Supporting local economies and pushing national change

OUR nation watches with grief and horror at the BP oil disaster unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico. The result of our abuse of nature convulses whole communities, ecosystems, industries and species. We were given a garden by our Creator, and God in the Bible tells us to till and keep the Earth, to be good stewards of His Creation.

We all know in our hearts that we have failed in this responsibility. Some of us look at this catastrophe and say "never again." But how do we know the way forward?

The outline for a good path was identified by Booker T. Washington, an African-American educator of the past century, and is being articulated again today among green-job activists and local-food advocates. The solution centers on regional economies supported by local sustainable businesses and created by labor skilled in trades that supply the needs of their own area, and farmers raising crops to feed their own communities.

Washington founded the Tuskegee Institute to provide technical education for African Americans. He believed self-sufficient local communities could protect themselves from the virulent racism that kept black people out of dominant economic systems. It was an early "buy local" movement, and it resonates today as a way to end hunger and support a clean-energy economy.

For example, the Black Dollar Days Task Force and my own church, New Hope Baptist in the Central District of Seattle, joined forces to lease a 23-acre farm in Duvall. We established the Clean Greens Farm and Market to raise healthy food for our neighborhood. Our goal is to offer pesticide-free, nutritionally sound and affordable food to the inner-city corridor presently inundated with fast-food chains and corner stores that sell junk food and alcohol.

Self-sufficiency and community strength also resonate in the area of energy independence. I'd rather buy power from solar panels manufactured in Mount Vernon or windmills turning in Kittitas County than from countries that dishonor us or companies that flout our laws. I'd love to see the young people of my African-American community learn skills for retrofitting leaky houses, insulating attics and installing photovoltaic cells on neighborhood roofs. If Vatican City can be self-sufficient and off the grid of Rome, the Central District of Seattle can find a way to generate its own energy, too.

What is required is commitment on two levels. We need courage, persistence, and love for each other and our Earth to be an integral part of building new businesses and new economies. With faith in God, hard work and creative thinking, our citizens will find ways to create effective and sustainable communities.

The United States also needs a strong climate and energy bill to put a price on carbon pollution and encourage green energy. We need a federal standard to support energy efficiency at all levels and to discourage the pumping of coal smog into our atmosphere and gushing oil into our water. The American Power Act, now being considered by the Senate, is a strong first step toward conservation and clean, renewable energy. I and other leaders in the religious community call on Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell to play leadership roles on this bill and pass it into law this year.

Booker T. Washington understood what the BP Gulf oil-spill disaster is teaching us once again. The best way to feel secure and make a good life for our families is to support local innovation and small-scale economies, while working for change at the national level.