FATHER
LIAM SAYS: In ten days time or so fifty solar
panels will be fitted to our church roof by a local company called Sunstore. This is a truly great event. In the summer of 2014 you donated about £30,000
for this to happen. When we reached that
figure we told you we had enough. We did
not want to take more money than we needed.
At that stage we did not know exactly what would be needed but we had a
fair idea. We cannot thank you enough
for your great generosity and your great sense of responsibility in coming to
the rescue of our endangered earth.
Renewed thanks to Chris Williams and his team.
We could not place the panels on the sloping roof
of the church as it would not bear the weight.
Before our ceiling was so beautifully painted by Gary there was no
ceiling in our church! Panels had to be
put in for the reproduction of Michelangelo’s famous painting to take place.
Because of this no extra weight can be imposed on that part of the roof. The surveyor, however, was happy that the
south facing flat roof be used for that purpose. The fifty panels will cost about £25,500 –
including VAT. The remaining £4,500,
which you donated, will be spent on paying the surveyor and the planning
authority and such like.
We are using a larger capacity panel than the
conventional one – 315w as against 300w.
This has recently been developed so the delay we experienced has had a
tiny beneficial result! These new panels
are the same size as the conventional ones and the additional cost is £1,000,
which will be recouped over the life time of the panels. The chief benefit of course will be that we
will be able to generate more solar energy.
It is a great relief that the panels will be up and
running before the end of December. On
that date the government will greatly reduce the subsidies for renewable
energy. This can only result in far
fewer solar panels being installed and some companies devoted to environmental
protection will inevitably be forced out of business.
There is very clear knowledge about the utter fragility
of our environment due to climate change.
Over 50% of humanity now lives within a few kilometres of the sea. Most of the world’s major cities are on the
coast. As global climate change
continues many coastal places, including such densely populated places as the
Nile Delta, Bangladesh and much of Florida, will be increasingly affected by
rising sea levels and much more frequent and severe weather events. With a changing climate some of these places
will progressively become uninhabitable.
Whole areas, particularly low lying islands in the Pacific and Indian
Ocean are expected to disappear.
Inevitably this will lead to a mass exodus of people from the affected
areas.
There is the added impact of climate change on the
world’s water availability and the effect on agriculture and food
production. The Sahara Desert is
progressively moving northwards and is encroaching on the Mediterranean. In Asia the glaciers of the Himalayas are
rapidly diminishing, putting at risk the water supply and productivity of much
on Northern India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Wherever they happen these changes will put further pressure on more and
more people to leave and seek better prospects elsewhere. Where are they to go? We see on our television screens so many people
month after month desperately trying to escape from the scourge of terrorism. Are we to see similar horror stories unfold
as people flee their homes as a result of climate change? The earth is a home we share with many other
species increasingly in danger of extinction.
We who inhabit the earth today are among the first
people who are aware of the dangers of climate change. We are the last people who can avert the
worst effects of it. What answer will
the little children of today get when in twenty or thirty years’ time they ask
their elders ‘How did you let this happen?’
The earth is increasingly approaching tipping point.
Should there be a group of people in our parish –
in every parish – who would discuss the environmental situation we face and
bring some ideas forward as to how we can make a difference? We have made a beginning! There is a mighty lot to do!
