PEQ Works with NJ Catholic Environmental Coalition to Organize
3-Day Conference - First Statewide Catholic Environmental Meeting

Attracts 175 Participants to Princeton

>From Friday, April 25 through Sunday, April 27, PEQ helped the newly formed
New Jersey Catholic Coalition on Environmental Justice host its first
event - an ambitious three-day conference at Princeton University. The
event, with a variety of keynote addresses, workshops and displays attracted
over 175 people. �We're very pleased with the outcome of the conference and
grateful for PEQ's help and partnership,� said Kay Furlani, Director of the
Office of Human Concerns in the Archdiocese of Newark and convenor of the
Catholic Coalition. Speakers at the conference included Department of
Environmental Protection Commissioner Bradley Campbell, Board of Public
Utilities President Jeanne Fox, Bishop Robert Smith of the Catholic Diocese
of Trenton, and Sister Miriam Therese McGillis, the internationally-known
founder of Genesis Farm.

PEQ has played an important supportive role in the growth of the Catholic
Coalition, helping the new network grow. �An important part of PEQ's work
is to foster the growth of denominational and regional religious
environmental groups in New Jersey,� said Fletcher Harper, PEQ's President.
PEQ helped the Coalition identify many of the conference speakers and helped
shape the weekend program. �We owe many thanks to Pam Frank (PEQ's former
executive director) and Nathalie Shapiro for their help planning the
conference,� Furlani said.

PEQ organized an interfaith worship service and panel discussion on Sunday
morning at which Jewish, Islamic and Jainist speakers joined Catholic and
Protestant Christian representatives. Summaries of the panelists' remarks
can be found on PEQ's website (www.peqnj.org).

Partners for Environmental Quality and Drew Theological School Host
Worldwatch Institute Researcher for Earth Day - Lectures Focus on Ethics

of Stewardship, Restraint in Consumption

Working with Drew Theological School and Drew's Department of Environmental
Studies, PEQ hosted the Worldwatch Institute's Director of Research Gary
Gardner for a series of lectures during the week of Earth Day, on April 23
and 24. Worldwatch Institute, a leading environmental group, publishes its
respected annual State of the World report. In 2003, the report included
its first chapter on religious groups and the environment, which Gardner
authored.

On Wednesday, April 23, Gardner lectured at the Episcopal Church of the
Atonement in Tenafly, an event co-sponsored by the church and by the Tenafly
Nature Center. On the following day he lectured twice at Drew University.
A lunchtime lecture focused on the contributions Gardner believes the faith
community can make to the development of a sustainable society, including
promoting moral norms connected to environmental stewardship, disseminating
information through religious groups' global infrastructure, teaching an
ethic of restraint on consumption in the developed world, and helping people
see nature as a divine creation worthy of love.

In his afternoon lecture, Gardner presented an overview of the 2003 State of
the World report. �We emphasized in the report that there are profound
challenges facing the planet environmentally,� Gardner said, �and that there
is also reason for some hope. Organic farming is growing rapidly around the
world, with real benefits to soil and water. The renewable energy sector is
a fast-growing, multi-billion dollar business, with tremendous benefits to
the atmosphere and air quality. We have a long way to go and we need
policies that promote environmental sustainability in all these areas.�

Before Gardner's noon lecture, PEQ led an environmentally-oriented religious
in Drew's Craig Chapel. Rev. Fletcher Harper, PEQ's President, gave a
sermon about the natural world as a place of divine revelation and spiritual
nurture for all humanity, about widespread instances of environmental
injustice in which the poor suffer from environmental degradation, and about
the centrality of an ethic of environmental stewardship to people of all
faiths in the 21st century.

PEQ Co-Sponsors �Roadrace with an Edge� - 5K Road Race Highlights

Dangers of Toxic Gas Releases from Chemical Plants

On Saturday, May 10, PEQ collaborated with Greenpeace by promoting and
participating in their 5 kilometer road race called �Run for Your Life.�
The race, which took place in Liberty State Park, was designed to raise
awareness of threats to worker and public safety posed by New Jersey
chemical plants. Over one hundred runners took part in the event, which was
covered by the Bergen Record, Jersey Journal, the New York Daily News and by
New York network news.

Some runners dressed as if caught unprepared by a toxic gas release. One
runner wore a construction worker's hardhat. Fletcher Harper, PEQ's
President, wore his clergyman's collar. Another wore pajamas. �The purpose
of this was to demonstrate how unprepared and vulnerable people will be if a
toxic chemical release takes place,� said Harper. PEQ helped publicize the
event and its related issues to clergy in the Hoboken and Jersey City area.

Eight chemical plants in New Jersey would threaten a million or more people if a
terrorist attack or accident resulted in a release of poison gas. Greenpeace has urged chemical

companies to switch to safer alternatives to the ultra-toxic chlorine they use to make disinfectants.