Texans Pray for Halt to Power Plants

By J. Matthew Sleeth
t r u t h o u t | Perspective

Thursday 12 October 2006

Texans are grappling with the issue of building nineteen new coal burning power plants. They are not the first state to be struggling with foul air, but they are the first to go to the Lord in prayer about it.

On Thursday, October 19, Texans will gather in front of the Governor's mansion and throughout the state to pray about power plants. Why? After all, we have plenty of graphs showing the economic benefits of increased electrical capacity, just as we have charts showing the effects of mercury and aromatic hydrocarbons on living things. Why not decide this issue on the basis of statistics?

One reason is that statistics have nothing to do with what makes us human. No one ever fell in love because the statistics were right.

In the final analysis, the decision on building the coal plants will not be a logical one. Rather, it will be a spiritual one. We will have to answer: Do we have the heart to continue down this path? How many more mountains made of coal should we level in order to run our multiple televisions and refrigerators? Who better to ask than the Lord?

On October 19, a variety of people in Texas will come together to pray. Some will be prayer veterans, while others may be praying for the first time in many years ... or ever. The people who care about God's earth no longer fit into convenient stereotypes - Republican or Democrat, conservative or liberal. What they share is a common concern for their neighbors.

Power plants come with an unavoidable side effect: pollution. When a dome of smog hangs over Houston or Dallas, it does not respect demographic boundaries. The diseases caused by breathing second-hand smog befall rich and poor, white and black, believers and nonbelievers. Rain falls on the wicked and the just, and so does acid rain. When Reverend Billy Graham says, "The possibility of destroying ourselves and the world with our own neglect and excess is tragic and very real," he speaks a warning to all mankind, not just those of certain nationalities, races, or denominations.

As both a physician and an evangelical Christian, I would like to offer some thoughts for those who will be praying about the coal plants. First of all, God listens to our prayers. I also believe that God wants us to approach him with a humble and thankful heart. We need to give thanks for everything that sustains us. Many of us say grace before we begin a meal, expressing gratitude for the 500 calories that fuel our bodies. But how many of us give thanks when we fill up our gas tanks with the millions of calories on our plate that fuel our way of life? If we have not said a prayer of thanksgiving at the gas pump, is it because we feel entitled?

As a Christian, I am charged with another task. I am commanded by Jesus to pray for others - including utility owners, environmental activists, and everyone around this precious planet. Every one.

Both my head and my heart tell me that we should not build the dozens and dozens of coal plants that are being "fast-tracked" into production nationwide. The drive behind this unprecedented push is not to meet current demand, nor is it to meet the needs of the next decade. This rush to build coal-fired plants is, in fact, motivated by the desire to "grandfather in" these plants before stricter emissions requirements go into effect.

As a physician, I have witnessed the rate of breast cancer soar from one in nineteen to one in nine. I've seen similar increases in asthma and diseases exacerbated by the sea of chemicals in which we live. We cannot afford the human toll of looking only for cures; we must prevent the causes of these maladies.

Which brings me to my last thought on prayer: The transforming power of prayer happens not when we try to change God, but when we ask the Lord to change us. In a prayer about power plants, this axiom is particularly crucial.

The surest way to stop the building of power plants is to cut back on electricity usage. The politics of pollution occurs every time we leave a light switch or television on when we leave the room. According to the US government, if every household in America changed their five most used light bulbs to energy efficient ones, twenty-one coal plants could be shut down tomorrow. This would have the same effect as taking eight million cars off the road, reducing the amount of greenhouse gasses dumped into the air by one trillion pounds annually, and would save four thousand lives.

Does God care about these deaths? Should I? Should you? Jesus left us with a new commandment: that we love one another. Two thousand years ago, His followers gave their lives in the most gruesome ways to demonstrate their love for others. If I cannot change light bulbs, or even pray for others, am I worthy of His mercy?

Christians and non-Christians alike should attend the upcoming prayer vigils on coal-fired plants. But don't just pray that others will change; pray that your own heart will be moved. Then you will not only be talking but acting on your love.

J. Matthew Sleeth, a former Emergency Medicine physician and chief of medical staff, teaches, preaches, and writes full-time about earth stewardship. More information about his family's spiritual and environmental journey can be found at www.servegodsavetheplanet.org. Dr. Sleeth is author of Serve God, Save the Planet: A Christian Call to Action, published by Chelsea Green in June 2006, with the paperback release by Zondervan planned for Earth Day 2007.