News, Boost, Updates
News, Boost, Updates
August 27th sum-up, Climate News and Events, Faiths4Future, Climate Cafe Multifaith
Updates! Three articles to look at as we move into the Season of Creation:
Resources, liturgy, and stories for the Season of Creation: The River Mighty, Beloved, Restored; a Season of Creation Resource.
Ways to incorporate nature in worship and the life of the faith community, Plovers! Celebrating Nature. Birds, restoration, and opportunities for worship.
Forests, studies, stories, and restoration. Forest Stories: restoring the sacred & addressing climate.
Quick nav links for this week’s weekly(ish):
JustCreation prior weeks of this Weekly and other articles.
Upcoming events, webinars & opportunities (scroll)
Good news/Bad news: (scroll for the latest faith and climate news below, link to the News Archive for prior weeks.)
Reports, resources and actions (scroll for current this week, links to Faiths4Future and Climate Cafe for prior weeks.)
Boost - Events
Green Team Summit. The Green Team Summit returns this year October 8-11 hosted by Faith In Place & Interfaith Power and Light. A great line up of speakers, and it looks like it will be both online and in person.
Eco-Chaplaincy Survey, Input Requested. Thomas Quinn is a second-year student in the Chaplaincy Training Program at Upaya Institute and Zen Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico. As part of my Final Project, I am conducting an online survey of people whose work includes engaging at the spiritual interface of humans and Nature or the environment. My primary interest is reaching chaplains or clergy. If you are neither a chaplain nor a clergy member but work at the spiritual interface of humans and the environment, I am also very interested in your survey responses and invite you to complete the survey (via SurveyMonkey).
Mennonite - Generation Z Energy and Spirit Challenge. The Mennonite Church has launched a big challenge especially for it’s Gen Z members and those who love them. The challenge started this month and ends April 2024. The goal is to produce and present an energy and spirit project, with cash prizes! Learn more.
School for Food Justice, Faith, and Storytelling. Application period is now for a virtual 8 week program for clergy, faith leaders, and non-faith affiliated folks “The School for Food Justice, Faith, and Storytelling will bring together a national group of faith leaders virtually to learn, grow, and sharpen their abilities to offer new and creative solutions to the issue of hunger within their communities. Application period closes September 14th.
Interfaith Power and Light & Rewiring America. A webinar looking at electrification, IRA Resources to help you electrify your home. Info: how you can swap out your gas appliances for electric, and the scale we need to move to get there. As of right now, for example, only 1% of US homes have electric heat pump water heaters. By 2050, the hope is to get to 100%. The webinar will address financial incentives to get us there. September 7th.
March to End Fossil Fuels. People vs Fossil Fuels is organizing a March on September 17th in New York City. GreenFaith has promoted this March…online details are few, check with your local GreenFaith circle and see more information here.
Resources
Resource archive is on the Reports Page.
For the Season of Creation, find resources, liturgy, and stories for the Season of Creation here: The River Mighty, Beloved, Restored; a Season of Creation Resource.
Reports & Studies
Find more reports on the reports page.
There were a number on stories and studies centering forests and biodiversity this week, so many that I gave Forests their own post this week. Forest Stories: restoring the sacred & addressing climate.
Hurricane impacts on People of Color. There are many studies that measure what is obvious. This is one of those. Climate justice = racial justice = economic justice for many reasons only one of which is disproportionate storm impacts, and these impacts are real and measurable. An article from Ecowatch: Deadlier Atlantic Hurricanes Killing More People of Color in the U.S., Study Finds. An article from The Guardian: Tropical storms killing more Americans as climate crisis deepens, study finds. Named tropical storms and hurricanes, which have become more intense, have caused about 20,000 more deaths from 1988 to 2019. Read the study. Read also about the impacts of climate disasters on people who experience poverty and homelessness from Time: Tropical Storm Hilary and Maui Fires Show Climate Change is Worsening Homelessness.
High emissions from wealthy 10%. A major chunk of climate emissions in the US come from a small percentage of wealthy households. From The Hill: 40 percent of US climate emissions attributed to richest households: study. From Yale Environment 360: Wealthiest 10 Percent of Americans Responsible for 40 Percent of U.S. Emissions. Read the study from PLOS Climate: Income-based U.S. household carbon footprints (1990–2019) offer new insights on emissions inequality and climate finance
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?)
Our Children’s Trust. The court victory for the 16 youth plaintiffs in Held vs Montana raised hope and shouts of joy! (More about that below.) The Montana trial is one of three underway through Our Children’s Trust. The original plaintiffs, a group of youth and children from Oregon, are seeking to retry their case. They made it all the way to the Supreme Court—almost. They are asking for signatures to support their call for a new hearing.
Call for the Amazon. One PoWR event I want to especially amplify is this one: Leaders Gathered at the 2023 Parliament of the World’s Religions Offer Urgent Call for the Amazon This event was accompanied by a call to action, GLOBAL CALL FOR THE URGENT PREVENTION OF GENOCIDE OF THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES IN BRAZIL, and a link to find more information at Interfaith Rainforest.
