Faith a driving force for Utahns in fight for clean air

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Joan Gregory has been doing her part to reduce air pollution. She walks, carpools and takes buses and trains.

But her church's involvement in the Clear the Air Challenge this summer has Gregory pushing herself further -- even on Sundays, when there's less public transit to be had.

For instance, she walked nearly four miles on June 7 to the Utah Pride Parade, in which she carried the flag with other representatives of the First Unitarian Church. Normally, she would have driven her car on a day she needed to be downtown early before buses run.

"It's imperative for people of faith to pay attention," Gregory says. "For ourselves and our children, what kind of world will we have if we are not good stewards of the earth now?"

There is no way to determine how many individuals are taking the Clear the Air Challenge as part of their churches, synagogues or mosques, but two congregations -- First Unitarian Church and Holladay Church of Christ -- and two other faith-based organizations entered teams in the challenge. The Utah Interfaith Power & Light Coalition and the Multicultural Arch Foundation are the two others.

This challenge -- an initiative of Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon and Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker -- began June 1 and ends Friday. Participants set goals for how many vehicle trips they want to avoid by walking, car-pooling, taking transit or "trip chaining" (combining errands), and then log their progress online.

Clear the Air Challenge is giving prizes to participants, and so is Utah Interfaith Power & Light Coalition, which plans to share $1,000 with religious communities and individuals motivated, in part, by their faith.

Power & Light is an outgrowth of the Salt Lake Interfaith Roundtable and focuses on helping faith communities practice environmental stewardship.

Elaine Emmi, chairwoman of Utah Interfaith Power & Light, says the point of the awards is to "make it a little more fun, a little more creative."

While caring for the Earth is part of every religious tradition, Emmi says, many faith communities lost sight of that ethic during two centuries of expansion when "the more you did, the holier you were."

"But we have hit our frontiers. We have to take care of what we've got."

The Clear the Air Challenge, she adds, has faith communities thinking about simple things everyone can do to reduce air pollution.

Her congregation of Quakers includes several who ride bikes to services on Sunday, she says. "The other thing that makes it fun is it includes all ages. Everyone can work on this together."

Chris Gamble says it's not unusual for folks to show up for Sunday services at his church, the Holladay Church of Christ, in biking clothes. (His wife makes him change out of his biking shorts, though.)

Gamble says he was partly motivated by his faith when he began bicycling to work four years ago. He makes the 12-mile round trip from his home near the University of Utah to the Olympus Clinic, where he is a family practice doctor.

Not only is he in better shape at 50 than when he was in his 40s, Gambles believes commuting by bike is a way to live out his faith. "It's one of the best things in my life that's in alignment with what I believe."

Gamble hopes the Clear the Air Challenge will motivate other people of faith to start cycling. "It's really been a great thing in my life."

Jennifer Killpack-Knutsen says her family has been taking "green" steps for some time. The four of them share one car, and she pulls a rolling cart for groceries or Farmers' Market produce so she is less tempted to drive.

"I really hate driving," Killpack-Knutsen says, "and I really hate pollution."

But because she already walks each day to and from her downtown Salt Lake City workplace, Killpack-Knutsen says it's been a bit difficult to reach her goal as part of the First Unitarian team.

With 10 days left in the challenge, Killpack-Knutsen had 24 more vehicle trips to avoid to reach her goal of 69.

"I'll get close. I'm not sure I'll make it."

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