News, Boost, Updates
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News, Boost, Updates
October 22nd faith and climate news and events, climate cafe multifaith, faiths4future
Quick nav links for this week’s weekly(ish):
JustCreation prior weeks of this Weekly and other articles.
Upcoming events, webinars & opportunities
Faith voices and Good news this week, and the News Archive.
Reports, resources and actions (scroll for current this week, links to Faiths4Future and Climate Cafe for prior weeks.)
Boost - Events
NEW: — Creation Writer’s Workshop. There is need and interest from people of faith in writing studies, curriculum, and worship elements to support the preaching and of creation and environmental justice in the local faith community. First meeting will be a shared conversation to set our path. Workshop will be convened myself and UM Earthkeeper Ann Mayer and hosted by Circle Faith Future. More information. Thursday November 2nd at 10:00am PT / 1:00pm ET. Register.
RENEWED: — Fossil Free UMC is launching in a renewed push reimagined for the upcoming 2024 United Methodist General Conference and the present moment. Find more information as things start up at fossilfreeumc.net
Heat Pumps. A comprehensive tour from Interfaith Power and Light, UCC and partners. Holy Heat Pumps! A Webinar on Heat Pumps for Faith Communities “heat pumps are a crucially important technology in the transition away from fossil fuels. This webinar will explain how heat pumps work and how to lower the costs for installation at your congregations with the new government funds available to congregations for the first time.” October 25th.
Fellowship Celebration. Creation Justice Ministries celebrates its 40th anniversary with prayer and fellowship, streamed. Learn more and register. October 26th.
Resources
The Resource archive is on the Reports Page.
A few of these have been in the boost for a few weeks because they are so helpful!
From Interfaith Power and Light - solar installer resources. See also a webinar upcoming from United Methodist Creation Justice Movement centering congregational solar.
Environmental Justice Grants. From Inside Climate News. We will keep hearing about this effort as it is rolled out, finds grantees, and helps mobilize communities. Keep up with the latest on the Justic40 aligned effort. EPA Rolls Out Training Grants For Environmental Justice Communities. Sixteen technical assistance centers, created jointly by EPA and the Department of Energy, are expected to play a key role in helping facilitate funding under the Biden administration’s Justice40 initiative.
Direct Pay. If you’ve been following news on the IRA (Inflation Reduction Act) and all the tax rebates & incentives, you know that another tool in the tool kit is ‘direct pay.’ This is a special type of tax rebate especially for organizations like churches and 501 C3s that don’t pay taxes. This special program means you get money anyway. I like a good explainer to keep up with whose doing what, and this article from Environmental and Energy Study Institute has great examples, Direct Pay: Nonprofits Can Now Benefit from Clean Energy Tax Credits.
Eco-Church Net-Zero resources and more. This really deserves it’s own whole post, but THANK YOU to the UK churches for tremendous leadership when it comes to Climate. They have developed fantastic resources—webinars and booklets—you can find them on these pages: From The Church in Wales a page that offers number of pdf publications that address net-zero both as a denomination and congregation. There are also webinars through the Church of England, these will encourage you!! They are doing the work and net-zero has a clear path of achievement.
Reports & Studies
Find more reports on the reports page.
Warming Water and Marine Life. There are a few studies circulating right now addressing what is happening to our oceans because of the warming planet. Last year included news about the billions of missing snow crabs in the Pacific Ocean. The latest studies tell that the news is about as bad as it could be, from The Guardian, Billions of snow crabs in Alaska likely vanished due to warm ocean, study says. The crabs starved to death en masse because the change in water temperature increased their caloric needs, according to the NOAA. Read about the study also from NOAA, Research Confirms Link Between Snow Crab Decline and Marine Heatwave. Read the Study.
Mining and Community Consent
I’m including information on Thacker Pass this week, too. Adding this article from the BBC, Nevada lithium mine leads to 'green colonialism' accusations.
Thacker Pass / Peehee Mu’huh and Lithium. I was really grateful to see The Guardian cover this story, ‘We were not consulted’: Native Americans fight lithium mine on site of 1865 massacre. The People of Red Mountain have resisted this mine since it was proposed. Necessary attention to places like Thacker Pass and Oak Flat must bring community conversation and consent to mining processes and practices, practices that have left deep scars on people and earth for decades globally, from Mongabay ‘It’s a real mess’: Mining and deforestation threaten unparalleled DRC wildlife haven
Read more about The Fight for Oak Flat and the frustrations of Green Colonialism and Consent.
