国家地理-2008-08-14 环保教堂

At Madison Christian 1 Community, they gather each Sunday to worship a higher power. These days, seeing the light means much more.

"My prayer now is ‘God, let your light shine in my life’. So, I am always happy when the sun is shining."

 Pastor 2 Jeff Wild appreciates the sun even more because of these -- solar panels the church installed in 2002. He was surprised to learn that the energy his church used to consume, released a staggering amount of fossil fuel emissions 3.

 "Sometimes within a week's time, a ton of CO2 was being released into the atmosphere."

 So Pastor Wild encouraged change. The 480-member community had already surrounded itself with restored prairie grasses instead of a lawn that requires fertilizer. Inside, it now relies in part on solar power, more energy efficient light bulbs and more common sense. As a result, electricity use is down 40 percent. Kevin Little installs software that tracks energy consumption in buildings.

 "This is the peak 15-minute period for the whole week."

 He says it's important for people to see what they're saving because the general idea of conservation is often far removed from daily life.

"It's a preservation 4 of wildlife in the Amazon, or it's the climate in Kyoto Protocol(s). All the stuff is very intellectual and takes a lot to understand. I think that if we have a specific building, a specific place, then I can begin to help people understand. "

 That's what Dave Stephenson is counting on—a retired 5 Methodist minister and teacher of environmental ethics 6. Dave founded the Wisconsin Interfaith, Climate & Energy Campaign.

 "A lot of the churches were built 50, 75, 100 years ago. They are big, leaky barns in terms of per hour, per person use. Houses of worship are probably the most energy-wasteful buildings in America."

 That message's spreading in the Green Bay Diocese. St. Francis of Assisi Chapel 7 is being held up as a model of how to build green from the ground up. The floors are made of recycled concrete. Fly ash from power plants is part of the mix. The oak pews and other wood work come from a local sustainable forest. St. Francis even has an environmentally-friendly holy water font.

 "We asked them to use recycled items. So this is all recycled dyed glass. We don't have infinite resources. We have finite resources. And by taking some care, even in a small project like this, it's gonna make a difference in the long term."

 That modern message fits a traditional mission.

 "Is this going to revolutionize how churches use energy? I don't know, but I think you can help people to begin to think about what can we do. The possibility is tremendous."