The warnings are growing louder and we believe that more of us need to pay attention. The largest scientific body ever assembled to study anything, (the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), has recently warned that human beings face a planetary crisis unless we can reduce our energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by 80% or more by 2050. This is profound.

For more information about the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Co-recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize) and their reports, go to: http://www.ipcc.ch/

Going forward, those of us blessed to live in this country find it is our moral and patriotic responsibility to reduce our carbon dioxide emissions and overall level of consumption. If the entire world lived like the average American, we would need at least three to four planet earths to provide on a sustainable basis the amount of raw materials and energy that we would consume. Something has to change and that "something" is all of us here in the United States. The growing threat of climate change demands that we respond.
Some people take issue with this, saying global warming is not true. They claim this movement is politically motivated. These people need to stop watching Fox News and start reading the actual scientific reports. People across the political spectrum need to come to terms with how we as a society must respond.

The First Church in Salem believes that sustainability is an essential part of our spirituality. Being a good person involves reducing your "footprint" or impact on the Creation. We invite you to consider the following suggestions for going green:

• Buy a programmable thermostat for your home.
  
• Insulate your house and make it more energy efficient.
• Turn down the temperature on your hot water heater.
  
• Install low flow shower heads to save water.
  
• Buy a more fuel-efficient car.
  
• Move closer to where you work or work closer to where you live.
  
• Stop using plastic grocery bags and bring your own - or at least ask for paper.
  
• Eat lower on the food chain and buy local food.
  
• Sign up to have half or all of your electricity come from renewable energy providers. If you live in eastern Massachusetts, consider signing up for the "Green Up" program. For more information, go to the Salem Alliance for the Environment's website: http://www.salemsafe.org/
  
• Go measure your ecological footprint at www.myfootprint.org
  
• Advocate for common sense reform and regulation. Write your state and federal leaders and tell them you want legislation to address climate change and help reduce energy consumption.

"Blessed are the sustainable, for they shall allow coming generations to inherit the earth…" Variation on the Beatitudes by Jeff Barz-Snell