Archive for the ‘Environmentalism’ Category

18 Apr

China’s Green Revolution

Posted by midwestnaturalist in Climate Change, Corporate Ecology, Energy Conservation, Environmentalism, Politics. Tagged: , , , , , , , , .

A power plant in Pinghu, China. A cap-and-trade system would help China to reduce carbon emissions by 40-45% below 2005 levels by 2020. Photograph: Philippe Lopez/AFP/Getty Images

A power plant in Pinghu, China. A cap-and-trade system would help China to reduce carbon emissions by 40-45% below 2005 levels by 2020. Photograph: Philippe Lopez/AFP/Getty Images

The following article comes from a recent report by the Guardian Newspaper. The truth is that reports of similar green initiatives coming from China are becoming more and more frequent.

While typically viewed as the “bad boys” on the environmental stage, it seems that the “Johnny-come-lately” communist party is capable of agreeing and acting with greater ease on environmental issues than our democratically elected congress. Perhaps making decisions based on scientific evidence is more effective than the democratic process that bends to the wishes of an uninformed and opinionated populace and congressmen whose election campaigns are funded by the very corporations guilty of perpetuating the problem.

Quoted by the World Economic Forum, Victor L. L. Chu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, First Eastern Investment Group, Hong Kong SAR, states “In terms of energy intensity, which is the amount of energy required to generate one unit of GDP, China has dropped 75% over the last 20 years and is still looking very aggressively to achieve more efficiency. Nearly 40% of China’s 4 trillion renminbi stimulus package is green project related.”

I’m not suggesting we become a communist nation, nor am I pleased that China burns more coal than any other nation in the world. China has a number of hurtles to overcome, but at least they are on the track and making their way forward.

Here is the article entitled: China’s green progress leaves US red-faced, from the Guardian dated April 12, 2013:

When it comes to responding to climate change, the contrast between China and the United States is stark.

It has been clear for some time that the Asian powerhouse is moving more rapidly on renewable technologies. A recent report by Pew Charitable Trusts shows China led the world last year with a $54.4bn investment in clean technology, about 40% higher than third-placed America.

More surprisingly, the Communist government in Beijing is also showing a greater willingness to adopt market-based approaches that were once considered preferable only by capitalist economies.

On Monday, a senior Chinese official said mandatory emissions trading systems will be rolled out in six of the country’s most advanced regions by 2013. After the pilot schemes in Guangdong, Hubei, Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and Chongqing, the government has promised to ramp up the use of carbon-based financial instruments to a nationwide level by 2015.

It is a sign that China is both desperate and ambitious enough to try almost anything. The widely trailed move towards a cap-and-trade system will provide an extra tool for China to achieve its Copenhagen commitment to reduce carbon emissions relative to economic growth by 40-45% below 2005 levels by 2020.

Cap-and-trade initiatives in Washington started much earlier, but have sunk in Congressional quicksand. The first US experiment in emissions trading came to an end four months ago with the closure of the Chicago Climate Exchange, though California’s scheme (the world’s second largest) is reportedly in talks to expand by joining with Europe’s.

Critics of emissions trading will undoubtedly say the US is better off without it. Europe currently has the world’s biggest carbon market, which has channelled billions of dollars towards projects in developing nations that are designed to reduce emissions. China has been a major beneficiary, accounting for about 60% of the world’s carbon credits.

But the United Nations mechanism for evaluating credits has been plagued by allegations of fraud and misallocation of resources. In the latest scandal, Chinese officials denied this week that the country’s factories were manipulating production of hydrofluorocarbon-23 – a powerful greenhouse gas – to qualify for huge quantities of carbon credits. The European Union is unimpressed and will ban such credits when its new emissions trading system starts in 2013.

Existing schemes are clearly flawed. But by opting out, the US is losing its ability to influence reform, just as China begins to establish what could become a rival trading system. Beijing has positioned itself cleverly.

