Churches, temples, synagogues and mosques are stepping up efforts to use — and spread the word about —environmentally sensitive operating methods, thanks to a national effort by faith-based environmental group The Regeneration Project and its Interfaith Power and Light campaign, which is making a stand in Hawai'i.

The Rev. Sally Bingham, who is speaking at Hawai'i's kickoff event, notes that San Francisco's Grace Cathedral is adding photovoltaic panels to its rooftop. A Roman Catholic church in Michigan has gone completely off the grid. And cathedrals in Boston and Cleveland have gone with geothermal systems.

"Stewardship is part of one's faith," said Bingham, whose group has 29 chapters — in 28 states and Washington, D.C.

That translates to about 2 million who have heard the word around the country, from Buddhists, Quakers, Baha'is, Mormons, Jews, Muslims, Hindus and even Jains.

As a board member of the Environmental Defense Fund, she has led the charge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and earned accolades because of it. In 2002, her group was given an international Global Energy Award, an "energy Oscar," presented to her in Austria that year by former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev.

Before leaving California for her visit here, Bingham took some time out to answer five questions:

Q. What was your energy bill last month, and like the rest of us, do you say a little prayer before you open it?

A. My energy bill was $234. No, I do not say a prayer, because I know it will be as low as possible.

Q. How's that?

A. I have all energy-efficient appliances. ... I never have anything turned on that I'm not using. If the TV is going, I'm watching it. If I'm not, I turn it off.

Q. You were a stay-at-home mother before some switch obviously was turned on in you. When did the light go on about joining the environmental cause?

A. It wasn't a sudden explosion. The light was dim, then it got brighter, brighter until it became a spotlight. It took probably about five years. I was becoming aware of the environmental degradation created by human activity. ... I was attending an Episcopal church at the time, professing love for God, saying I loved my neighbor. Yet, I never heard a person on the pulpit speak about saving creation. ... When I realized it wasn't happening, I felt this call to be a person who embraces that ministry. It was a strong enough light that I couldn't get away from it. Wherever I went, the light was shining.

Q. Your organization cuts a wide swath — Christian, Jew, Baha'i, Muslim, even Jains. What has surprised you about the coalition?

A. One of the most delightful surprises is that we are accomplishing a religious response to global warming. Coupled with that, religions who have often been in conflict with one another are now putting aside theological differences. Every one of these religions has a call to maintain the balance God set up between nature and humans. ... It's bringing the faith community together. ... Evangelicals are now making the connection between poverty and climate change, recognizing that Jesus said, what you do to the least of us, you do to me. ... If vulnerable communities and poor communities both here and around world are most adversely affected by climate change, it's a social issue that brings in religious values.

Q. Which Interfaith Power and Light efforts might work well in Hawai'i?

A. Because Hawai'i is a state of sunshine, I think the legislators there might have a real opportunity for promoting economic growth through creating, building and installing solar plants, photovoltaic factories. Certainly every house in Hawai'i could have a few solar panels on the roof and use even less electricity than you use now. ... God gave us the sun, we just now need to use it."