Environment

In the last few months, the media reported intensively on the Copenhagen summit on climate change, corresponding to the intense civil-society attention given to it over the whole of 2009. Here is a briefing for those who found it difficult to follow the large volume of press reports. I set out (from my limited vantage point) the science underlying the negotiations at COP15, and an assessment of its outcome. Despite the general disappointing and despondent tone after the summit, there are a few signs of hope for the persistent campaigners, which I mention at the end of the briefing. Read the rest of this entry »

Last night there was a forum on “Shaping a Local Green Economy” at Clark University in Worcester.

People experimenting with Worcester green initiatives, along with institutional players, spoke briefly about their work. The keynote speaker was Omar Freilla of the Bronx-based Green Worker Cooperatives.

Standard Podcast [ 34:02 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

My video of the event was only so-so, so I’m posting the audio of the Worcester speakers here for anyone curious about the range of local green things happening.

mp3 link, more formats

The Worcester speakers were:

• Joel Fontaine, Worcester’s Director of Planning and Regulatory Services. Worcester has “adopted the state’s first climate action plan.”
• Stephen O’Neil of the Worcester Regional Transit Authority. The bus system is seeking ISO 14001 certification of their Environmental Management System.
• Patricia Feraud, Toxic Soil Busters Co-op. TSB, part of the Worcester Roots Project, is a youth-led project that tests lawns for lead contamination and deals with the problem when they find it.
• Julius Jones of the Regional Environmental Council. Julius works on projects that manage community gardens and teach young people how to grow and sell food in their neighborhoods. The “overall vision is to have community gardens within walking distance of anybody that wants one.”
• Jill Dagilis of the Worcester Community Action Council. WCAC would like to “reduce and eliminate the reliance on fuel assistance” by increased weatherization.
• Clark Provost David Angel. Clark is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 20% below 1995 levels by 2010, and to be “climate-neutral by 2030.”
• Mary Knittle of Quinsigamond Community College. QCC will have a regional training center for clean energy jobs.
• Stacie Brimmage and Ashey Trull of the Worcester Energy Barnraisers. At their events, people learn weatherizing by joining dozens of others in weatherizing a local building. (I made a short video of their last event.)
• Stephen Healy of the Worcester Green Jobs Coalition.
• Sarah Assefa of the EMPOWER Energy Cooperative. EMPOWER is a business that plans to make biodiesel out of local waste vegetable oil.

God our Creator, we thank you for the elemental nitrogen, which forms the silent majority in the air we breathe. We thank you for the bacteria that fixate nitrogen from the air, activating the element for metabolism in the biosphere.

With John Seymour, companion of Saint Fritz Schumacher, we remember the nitrogen cycle: We recall how humanity has split this one wonderful system into the two problems of pollution and the need of artificial fertilization.

We grieve for the wasted material containing fixated nitrogen, polluting the rivers and seas rather than fertilizing the land. We commit to you our anxieties about the Haber–Bosch process, which fixates nitrogen to make fertilizers by burning large amounts of fossil fuels.

God the Holy Spirit, give us wisdom and courage to repair and complete the nitrogen cycle.

Now we join the Society of Ordained Scientists in this collect: Almighty God, Creator and Redeemer of all that is, source and foundation of time and space, matter and energy, life and consciousness: Grant us in this Society and all who study the mysteries of your creation, grace to be true witnesses to your glory and faithful stewards of your gifts.

We pray all this through Jesus Christ, who is Alpha and Omega – who completes the cycle and reconciles all things to himself. Amen.

To celebrate the International Day of Climate Action, dozens of Worcesterites joined in an energy barnraising, weatherizing Genesis Club. It was a wonderful chance to reduce energy use, save a great organization some money, and learn how to seal a building against the cold.

貨惡其棄於地也，不必藏於己；力惡其不出於身也，不必為己。 – ‘Lǐ Yùn’ in The Classic of Rites, attributed to Confucius. Translation by James Legge: ‘(When the Grand course was pursued, they accumulated) articles (of value), disliking that they should be thrown away upon the ground, but not wishing to keep them for their own gratification. (They laboured) with their strength, disliking that it should not be exerted, but not exerting it (only) with a view to their own advantage.’

Whoever destroys anything that could be useful to others breaks the law of bal tashchit, “Do not waste.” – Babylonian Talmud, Kodashim 32a (second or third century), quoted in ‘Teachings on Creation through the Ages’, edited by J. Matthew Sleeth M.D., in The Green Bible (2008) San Francisco: HarperOne. ISBN 978-0-06-162799-6.

This Covenant was signed in Kuala Lumpur today around 17:00 local time.

Council for World Mission – Mission Education School IV

All Creation Groans: The Eco-Crisis and Sustainable Living – Understanding the Implications for Mission

We the participants, representing the 31 member churches of CWM, have:

• listened to stories from our sisters and brothers from Kiribati and Tuvalu facing loss of land and identity; from Sub-Saharan Africa struggling with the impact of drought, desertification and food security; from the Caribbean, East Asia and the Indian sub-continent speaking of the growing intensity of storms and incidents of flooding; and from the Northern Hemisphere who are experiencing the rapid melting of the Arctic sea-ice;
• studied the Bible, reflected on various theological perspectives and their implication for mission, and recognised in our reflections that ecological justice is a mission imperative for the church;
• heard the credible scientific consensus and evidence on the reality and impact of global warming, that the window of opportunity to avert catastrophic climate change is fast closing;
• recognised the connection between humanity’s way of living driven by the dominant socio-economic model and the impact on all of creation;
• grieved for the suffering of people and the degradation of ecological systems;
• lamented humanity’s reluctance to act and propensity to procrastinate on this spiritual issue.