Faith Voices Addressing Climate
Parliament of World Religions. The August 14-18 event brought faith leaders from across the world together in Chicago. Based on general reports and news, the highlight of PoWR was the Langar lunch hosted by the Sikh delegation. Sikh kitchens, meals and hospitality are a hallmark of Sikh community faith and practice.
News with a lean toward the climate crisis include:
An overview and more from RNS: From interfaith vegans to inclusive heathens, religious Parliament offers it all; The exhibit hall at the Parliament of the World’s Religions brought the diversity of religious practices and spiritual beliefs to life.
From Earthbeat: For God's sake, justice: A message to the Parliament of the World's Religions By activist Vanessa Nakate who writes about youth activism, the importance of human rights and a stable climate, and her faith.
Also from Earthbeat, a report on the climate repentance ceremony: Faith leaders call for repentance and spiritual reformation to address climate change
From The Indian Panorama: Parliament of the World’s Religions 2023 impels faiths toward activism
Youth Voices
Montana Youth Climate Trial. Those of us watching these youth make history for the sake of their future and this planet joined in celebration at their tremendous victory two weeks ago! August 14th, Judge Seeley serving the First Judicial District Court in Montana handed down a ruling in the case of Held v Montana. She ruled fully in favor of the 16 youth plaintiffs!! Links for more Read the statement from Our Children’s Trust, Read the ruling, Read more about the trial and background of the plaintiffs. From The Guardian ‘Game-changer’: judge rules in favor of young activists in US climate trial; and from the Flathead Beacon in Montana Judge Rules in Favor of Youth Plaintiffs in Montana Climate Lawsuit.
One thing that is important to note is that finally—finally—science seems to be getting a fair hearing in the court room. Linked here is a great article about how important it is that judges must learn and understand the science of climate change in these cases from High Country News: How climate science won in the Montana youth climate case; The ruling in Held v. Montana is expected to bolster cases in other states with similar environmental protections in their constitutions.
Farm Bill
The next immediate push in the legislature is the farm bill. A number of folks in faith circles are paying close attention, and you may see an alert in your email folder to take action. Food systems are of moral concern, and the systems we have need reforming across the board.
Civil Eats has a whole section dedicated to addressing food and the farm bill, and the articles are great. Here are a few: From March, The IPCC’s Latest Climate Report Is a Final Alarm for Food Systems, Too. Also, How the Long Shadow of Racism at USDA Impacts Black Farmers in Arkansas—and Beyond. And from this week, Climate Change Is Walloping US Farms. Can This Farm Bill Create Real Solutions? Although it seems like everyone in D.C. is buzzing about a “climate farm bill,” some of the most impactful changes, including crop diversification and shifting diets from meat toward plants, are barely on the negotiating table. This needs tending to.
Your faith community/denomination is likely working to spread awareness and seek a just farm bill. For example, the Presbyterian Mission, they have a great page up with information including the downloadable ‘eaters guide to the farm bill.’ Check your faith-home pages and information. Check also with your state Interfaith Power and Light affiliate. IPL has also been active in providing information and encouraging people of faith and congregations to speak up for just farm and food systems.
News
Find more news in the news archive (including good news!) here.
Good News
Octopus Garden. There is yet so much more to learn and learn and learn about this wonderful earth. From Mashable: 10,000 feet down, scientists find 'enormous' octopus colony The garden full of tentacles is located 3,200 meters down off the California coast.
Marine Conservation. Some welcome conservation news. After decades of effort by tribal members, the Biden administration has proposed a marine sanctuary off the coast of California, an 5,600 square mile area with a thriving ecosystem of kelp, sea otters and whales. Read about the effort to establish the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary from NPR: After decades, a tribe's vision for a new marine sanctuary could be coming true and Biden proposes vast new marine sanctuary in partnership with California tribe.
Restoration: Rivers & Mangroves - Two great stories of can-do restoration. Sometimes you have to keep at it, such was the effort of a group in the UK who raised alarms over chicken farm runoff and other pollution running into the Wye River. Some positive changes have already been made, the hope is to amplify the effort. From Phys.org: 'Citizen scientists' battle to save historic UK river Across the world in Mozambique, 22 women spend their days planting trees in mud to rebuild the Mangrove forest. Mangroves protect the shore from erosion and are a treasure of biodiversity. From UN Environment: How a salt-loving tree is helping to protect Mozambique from climate change
Renewable Deployment! The build out of renewable infrastructure continues! Some quick numbers. From Reuters: Column: India’s massive renewables deployment helps meet record power demand. From Clean Technica: Solar Up 20X, Fossil Fuel Use Down In California. From Canary Media, Chart: Global renewables deployments to hit record levels in 2023. New IEA figures show the industry is bouncing back from pandemic-related delays and supply-chain woes, thanks in large part to onshore wind growth.
Find the news archive here.
Prayer this week - I’m still sticking to good news in the news section for now. Most of us see the bad news screaming at us from social media, and hear the concerns from our friends and family on the regular. Now more than ever we must look for, and act on, hope. Prayers up.
Richenda
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