SPONSORED ARTICLE: UCC Leader to Climate Leadership Summit: The Church is a Steward of God's creation

UCC leader to Climate Leadership Summit: The Church is a Steward of God's creation

May 02, 2019

Written by Connie Larkman

Read the original article by clicking here

The General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ took the stage at the American Climate Leadership Summit (ACLS19) on Thursday, calling on people of faith to be stewards of, not minions over, God's creation.

The Rev. John C. Dorhauer, part of a panel of four faith leaders called to share religious community commitments to climate action, said that the vocation of the Church is to be a steward of all that God created.

"The UCC has long been committed to the work of justice," Dorhauer said. "If we can’t resolve this issue around climate change, it will resolve all other justice issues for us. Our singular vocation should be the restoration of the planet.”

Dorhauer is one of a diverse group of 500 leaders converging in Washington, D.C., May 1-2, with the goal making environmental action a national priority. ACLS19, organized by ecoAmerica, hopes to identify breakthrough strategies and ideas to create national progress on climate care.

The UCC leader shared the denomination's dedication to the 3 Great Loves campaign (Love of Children, Love of Neighbor, Love of Creation), noting how sharing stories — which detail UCC congregations involvement in earth care and advocacy around climate action — has become a powerful tool in prompting and encouraging new ministries.

A Letter from Senior United States Senator from California Dianne Feinstein

Friends:

Person of the Planet, Shirley Lutzky, wrote to Senator Diane Feinstein to find out her stance on Climate Change and her efforts to curb Global Warming.  Here is the reply letter:

Dear Shirley:

Thank you for writing to share your support for action to address climate change.  I appreciate hearing from you and welcome the opportunity to respond.

I share your belief that we must implement serious policy solutions to prepare for climate change, and we must do so now.  The science is clear: climate change is real, it is happening, humans are causing it, and we must act.  Doing nothing is not an answer.  Unfortunately, even in the face of clear evidence that action is overdue, the Trump administration and Congressional Republicans have blocked or reversed attempts to enact policies that would address climate change.

I have long pushed for action to address climate change and protect our environment, from spearheading the passage of historic fuel-economy legislation to consistently championing funding for renewable energy and energy-efficiency programs.  You can review my long record of fighting to protect our climate here: https://sen.gov/feinstein/2POP.  

Fighting climate change will require a broad scope of ambitious actions to eliminate emissions throughout the entire global economy.  We can start by establishing a carbon fee and recommitting ourselves to the Paris Agreement, a pledge to reduce U.S. emissions by at least 26 percent below 2005 levels by 2025.  We must resume development of energy-efficiency standards for buildings and household appliances and enact policies that encourage the transition to electric vehicles.

California has shown the United States and the world that it is possible to successfully address climate change while maintaining a high standard of living and economic growth.  Our state has mandated that half of our electricity must come from renewable sources by 2030.  In fact, we are on track to reach this goal in 2020, 10 years ahead of schedule.  We are also showing that we do not need to sacrifice growth, as last year California grew to be the world’s fifth-largest economy.  I am pleased to report that California is on track to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions economy-wide by 2045.

I will keep your support for bold action on climate change in mind as I continue working with my Senate colleagues to find a path forward for climate change legislation.

Once again, thank you for writing.  Should you have any other questions or comments, please call my Washington, D.C., office at (202) 224-3841 or visit my website at feinstein.senate.gov.  You can also follow me online at YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, and you can sign up for my email newsletter at feinstein.senate.gov/newsletter.

Best regards.

Sincerely yours,

Dianne Feinstein

United States Senator

Person of the Planet Sponsored Article: The Earth Is Just as Alive as You Are

Below is article my mom passed me about Gaia as a living being. It's not mentioned here, but there have been legal efforts to defend earth as so. That way some environmental crimes could be considered acts against mother earth"

The Earth Is Just as Alive as You Are

Scientists once ridiculed the idea of a living planet. Not anymore.

By Ferris Jabr

New York Times, April 20, 2019

Every year the nearly 400 billion trees in the Amazon rain forest and all the creatures that depend on them are drenched in seven feet of rain — four times the annual rainfall in London. This deluge is partly due to geographical serendipity. Intense equatorial sunlight speeds the evaporation of water from sea and land to sky, trade winds bring moisture from the ocean, and bordering mountains force incoming air to rise, cool and condense. Rain forests happen where it happens to rain.

