Sierra Club Highlights LDS Church's City Creek Development in New Report

Jun 23, 2008 by Elizabeth Ziegler

(KCPW News) The Sierra Club commends the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in a new report on faith communities and the environment. Marc Heileson of the Sierra Club's Utah Chapter, says the report shows many religious groups across the nation are committed to being good stewards of the earth.

"Especially with climate change, we're going to need a community to fight this problem. And the communities of faith are already on the ground doing things positively to help reduce greenhouse gasses and other things to reverse climate change," Heileson says. "And so I think [the report is] exposing this and showing there's a big tent out there with a lot of people in it who want to save the planet."

The report highlights the LDS Church's City Creek Development. Heileson says the downtown mall will be more than a shopping center. He says it's a great example of smart growth.

"This is a mixed-use development. This is residential housing, retail, commercial properties, office space, and even a downtown grocery store, all centered around a light rail transit stop on Main Street," Heileson says. "And this is the type of core-building we need. Where we put different developments around people, where we actually give them an option not to drive if they don't need to, which really improves air quality and reduces our dependence on the automobile."

The Sierra Club report, "Faith in Action," highlights one faith-based group in each state of the nation. Click here to read the report.

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