But we hold onto an absurd hope for the redemption of all creation, despite the increasing groaning (Romans 8:24–25).

As a covenant people, we therefore commit ourselves to:

• reject the theological understanding of a disposable Earth and the socio-economic drive for limitless growth, which is motivated by a relentless focus on profit; affirm that the economy should benefit humanity within ‘the bounds of the sustainability of creation’; and engage the Bible in ways that speak of the interconnectedness of all creation and traditional teachings of right relations among all creatures (2004 Accra Confession of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches);
• encourage our churches to address the growing need for nations to welcome people who may be displaced by climate change (we are mindful of the 2009 Moana Declaration of the Pacific Conference of Churches);
• share resources and material that will help in the process of education and informing our regions, denominations and local churches on climate change issues, so they may become agents of transformation;
• urge our churches and CWM global about the necessity of:
• exploring ways to minimize fossil fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions in all operations;
• engaging with governments, the business sector and wider civil society in shaping and implementing policies in the area of energy and climate change.

Kuala Lumpur, October 2009

Brief for Council of World Mission’s Mission Education School IV ‘All Creation Groans: The Eco-crisis and Sustainable Living – Understanding the Implications for Mission’

Kaihsu Tai, United Reformed Church, United Kingdom, 2009-06-05/21

The following sketch is written from my personal impression, based on several years of non-professional but serious study, observation, and discussion of the issues. Due to time constraints, I am not supplying references to the statements I make, but with modern resources it is not difficult to verify (or disprove as the case may be) most of them. I try to be frank and fair at the same time, but some might take this account to be polemical.

1 Identify the major climate change concerns and challenges for your region.

Primarily, for the United Kingdom (UK), climate change is less a physical hazard than a moral one. The UK is usually categorized as a ‘developed’ country, as measured in indices such as gross domestic product per capita. For the next decade or so, it is not difficult for those well-off (perhaps around half of the population) to adapt to the physical effects of climate change. However, the moral implications are more dire: as the first country to spark off the fossil-fueled Industrial Revolution in the 18th century, and one of the first to have the scientific and political capacity to realize the consequences of climate change since the 1980s (during the premiership of Margaret Thatcher), it cannot escape the moral responsibility about climate change. To complicate the matter, the intention to protect the competitiveness of London’s status as a major financial centre in a globalized world – the rump of an imperial past – hinders the political will to face down this moral hazard. Read the rest of this entry »

God our Father, we remember that in ancient times, you guided the people of Israel with pillars of cloud and fire.

God in Christ, we remember that after your Resurrection, you appeared to the two travellers on the Emmaus Road, and later to Apostle Paul on the Damascus Road.

God the Holy Spirit, we remember that in more recent times you accompanied storytelling pilgrims and spiritual-singing refugees.

We pray now for all who travel; may your guidance and protection be with them as in those former times. Read the rest of this entry »

At the risk of obsessively praying about waste and recycling, I have this prayer to offer, which I trust to be sensibly Trinitarian.

(John Calvin was wrong. The Purgatory does exist. I have seen it with my own eyes, at the Redbridge recycling station.)

God our Creator, in your mercy:
Help us to learn how to live in Paradise, where nothing is wasted,
where we walk or cycle with you as you intended.
Bless the workers who sort our recycling,
who, as befit people created in your image, re-create order out of chaos.

Κύριε ἐλέησον.

Christ our Saviour, in your mercy:
Remove us from the flashy sports cars and the 4×4s (SUVs)
which only speed us to the incinerating Armageddon.
Remind us of your crown, when we see the thornbushes growing over the landfill.
Remind us of your Cross, whenever we see smokestacks or wind turbines on the hill.
Remind us of your Passion and your Resurrection.

Χριστὲ ἐλέησον.

Holy Spirit our Advocate and Comforter, in your mercy:
Guard us on our bus route for the recycling centre.
Purge us of our sins of pride and greed.
Blow your wind on us and drive us in your dynamic,
as on the wind turbines, and as on Pentecost.
Bless with your wordless prayer
everything that has a recycling symbol.

Κύριε ἐλέησον.

Amen.

(By the way, Chris Goodall’s second book is out: Ten Technologies to Save the Planet.)

Will you pray with me?
Let us pray.

1

God, we pray for the world.

The prayer cycle of the World Council of Churches
reminds us to pray today for the peoples of
Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger.

We thank you for
the freedom for Christians to worship in Mauritania
even though it is an Islamic country.
We thank you for
those who depend on nomadic ways of life and
continue to retain their ethnic heritage.
We thank you for
those who plant trees to counter the spread of the desert.

We pray for stability in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger.
We pray for an end to slavery in Mauritania.
We pray for an end to civil war in Chad.

Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
Read the rest of this entry »