MINNEAPOLIS — The nation’s largest Lutheran denomination took openly gay clergy more fully into its fold Friday, as leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America voted to lift a ban that prohibited sexually active gay and lesbian people from serving as ministers. Under the new policy, individual ELCA congregations will be allowed to hire homosexuals as clergy as long as they are in a committed relationships. Until now, gays and lesbians had to remain celibate to serve as clergy. The change passed with the support of 68 percent of about 1,000 delegates at the ELCA’s national assembly. It makes the group, with about 4.7 million members in the U.S., one of the largest U.S. Christian denominations yet to take a more gay-friendly stance. ‘I have seen these same-gender relationships function in the same way as heterosexual relationships – bringing joy and blessings as well as trials and hardships,’ the Rev. Leslie Williamson, associate pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Des Plaines, Illinois, said during the hours of debate. ‘The same-gender couples I know live in love and faithfulness and are called to proclaim the word of God as are all of us.’ Conservative congregations will […]
WASHINGTON — Efforts to reform the healthcare system have added new spark to America’s long-running abortion debate. Anti-abortion groups are posting videos and running ads saying that health-reform legislation in Congress would mandate federal funding of abortions. Pro-abortion rights groups – and President Obama – say that’s false. Two independent truth-squad groups, Factcheck.org and Politifact.org, also call the claim false, but Politifact acknowledges that the issue of federal subsidies for abortion is a more difficult question. Thus is launched the latest round in the abortion wars – one that threatens to consume the reform effort this fall. ‘The abortion issue is a very serious one for Christian conservatives and a potential deal breaker for healthcare reform, says John Green, an expert on religion and politics at the University of Akron, in Ohio. ‘It is much more serious potentially than the ‘death panel’ claims if it involves actually paying for abortions. Efforts to stay ‘abortion neutral’ In the drafting of health reform legislation, some members of Congress have worked to keep it ‘abortion neutral – that is, no more permissive or restrictive than current law on the use of federal dollars for abortion. Currently, under the […]
This week, two of Germany’s most important solar energy projects came online — the second biggest solar power project in the world and one of the first solar thermal ‘power towers.’ The projects are part of the country’s plan to provide 20 percent of its energy through renewable sources. Officials flicked on the switch at two of Germany’s most important new solar energy sites on Thursday. In the eastern state of Brandenburg, the world’s second-largest solar energy project went online. And halfway across the country, in North Rhine-Westphalia, a smaller scale but perhaps equally important facility launched — Germany’s first solar-thermal power plant. In Brandenburg, Wolfgang Tiefensee, Germany’s infrastructure and transport minister, and the state governer, Matthias Platzeck, assisted with laying the very last of 560,000 solar modules at Lieberose, formerly a military training ground for East German forces. ‘This solar park is an important factor as solar energy becomes an ever more important part of Brandenburg’s economy,’ Platzeck says. ‘I see Lieberose as a shining example of this. An under-used and polluted military area has been cleaned up without draining local financial resources. The solar park also meets economic and environmental needs on a long-term basis. […]
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Several Midwest utilities, including Sioux Falls-based NorthWestern Energy, are studying the economics of building high-voltage transmission lines to carry wind energy to eastern markets. Pewaukee, Wis.-based American Transmission Co. joined with utilities in Ohio, Illinois, Iowa and South Dakota on a study that will address the need for new transmission lines to carry electricity from renewable power sources. ATC chose Quanta Technology of Raleigh, N.C., to come up with recommendations for transmission development in the Dakotas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan’s upper peninsula. Some of the same utilities backing the Strategic Midwest Area Renewable Transmission Study also have endorsed a plan by Novi, Mich.-based ITC Holdings Corp. to develop a high-voltage power line to move wind energy from the Midwest to homes in Chicago and other cities. The study will be combined with other studies under way by the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operators to help plan for future transmission needs. That group oversees operations of the electrical grid in the region.
Green Tags vs. Home Solar Panels: What’s the Best Way to Stimulate Renewable Energy? There is some debate about the most efficient way to support renewable energy: with green tags or home solar panels and other clean energy projects. EarthTalk is a Q&A column from E/The Environmental Magazine Dear EarthTalk: I’d like to know the relative electricity cost of utility scale solar and wind plants versus rooftop residential solar. In other words, how can I know whether to subsidize my utility’s alternative energy plant or renovate my own home? — Randy Wilson, Flagstaff, AZ Making such a determination is complex, but you could start with ‘In My Backyard,’ a new online tool by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). You first need to know your electricity usage and what size solar photovoltaic (PV) system or wind turbine you could install. Then, using Google Earth maps and data on the amounts of sunshine and wind at your location, the tool will estimate the electricity you could get from a certain size wind turbine or PV array installed on your property. The costs to install renewable energy systems vary greatly by location, warn researchers at the Lawrence […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