Extraction needs Community Consent. A new report out from Oxfam tackles the imperative that communities give consent before mineral mining is allowed on their lands. Mongabay has great reporting on this, with two articles. Both from Mongabay, How Canada’s growing presence in Latin America is hurting the environment and Rechargeable battery industry needs better mining regulations, report says. Read the report, Recharging Community Consent: Mining companies, battery minerals, and the battle to break from the past.
Action
(Is it okay for people of faith to sign-on to general/secular petitions? I put together a quick page to think about this Sign-ons & Petitions, are they faithful?)
The Farm Bill. This is ongoing and with the leadership conflicts in the US government, the farm bill is not being addressed—this despite the fact that everybody needs to eat and all of us need sustainable and sound farm systems. A call to action from Interfaith Power and Light, Tell Congress to Prioritize Climate in the Farm Bill!
Faith Voices in the News This Week
What people of faith can do to make a difference. While the author of this article does not write from within a faith community or tradition, this article is both practical and insightful—and a call to act. From Earth.Org, Faith in Action: How Religious Communities Can Lead the Fight Against Climate Change.
Green Team Gardens and Solar. Big shout out to St. Paul’s in Pennsylvania and the leadership of their Green Team. They have planted for prayer and pollinators, and installed solar as well. From Lancaster Online, St. Paul Lutheran Church in Lititz invests in eco-friendly projects, from 'Sacred Grounds' to solar panels.
Hope as action. A fantastic effort from the UCC resulted in 8,000 climate justice postcards delivered to EPA as ‘tangible prayer for hope’, article from United Church of Christ News. The action included a trip to lawmakers’ offices and postcards with award-winning, hand designed artwork.
Laudato Si Throw Down. It was legit refreshing to see the conversation around faith, climate action, and the Pope featured in a secular news source! The headline speaks for itself, from Inside Climate News, Q&A: The Pope’s New Document on Climate Change Is a ‘Throwdown’ Call for Action. A professor who has studied Francis’ writings on climate says he singles out the U.S. for overconsumption and takes “aim” at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ denialism.
Good News
Lots of good news this week!! Find more news in the news archive here.
Save the toads! Frogs last week (and this week, too, see below) and so to balance things out we better lift a shout out for toads, too! Especially the endangered Wyoming Toad, a little wriggling guy the US Fish and Wildlife Service have been keeping an eye on. With numbers dwindling, they have upped their game. See the article from High Country News, New refuge provides hope for critically endangered toad. One of the most endangered amphibians in North America faces threats but also possibilities.
Behold the chicken frog. Okay, okay. Yes, frogs this week too. Because, ‘chicken frog.’ It’s good news and I can’t resist. From Mongabay, Sliver of hope as ‘mountain chicken’ frog shows resistance to deadly disease. There is other good news in species support and restoration, too. From Hakai Magazine, Galapagos Giant Tortoises Prove Their Worth as Ecosystem Engineers. A decades-long project to restore Galapagos giant tortoises is changing the face of the island of Española.
Watershed Restoration. There are a million dams in Europe—but restoration of waterways have begun. Read more from Euronews, Restoring European rivers: a win-win scenario for humans and nature. Restoration will need a return to wild-flowing rivers, but also river clean up. Help is on the way for that, too! From Electrek, This efficient electric boat will cleanup pollution in canals and waterways with zero emissions.
Rewilding Wetlands. And in the theme of watersheds and restoration, an inspiring story from Oregon. A farmer in the Klamath Lake watershed converted 70 acres of farmland to wetlands. From The Guardian, ‘This place wanted to be a wetland’: how a farmer turned his fields into a wildlife sanctuary.
Innovation for Sustainability. A couple of great articles showcasing on-the-ground innovation. From Quartz, The Bahamas is introducing the world's first carbon-negative construction tech. A new home debuted by a sustainable materials firm can remove as much carbon as 5,200 trees. And from Mongabay, Banana fiber sari offers sustainable, biodegradable alternative in Bangladesh.
Electrification & Green Energy. Whew. Some whizbang new possibilities and more. From Clean Energy Revolution, New EV battery offers 3,000 miles of range per charge. From The Guardian, Surging renewable energy sees record supply to Australia’s electricity grid. At one point in September nearly 100% of eastern Australia’s demand could have been met by renewables. From CNBC, America’s first major offshore wind farm installs first of 62 huge turbines from GE unit. And from BBC, Scotland’s biggest offshore wind farm at full power.
Find the news archive here.
Praying this week for a return to good governance and attention to the farm bill. Prayers up.
Richenda
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Just to say… my updates are not endorsements, and links are usually third party. Please make your own determinations. My goal here is to amplify the conversation and encourage engagement, learning, and resilience. And of course, to bless your efforts!