practices or even all our practices at the congregational level. We certainly want consistency of thought and deed, but to create solutions on the same scale as the problems our ecology faces, we’re going to need strong public policy advocacy.
Get Educated
Each year in the late winter, before the Illinois General Assembly session gets underway, Faith in Place holds its annual policy workshop. The workshop will outline the advocacy agenda we’ll be following for the year. Faith in Place is a member of the Illinois Environmental Council, and of the Illinois Climate Action Network (ICAN), both of which are collaborative efforts of most of the environmental groups working in the state. We coordinate our policy agenda with the groups that have a consistent presence in Springfield, so that we can keep you up to date on policy developments.
Get email alerts
Besides our monthly electronic newsletter, we have a special set of action alerts for those who want to be in our rapid response network. Contact us to sign up for that network and stay up-to-date on developments of the bills we are following at the state and federal level. We promise to keep you informed without overwhelming you, and to help you lead a more targeted, effective advocacy effort in your congregation.
Overview of current bills and fact sheets
Right now Faith in Place is supporting a state Carbon Cap and Auction proposal and the Clean Cars initiative. We’re also advocating for the proposed American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (the Waxman-Markey proposal). Fact sheets on those three bills are here: Carbon Cap and Auction, Clean Cars, American Clean Energy and Security Act.
Lobby Day
Every spring we participate in the Illinois Environmental Council lobby day in Springfield. Over 150 people joined us in 2009 to advocate for the Carbon Cap and Clean Cars. They learned a lot about the legislative process, they felt empowered and they had fun. Join us in 2010!
Postcards and in-district activity
Faith in Place does an annual postcard campaign, providing as many postcards as your congregation wants on a single critical issue. In 2009 we collected over 700 postcards for the state carbon cap proposal. We then arranged for members of our partner congregations to deliver the postcards to state representatives and senators in their district offices (generally by meeting with staff in those offices). This allows for direct advocacy by many more people than are able to attend the annual Lobby Day in Springfield.
Federal advocacy through Illinois Interfaith Power & Light
Our affiliation with the national Interfaith Power & Light organization informs our advocacy on federal issues. It also allows Faith in Place staff to attend the annual lobbying effort in Washington, DC, along with representatives of the faith community from across the country. Your support for a federal carbon cap is represented there through our participation in Interfaith Power & Light, and we will make sure that we visit the representatives of districts in which we have the greatest concentration of congregational partners.