The national body Catholic Religious Australia, representing 8500 members, planned to negotiate a bulk purchase of hybrid vehicles, reported The Sydney Morning Herald (22/7/2007, p.3).
Purchasing-power significant: The price of hybrid cars – almost double that of a standard vehicle – had been the main stumbling block, said Sister Sharon Price, executive director of NSW Conference of Leaders of Religious Institutes, which put forward the plan for bulk purchase. "Leaders of religious congregations are asking themselves what they can do to promote action to address climate change." The orders believed their collective purchasing power would be even greater for solar hot water if panels are installed on the roofs of convents and all Catholic residential, aged-care homes and hospitals.
Papal authority, too: They said that a shift to green technology was entirely consistent with the church’s ethos of lessening humankind’s impact on the earth. Recent popes had emphasised the earth and its resources were given for all humankind, including future generations. By making an ecological commitment, the orders wanted to encourage simple living and "invite many of our friends and the wider community to an ongoing sensitivity to the need for action to avoid future catastrophe".
The Sydney Morning Herald, 27/7/2007, p. 3