Howard K. Ammerman: Hope, pessimism on 101st birthday

Today is my 101st birthday. Last year on my 100th birthday, I expressed concerned about lack of progress on actions addressing climate change. This year, I have a mixture of pessimism and hope.

My pessimism relates to regressive actions of our North Carolina General Assembly to negate tax credits for solar panel installations. This seems particularly short-sighted considering that 188 solar companies employ 6,000 people in our state, North Carolina ranks second in the nation in solar electric capacity and solar energy is essential to reducing health risk caused by over-exposure to the noxious gasses from coal-fired power plants.

I have three reasons for hope.

▪ Pope Francis’ April 2015 encyclical “On the Care of Our Common Home” described the scientific and moral reasons for protecting God’s creation.

▪ The December 2015 adoption of the Paris Agreement by the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change sets the stage for important goals in reducing greenhouse emissions.

▪ I am optimistic because the members of my church, Binkley Baptist in Chapel Hill, have donated funds to install 40 solar panels, joining many other churches in North Carolina that view climate change as one of the social justice issues of our time.

This story was originally published April 13, 2016 at 4:37 PM with the headline "Howard K. Ammerman: Hope, pessimism on 101st birthday."