Faith traditions teach the importance of being good stewards of natural and financial resources. Our #ZerosAreHeroes campaign is the perfect way to pair environmental stewardship with cost-saving opportunities through energy efficiency. Emissions reduction is a faith-inspired mission!

• How do you get started? Make a commitment to calculate your current carbon footprint and then take viable steps to improve energy efficiency. 
• Need some help? We have a handbook to help guide you on your journey. We also provide useful resources on our website, including recordings of webinars we held earlier this year and a local community success story.

Advocacy Priorities

In July, we announced our 2021-22 Advocacy Priorities (visit our Campaigns page for more information).

We are spreading the word on social media (have you seen July's video and graphics?) and will be tying in relevant action alerts as they arise.

The End of the Beginning

After 18 months of work and years of prodding by a determined team of FACS activists, the long-awaited Community-wide Climate and Energy Plan (CECAP) has been delivered to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors! Supervisors will vote on whether to accept the vision statement in September. 

The roadmap includes strong long-term, interim, and sector-specific goals. Each of the 12 strategies for reducing Greenhouse Gas (GHG) pollution (click on the graphic below to see a larger photo) includes Recommended Activities for Implementation. Read the entire report.

FACS activists played a major role in shaping the report. But this is only the end of the beginning. The report is correct when it says, “CECAP includes aggressive GHG reduction goals that will be challenging to meet.” If you’re not already, get involved! Every team in every location can benefit.

Good News! FCPS Board Passes JET

After a letter writing campaign by FACS, the Fairfax County Public School (FCPS) board formally adopted recommendations on July 15 of the Joint Environmental Taskforce (JET) that sets a goal for the schools to become carbon neutral by 2040. The action followed the same commitment from the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors earlier the same week.

The JET final report outlines 28 recommendations that address energy use, transportation, waste management and recycling, and workforce development. Former FACS Executive Director Meg Mall served on JET.

Climate Crisis Forum

Coming Soon! Watch next month’s newsletter, your email, and FACS’ social media for more information about this year’s Climate Crisis Forum.

Hub Meetings (all on Zoom)

• Wed, Aug 4, 7:30 p.m.: Arlington County
• Tue, Aug 17, 7:15 p.m.: Montgomery County
• Tue, Aug 24, 7:00 p.m.: Alexandria
• Wed, Aug 25, 7:00 p.m.: Prince William County

Meet Andrea McGimsey, FACS’ new Executive Director! 

FACS’ Board of Directors is happy to announce that Andrea McGimsey has accepted our offer to become Executive Director beginning August 8, 2021.

"I am excited to join Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions in solving the climate crisis together, through prayer, action, and caring for each other," Andrea said.

FACS raised over $1,000 for Earth Sangha through our Restoring Mother Earth fundraiser. The donation, which went to Earth Sangha's Tree Bank program, was enough to pay for a round of maintenance (mostly removal of invasives) on all of their native-tree plantings that are under five years old (and not tall enough to shade out the weeds on their own).

Your generous contributions helped (and are still helping!) thousands of little native trees establish themselves! By helping farming families restore and conserve threatened rainforest, you're also supporting their livelihoods in growing coffee trees. Thank you, from Earth Sangha and FACS!