Read the original article by clicking here

Wild and Scenic Film Festival

Wild and Scenic Film Festival

Earth Day in Berkeley is a two-day series of events this year.  While the main deal is happening on Easter, the film fest continues on Monday, April 22.

There are films and a guest panel on Monday, from 6-9:30pm, at the David Brower Center, 2150 Allston Way, Berkeley.  Tickets are $15 general and $10 student.  More information at BerkeleyEarthDay.org

Here’s an Approach to Global Warming that Makes Sense!

Citizens Climate Lobby is a grassroots, national organization that presents a path and solution to greenhouse gas emissions by working with both parties in congress.  How about that for unusual in today’s political arena?  We heard Mary Selkirk from CCL speak at ACC on April 12.  Mary is clear, committed to her work and the work of CCL; she presented a cogent argument for CCL’s mission and vision for the US.

By taxing carbon pollution at the source and then sending that tax back to every taxpayer, emissions can be reduced due to the negative incentive and economic growth happens simultaneously with more cash in individual’s pockets.  More information and details on how each of us can help:  www.citizensclimatelobby.org.

Person of the Planet Speaker: Mary Selkirk

PERSON OF THE PLANET SPEAKER: MARY SELKIRK

Mary Selkirk, Board Member at Citizens Climate Lobby

Person of the Planet Group will be sponsoring a talk by Mary Selkirk on Friday, April 12 at 7:00 at Arlington Community Church, 52 Arlington, Kensington. We will do a short Person of the Planet meeting at the start to touch base and hear what actions you have taken to be a voice for the Planet. Come relax with a cup of tea.

The topic of the evening will be "Building the Political Will in Washington for Climate Action". Mary Selkirk from the Citizens Climate Lobby will do a short introduction of their work and a brief discussion on the "Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act" (HR763). The H763 bill is the first bi-partisan climate bill in the US Congress in 10 years.

Mary Selkirk is an avid hiker, whitewater rafter, cyclist, and volunteer/member of the Governing Board of Citizens Climate Lobby.

Before retiring and joining CCL, Mary spent 30 years first as an environmental activist and then a collaborative policy specialist, focusing on California water and natural resources. As an environmental mediator with the Center for Collaborative Policy at Sacramento State for many years, Mary designed and led numerous multi-party dialogues on complex water and natural resources projects throughout the State, including the South Bay Salt Pond Project, the biggest wetland restoration project west of the Mississippi, right here in our own San Francisco Bay.

After serving as the Sierra Club’s Northern California Regional Water Committee, Mary was elected in 1994 to the Board of Directors of East Bay MUD, representing Berkeley, Kensington, Albany and El Cerrito. She served on the Bay-Delta Advisory Council, a Federal Advisory Committee, taught environmental mediation in the UC Davis Land Use and Natural Resources Program, as well as at Sacramento State, and served on the City of Berkeley’s Creeks Task Force.

Mary will share her own story of her growing passion and concern about climate change, and how the core values that form the foundation of Citizens Climate Lobby-- focus, inclusiveness, personal engagement, respect for political differences, nonpartisanship, and optimism—have sustained her through 6 years of lobbying on climate action in Washington.

This evening will be time well-spent. If you plan to attend, let us know so we can plan set-up accordingly: personoftheplanet@gmail.com We look forward to seeing you.

Bits & Pieces March 15, 2019

Bits & Pieces

By Shanti Moorjani March 15, 2019

A little follow-up to last night's talk with Matt Gough from the Sierra Club. Matt is the Assistant Advancement Director of the Western Division of the Sierra Club. He talked about the about the Resist, Build, Win strategy of the Sierra Club at the local and national level. Matt, an Obama look alike, intelligently shared how they are legally thwarting the attacks on our environment by the Trump administration. He shared the successes of getting many coal fire plants shut down and building up efforts to train working people to clean energy jobs.

In the last two years alone, Sierra Club's membership has almost doubled. This is how the club can work effectively against the many environmental issues we confront. Matt did not once mention joining the Sierra Club (though I am already a member) and yes if you want to support an institution that is out there working hard for the environment, this is a good choice.

