It's Getting Hot In Here

There’s a new program at George Fox University, just outside of Portland, Oregon – Christian Earthkeeping. The University describes its program by saying, “Christian Earthkeeping is the Church’s response to the ecological crisis and to God’s command to ‘keep’ the Earth (Genesis 2:15).”

For too long climate change and sustainable living have been the domain of secular environmentalism, even though there’s a biblical basis for why Christians should care for the Earth, the professor who created the course told the Oregonian.

Continue reading ‘Christian Earthkeeping’

Next week’s elections might affect climate and energy conservation less than you might think. Although politico says that it will be difficult for GOP candidates to succeed unless they are climate change deniers, evidence suggests that stance may not be so important in terms of protecting the environment if you approach it for the right reasons. It does not necessarily matter what people believe causes environmental changes, as long as we address them as best we can.

Even though states’ energy efficiency and policies seem to reflect their political stances, there is a lot more to it than what we see on the surface, according to a recent study. Though the top ten best and worst states in terms of efficiency and policy may have been mostly “blue” and “red” respectively, there are a number of reasons states focus on energy efficiency. Maggie Molina of the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy told the New York Times that those reasons include supply and infrastructure concerns, as well as economic development and job creation.

Many churches have taken a completely apolitical stance to protecting the environment, calling it “creation care“. Nancy Jackson, chair of the Climate and Energy Project, told the New York Times that you can avoid the climate debate and still reduce environmental impact by targeting key areas such as cost-reduction, job creation in “green” fields, and “creation care”.

Continue reading ‘Climate Debate and Next Week’s Elections’

I was in the same room as his Holiness, the 14^th Dalai Lama for approximately 1.5 hours this afternoon. He made a visit to Toronto, Canada to address a crowd of over 30,000 in what could be summarized as a lesson of kindness.

What emerged from his mouth, however, reached issues including global warming and climate change. He affirmed his thoughts that humans make contributions to global warming, and dug a little deeper than most have:

“These tragedies are not natural disasters, they are human disasters. They are man-made tragedies,” he said when explaining the impacts of climate change. “It is our own carelessness,” he concluded.

His observation of progress of the United Nations climate talks was clear: “The United Nations is [telling us that] national interest is of greater importance than the global interest,” as he described the inability to come to a global consensus in Copenhagen. “This is too narrow-minded. We must broaden our perspective.”

His Holiness wove these concepts mindfully with discussing the utmost strength and importance of truth, openness, sincerity and honesty – all which he defines as necessities of building resolution. Simultaneously, he discussed the basis of working for the good of humanity, with the recognition that we all crave resolution and dislike conflict.

“Destruction of your neighbour is destruction of yourself.  Don’t remain at a distance [from each other]. Meet. Listen. Develop a spirit of dialogue. Create a sense of caring for the wellbeing of others.”

May the United Nations, countries, and individuals alike heed the Dalai Lama’s advice, because, as he says, the solutions “will not fall from the sky. It [will come] from our own action.”

Originally an op-ed in the University of Maryland newspaper Diamondback.

You might be surprised who just encouraged Catholics to go green for Lent: the Pope. Pope Benedict XVI has been called “the green Pope” because of his efforts to make the Vatican carbon neutral and his use of religious doctrine to advocate for humanity’s moral responsibility to care for the planet. In 2008, one of the new sins announced by the Roman Catholic Church was “polluting the environment.”

It’s important not to view the leadership of Pope Benedict on environmental issues as an anomaly in the religious community.  Despite the stereotype that environmental disputes such as climate change pit religious conservatives on one side versus godless liberals on the other, environmental stewardship is meteorically rising as a top issue in the religious community. Continue reading ‘Environmentalism and religion: The climate of faith’

@UNFCCC #COP15 #FAIL. You could have tweeted it before any arriving delegates strolled from their jets to their waiting limos. All that sign waving (and wow was there a lot of it!) inspired millions waving their own banners at home, but the windowless plenary wasn’t paying attention. A significant number of anarchists got beat up and gave the mainstream media their cover story. In the end we observed a handful of rich countries smoking cigars in a backroom, playing dice with human life. The UN, of course, did “take note.” So did we, and clearly we’re not clicking any “Like” buttons on this one.

What are we going to do? Shout louder? Damn straight. Sign 365 new petitions before COP16? Hell yes. Consolidate our resources into the most powerful lobbying organization in the world? YE… um, what?

Not kidding. There are limits to non-violence. We’ve reached them. It’s time to enter the ring, line the gloves with brass knuckles and bloody the opposition. I mean that figuratively. Put the brass knuckles down.

In concrete terms, we must, right now, consolidate our movement, enlist the best of the best lobbyists, persuade middle-America into a sustainability frenzy and get ourselves elected to local government where we can be most effective. Our united campaign must start immediately. We’ve got until the elections next November.

