The Adorers of the Blood of Christ take seriously our beliefs cited in our Land Ethic, which include honoring the sacredness of all creation and reverencing Earth as a sanctuary where all life is protected.
As an international community of religious women, we have witnessed to this Land Ethic by hosting an Earth Summit in Ruma, Illinois; resisting gold mining in Guatemala; and for the past three years, by standing in resistance to the plans of Transco/Williams’ to install and operate a massive fracked gas export pipeline on the very land we hold sacred in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
As part of this commitment to continued resistance, we announce our decision today to appeal our Religious Freedom and Restoration Act case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Beyond this resistance, we are called to advance the cause of renewable energy sources because of our long-standing commitment to the land and to our religious beliefs “to preserve and nurture creation.” In response to this call, we will be exploring ways to be involved in an energy project that is clean, sustainable and earth-friendly. As we have done with our resistance work, we will partner with Lancaster Against Pipelines, and others who resonate with the words of Pope Francis, in his encyclical, Laudato Si’:
“The urgent challenge to protect our common home includes a concern to bring the whole human family together to seek a sustainable and integral development, for we know that things can change….Humanity still has the ability to work together in building our common home…We need a conversation which includes everyone, since the environmental challenge we are undergoing, and its human roots, concern and affect us all.”
We’ve begun some preliminary investigation into creating a solar farm on our land in Lancaster County, including conversations with individuals and organizations who want to help make this happen. While we don’t know where this exploration will lead, we feel compelled to move forward in our efforts, joining with the greater Lancaster County community’s commitment to not just resist climate-changing fossil fuels, but actively create an alternative vision.
Pope Francis also writes, “Intergenerational solidarity is not optional, but rather a basic question of justice, since the world we received also belongs to those who will follow us.”
Photo by American Public Power Association on Unsplash
Sisters I appreciate what you are doing and agree with “honoring the sacredness of all creation and reverencing Earth as a sanctuary where all life is protected”. As an environmentalist and professional environmental engineer there are some things you need to be aware of. First ALL gas is fracked gas unless it comes from our bodies or a landfill. Russia fracks and so do the OPEC countries. Your solar panels require petrochemicals to construct them. I work with the people who manufacture them. Petrochemicals come from oil and gas wells that have ALL been fracked. Also Solar panels and windmills all require rare earth metals. Today almost all of these come from China. For environmental reasons we can’t refine them here. It is a dirty process. In 2016 a MIT report talked about the radioactive lakes rare earth mining is creating in China. I struggle because I don’t see green energy from solar, I see dead Chinese. Many other products like our cell phones all require rare earth metals. We need to find ways to produce these without destroying the environment and killing people since we are spaceship earth.
Pipelines need to be installed with as minimal environmental impact as possible. We do need them for everyday folks to have electricity 24/7 because so many coal plants are shutting down. My priest isn’t a tech guy. He is from India where he told me that natural gas (all fracked) is cleaning up their air and saving lives. Much of this is coming from the USA which requires pipelines. We need to take care of people and the planet.
I agree that all parties need to be involved with solutions that protect the earth and allow all people to have clean air, water, jobs and a high standard of living. We also will have several billion more people to feed, clothe and shelter. As an engineer the best solutions never come from preconceived decisions. They come from committed people to a common goal. It doesn’t matter who has the best idea, as long as it works. We need open minds. Disagreement is important as long as it is respectful. We can disagree with an idea or concept and respect the person. Bullying is unacceptable. We don’t need to bully anyone if we are all seeking truth and fact.
I’m happy to visit with you privately anytime. We have people and a planet to take care of. Thanks.