Matt expertly answered the many questions that came up at the talk and left us hopeful that there are committed, smart young people actively involved with saving our planet.

I left hopeful with a greater respect for the Sierra Club and their work. 

Thank you Matt Gough!

A Relatively Painless Guide to Cutting Plastic Out of Your Life

A Relatively Painless Guide to Cutting Plastic Out of Your Life

Featured article from www.fastcompany.com 

Last year may have been the beginning of the end for plastic. It may have taken a while for the average person to wake up to its dangers, but many were shaken into action by the images and videos of plastic's impact on the natural world that flooded the media in 2018.

Read the entire articles by clicking here

Looking for the Perfect Environmental Gift?

Looking for the Perfect Environmental Gift?

The Mighty Nest (www.mightynest.com) offers to send a gift every month that is something good for the planet.  The gifts are something that will allow you to make changes in your habits.  My husband received this as a Christmas gift from his niece.  so far, he has received: 1.  Beeswax papers for wrapping and storing food in the refrigerator, 2. Three clothes drying balls made from Australian sheep wool for softening your clothes (1000 loads).  Store bought drying sheets have toxic chemicals in them. 3. Five 100% cotton washcloth-size towels for cleaning up your counters instead of using so many paper towels (think trees). 

That's all for the first three months.  Looks like we can expect to look forward to such gifts as reusable shopping bags (and produce bags), reusable to-go containers and thermos, maybe metal or bamboo straws. It will be a surprise.

In Berkeley, the Ecology Center at 2530 San Pablo Avenue is a store with a treasure trove of alternative choices for the conscious consumer.

MOMENT FOR THE PLANET MARCH 8, 2019

MOMENT FOR THE PLANET MARCH 8, 2019

By Shanti Moorjani

Last Sunday, March 2, 2019 at the 10am service, I shared information on a book that was recently published called "The Uninhabitable Earth" by David Wallace-Wells.  I had seen him being  interviewed on the PBS News Hour two days previously.  This book does not sugar coat the climate crisis our planet is entering but starts out with a statement like this:  " It is worse, much worse than you think. If your anxieties about global warming is dominated by fears of sea-level rise, you are barely scratching the surface of what terrors are possible."  One comment by another author about this book said: "This is truly the most important book I have ever read, and one of the best written. It is so good, so complete, and well-organized and argued that I immediately stopped writing my new book on the same subject."

When I listened to the interview of Mr. Wallace-Wells, he was firm that this generation alive at this time in history, is the only generation that can do something about changing the direction of global warming. The only way to do this is through elected officials; we need informed, responsible and strong leaders that can lead us to make the changes that will dramatically tackle the problem now.   For the next generation, the effects will have already disrupted our way of life and altered the planet.

I did disagree with the author on one point.  He said, "one person, no matter how conscious they are about their living habits, they could not make a difference". Even so, a Tsunami is made up of many drops of water.  When many people on the planet think of themselves as a "Person of the Planet"  their many individual voices will make a big difference in how everything is done and what leaders are elected to do the work of reshaping business practices and patterns of consumption. Imagine millions of people asking the question; "Is this good for the planet?" about every decision they make and then doing the best they can to make the right decision.

The  book is  available on line. Local book stores are just starting to get it in.

Moment for the Planet

Moment for the Planet

Robbie Bond

Kids Speak for Parks

There is a Moment for the Planet at the Sunday service at the Arlington Community Church to highlight an aspect of the environment or helpful knowledge. This past week we honored a young boy called Robbie Bond, who in 2017, at age 9 launched a Kids Speak for Parks after hearing about the executive order from the president to downsize or eliminate some national parks.

Over the summer, he and his parents visited more than a dozen national parks recording videos of him exploring, talking to local officials, and making friends. He wanted to share with other kids across the country about the beauty of our parks and the threat from oil and gas exploration.

He collected 5,000 signatures in support of the parks, spoke to local schools, and even traveled to Washington to meet with Interior Department officials and representatives from his native state of Hawaii. Now at age 10, he is working on a pilot for a documentary series to create a virtual reality "field trips" to the national monuments.

He is partnering with Google to do this. Robbie's message to young and old: "Make you voice heard. I think it's best to have kids' voices. If the monuments were to be destroyed, it would have a bigger impact on kids."