That’s the general vision. Details after the jump.
Continue reading ‘A Time For Pragmatism’

I came home to the rolling green hills of the Mohawk Valley, to my laughing cousins, and to the beginning of a new upstate new york.

It seems the new green economy has inspired the homeless, community organizers, faith leaders, and local officials alike. On my first day home I attended the launch of a new green low-income housing block in the poorest crime ridden area of Utica, NY—Corn Hill. Corn Hill is one of those area’s that never received enough public assistance and therefore remained a hot spot for drugs, murder, and racial disparity.

But things started to change with the initiative of two women, Reverend Skates and Reverend Meier. Their  commitment to the area and their beautiful vision for a transformed community brought all the right people together. We heard from speakers from the NYS Governor’s office, they mayor of Utica, and local homeless women that were moving into these new green homes.

I haven’t been so moved than when I heard Reverend Skates lead us in a visualization of the buildings around us. We yelled out words together like “Green!” or “Community Garden” pointing to broken down buildings and empty lots. With all of the right people in the room you could almost feel the space around you changing, especially when so much already had.

Copyright Shadia Fayne Wood

Continue reading ‘Green Low-Income Housing: Upstate New York’

The Athabasca tar sands are Canada’s largest industrial operation, and are the largest source of America’s foreign oil. From major issues of land rights, to polluted water, to impacts on climate change, the oil sands are a hot topic of controversy. Particularly since they also are a major part of Canada’s economy, and an area of development that has lead Alberta to be in current strong financial form.

Newest on the growing list of those who are taking a closer look at the tar sands, is Kairos.

Kairos is multi-denominational social justice organization, made up of leaders from the faith community in Canada – including the Anglican Church of Canada, Mennonite Central Committee, Presbyterian Church of Canada, United Church of Canada, and the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (see full list here). Continue reading ‘Praying for a Change?’

The National Teach-In Webast is up. Featuring Jesse Tolkan, Billy Parish, and Wahleah Johns, this webcast addresses the following topics:

- Why are these First 100 Days so critical in taking the steps we need to address climate change?
- Why should Congress listen to Young People?
- What could our country look like in ten years if we enact policies that fully address the climate crisis?
- How are communities of faith playing a pivotal role in the climate discussion?

There is a campus version and a faith version. Please watch, and add your responses to the discussion questions posted at Re:Vision TV.

The National Teach-In now has nearly 800 campuses, congregations, and community organizations signed up to participate, and dozens of members of Congress committed to video-dialogues!

You may have heard this piece of wisdom in Econ 101. “There is no such thing as a free lunch.” Someone is footing the bill.

The mass material affluence that characterizes much of American society is a testament to the power of our economic and political system. The cities we inhabit, the cars we drive, the gadgets we use, the ways we communicate, the food we eat, and the energy we consume are all products of its success.

But remember, “There is no such thing as a free lunch.” Someone is footing the bill.

Allow me to modify that statement. There is no such thing as a dollar menu. Transactions inflict costs on the real world that are not reflected in a market pricing system.

A friend of mine is particularly fond of McDonald’s Dollar menu, and makes a habit of ordering $1 cheeseburgers. The $1 he spends covers the costs McDonald’s has incurred – buying the ingredients, shipping, operational, and labor costs – and of course a slice of profit. However, those are only a fraction of his cheeseburger’s true cost. Enter the world of externalities.

The Economist defines an externality as “An economic side-effect. Externalities are costs or benefits arising from an economic activity that affects somebody other than the people engaged in the economic activity and are not reflected fully in prices.” (1) My friend’s dollar spent does not include the side-effects of cheeseburger consumption, such as longterm costs of carbon emitted by transport and methane toots of former cows. Entirely unconsidered is the irreversible loss of biodiversity from the conversion of rain forest to industrial soy-bean monocrops to feed the hamburgers-in-waiting of American factory farms (2). Humans and nonhumans alike bear the cost of our externalities.

Continue reading ‘Sustainable Justice’

The tradition of giving up something very important, very difficult to live without, during the Lenten season has been a part of the Christian faith for centuries. While this has had many interpretations through the centuries, this year, a few Bishops recognized something equally hard as food for many people to live without. No, not chocolate. Nor coffee. Carbon.

This year, the Bishop of Liverpool, James Jones, and the Bishop of London, Richard Chartres, were asked members of his parish and Christians world wide to go on a Carbon Fast for Lent. For most parishioners, this boils down to a carbon diet, but Bishops Jones and Chartres were really asking for deep changes – changes that would allow for reflection “on God’s earth and its poorest people” and how both would be affected by climate change. Church groups and secular groups of individuals around the US, UK and around the world are joining in for the carbon fast. Today’s the halfway point, so a chance to reflect on reflecting… Continue reading ‘Carbon Fast for Lent’