In the years ahead, its influence will grow in both renewable technology and climate finance. This has prompted the analyst Søren Lütken to talk of an emerging Grand Chinese Climate Scheme.

It is far from certain that this will be successful. Corruption, imprecision and inexperience are major hurdles that China has yet to overcome in establishing a cap-and-trade scheme. Lobby groups could water down plans that will cost industry money. As in the US, the economy will remain dependent on fossil fuels for many decades.

Yet compared to the US, China seems to have a clearer sense of direction, greater flexibility and a willingness to move.

In a testimony last month to a congressional energy committee, Deborah Seligsohn, the Beijing-based representative of the World Resources Institute, spelled out the long-game that is underway:

“Chinese economic strategists recognise that China was late to the industrial revolution and even late to the IT revolution, but it believes it can be a leader in a green revolution.”

Frustration among US environmental groups has been building up for some time, evident in these blog comments last year from Jake Schmidt of the National Resources Defence Council:

“The signals today on clean energy coming from China and the US are pointing in complete opposite directions – one country on hold and the other moving forward. Sad but true.”

Expect more of the same in the coming years. The world’s red and green lights are not where they used to be.

14 Apr

Earth Day at Eagle Marsh

Posted by midwestnaturalist in Birds, Botany, Children and Nature, Climate Change, Corporate Ecology, Creation Care, Ecology, Education, Environmentalism, Gardening, Politics, Recreation, Reptiles, Water Conservation, Wetlands, Wildlife. Tagged: , , , , , , .

Earth-day-image

Earth Day is just around the corner and will be celebrated around the world. But how did it all begin and how can you become involved?

Origins

The idea came to Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson, then a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, after witnessing the ravages of the 1969 massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. Inspired by the student anti-war movement, he realized that if he could infuse that energy with an emerging public consciousness about air and water pollution, it would force environmental protection onto the national political agenda. Senator Nelson announced the idea for a “national teach-in on the environment” to the national media; persuaded Pete McCloskey, a conservation-minded Republican Congressman, to serve as his co-chair; and recruited Denis Hayes as national coordinator. Hayes built a national staff of 85 to promote events across the land.

As a result, on the 22nd of April, 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment in massive coast-to-coast rallies. Thousands of colleges and universities organized protests against the deterioration of the environment. Groups that had been fighting against oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, freeways, the loss of wilderness, and the extinction of wildlife suddenly realized they shared common values.

Earth Day 1970 achieved a rare political alignment, enlisting support from Republicans and Democrats, rich and poor, city slickers and farmers, tycoons and labor leaders. The first Earth Day led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts. “It was a gamble,” Gaylord recalled, “but it worked.”

Earth Day at Eagle Marsh

Screen Shot 2013-04-14 at 8.15.53 PMHere in Fort Wayne Indiana, Earth Day will be celebrated at Eagle Marsh (Little Rivers Wetland Project) on Engle Road from 1-5pm. To say that it will take place on “Engle Road” is in fact the truth. After the success of last year’s event, executive director Sean Nolan requested permission to have Engle Road closed between West Jefferson and Smith Road from 9:00am to 9:00pm.

Many area nature groups and businesses will be part of this free event, which will feature numerous fun activities for the whole family. These include volunteer opportunities to plant native milkweed plants at Eagle Marsh , interactive nature education stations along the preserve’s trails, a new nature photography exhibit, face painting, and more.

