Take Action Now

Local people of faith are coming together to demand a stronger Climate Action Plan than the one being put before the Borough Assembly on June 8th. After the dismissal of all but one of the Climate Action Committee members last November, the plan was gutted, with many important goals removed. Members of local congregations and their faith leaders are coming together to demand the reinstatement of the original contents of the plan. Read their letter below. To sign on, send an email with your name and faith community (you can write “non-denominational” if you aren’t affiliated with one specific faith community) to: aurora@fbxclimateaction.org.

To the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly:

We who have signed below represent a wide variety of faith communities in the Fairbanks North Star Borough. We are calling on Mayor Ward and the Borough Assembly to take the needed action to address the severity of the climate crisis’ impacts on our Interior Alaskan community.

The science is clear, the spiritual need is great and good leadership is needed now more than ever. As we see climate change impacting Alaska and particularly the most vulnerable in our community, we speak for them and future generations. We urge you to take action to move our FNSB community forward with a strong Climate Action and Adaptation Plan, demonstrating that you care for all who live in this community, including the most vulnerable, your neighbors, friends, and future generations.

The original FNSB Climate Action Committee listened and worked together, in an open and cooperative process, seeking input from a variety of people, including Indigenous leaders, faith-based groups, community and business leaders, and experts in climate sciences, in order to formulate the original Fairbanks Climate Action and Adaptation Plan.

We ask you to please dig deep in your faith, take courage, and lead our community by restoring the much stronger and bold original version of the Fairbanks Climate Action and Adaptation Plan, as written before the committee change in November 2022. This version of the plan included critical goals that would have been very beneficial to the health of our community but many of those goals have been removed in the current version. Our community faces the challenges of climate change more and more every day, and we need strong action to address these challenges. We must take into account the rights of future generations. We implore you to consider – what will you tell your grandchildren you did to make a difference?

As faith leaders and people of faith committed throughout the FNSB, we are concerned about the future of our community. We hope and pray that the FNSB Assembly will take action and adopt a strong climate plan that will help our community deal with climate change and demonstrate that it cares about its most vulnerable community members. May faith in a healthy world be your guide, to care for our resources, the golden hearts of all in this community, including our most vulnerable members and future generations.

We look forward to the FNSB taking the lead in demonstrating how a community works together and prepares for this change that is happening globally. Let’s make a difference for our future generations, and make the FNSB a courageous community of strong hearts working for a sustainable future, caring for one another and our home.