In the face of growing climate challenges, and an administration that is actively undermining efforts to address climate change, NM-IPL is launching a new initiative, under the auspices of our Cool Congregations program, to provide more robust support to faith (and other) communities looking to shift their facilities from fossil fuels to clean energy.

We are calling this new initiative Project HOW, because of its focus on Houses Of Worship, and also because questions of ‘how’ are generative questions to live into in shifting times.

How do we most effectively come together to address climate change now?

How do we increase our solidarity with those who are most vulnerable to climate impacts?

How…? How…? How…?

Project HOW works on state and local levels to create clear pathways for communities to express creation care by decarbonizing facilities, educating congregations and neighbors about what we can do now to address the climate crisis, and, in some cases, becoming community resilience hubs for those most vulnerable and most impacted by the changing climate.

We’ll be sharing more in the coming months—but if your community is ready to get started, now is a strategic time to begin.

Helpful federal funding from the climate bill that passed in 2022 is being rapidly eliminated, as those currently in power assert their misguided interest in returning to the extractivist fuels of the past that got us in this mess.

But the helpful incentives are still available in 2025 (including for nonprofits) and will be available with some more complications (materials sourcing restrictions) in the first half of 2026.

Even if you are not quite ready, but are planning ahead, it’s a good time to reach out and get started.

Interested in learning more about getting involved in Project HOW? Get started now.

Together, we will meet this moment—with faith, courage, curiosity, and action.

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