The Education Stations will provide lots of “hands-on” activities and will include:

  • Building a Better Bug – insect parts and the opportunity to build your own bug
  • Bee a Pollinator – pollination and the life cycle of a bee
  • Why Wetlands – three experiments to demonstrate wetlands clean water
  • Everything Poops in the Marsh – scats and tracks (hosted by yours truly)
  • Whoo Eats That – what owls eat
  • Salamanders – environmental barometers
  • Frogs and Toads of Eagle Marsh – a hopping good time guaranteed
  • Life Cycle of a Leopard Frog – actually build the four stages
  • Pond Dipping – swimmers, wigglers and things that go hop
  • Bird Observation Station – spot birds and make your own binoculars
  • Coloring with AEP – sponsors for the educational stations

A Earth Day 5K Walk presented by OmniSource will begin at 2:00 pm on April 21 during Earth Day Fort Wayne. Register now at www.firstgiving.com/lrwp/EarthDayWalk ($20 for adults, $10 for ages 7-17) to help us raise funds for LRWP’s important work of wetland restoration and nature education, including the care of Eagle Marsh and other LRWP preserves.

Visit www.Facebook.com/EarthDayFortWayne for details.

 

 

 

 

8 Mar

Mining the Moon?

Posted by midwestnaturalist in Corporate Ecology, Creation Care, Ecology, Environmentalism, Politics, Space. Tagged: , , , , , , , .

Regan Morris, of BBC America, recently asked the question, “What if you could mine the moon? The article, which appear on the BBC News Website, reminded me once again of the problem we seem to have with taken care of what we already have, and somehow believing that we can just move on to the next big thing.

The attitude of many is expressed in his opening comment, “…there’s a race to exploit new frontiers by mining their minerals.”

Having recently returned from Sierra Leone, West Africa, and having seen the impoverished communities that surround the extensive titanium, bauxite, gold and diamond mines that are among the highest quality and most productive in the world, I was reminded that so much of how we handle our natural resources is precisely as Morris states, “a race to exploit”. Too often it has been done without concern for the human and environmental impact. As one presidential candidate put it during the lead up to the last federal election in the United States, “That’s the price of progress.” In Morris’ articel, NASA scientist Margarita Marinova, suggests, “…we won’t make the same mistakes in space that we’vd made on Earth and the man can’t afford to explore space without tapping the local resources to survive”.

This raises another important question, is space exploration a responsible expenditure and use of our dwindling resources? Some suggest that the colonization of the Moon and Mars is not too far off in the future. Would anyone really want to live there? I’ve seen the Sahara, Death Valley and driven across the Mohave Desert and personally I would not like to live in any of the three, let alone deserts with no atmosphere and wide-ranging temperature changes. It was be easier to colonized the Sahara Desert than it would the moon. Come on!

Nevertheless, Bob Richards, CEO of Silicon Valley-based Moon Express, one of 25 companies seeking to lead the way in tapping the mineral resources of the moon, says, “We’re becoming a multi-world species. That will happen.” My concern is that if we haven’t done an adequate job of stewarding the resources and the well-being of all living things here on our current planet, how can we expect that a number of resource-seeking corporations will lead us in caring for the next?

In the early days, when new frontiers were opened by Europe in what today is known as the Americas, business interests like the Northwest and the Hudson’s Bay company traveled west for one reason, and one reason alone – to exploit the resources of this new land and return them to Old World. In South America, conquistadores did the same, enslaving, exploiting and exterminating the native people so as to carry off the abundant gold they discovered and enrich both themselves and the monarchies that supported their ventures.

Bob Richard alongside a NASA designed mining robot.

Bob Richard alongside a NASA designed mining robot.

Now, I grew up in the 1960s and remember well the excitement of the Apollo missions. Even in Canada, where I lived, we had school assemblies to watch significant stages of the missions and all aspired to become astronauts someday. However, decades of unbridled spending that gained us little more than bragging rights brought down much of what was the NASA space program.

So does more exploration excite me today? I suppose not. One adjustment I appreciate is that it is no longer being funded to the same degree on the taxpayer’s tab and has been left to the for-profit sector to pursue. Yet the question remains, are we simply moving on from one contaminated planet to a new one as we did from the Old World to the New World? And, what are we prepared to do to ensure that those who benefit little to nothing from such ventures, or are even exploited in the process, are somehow cared for given the opportunity to share in the bounty of what God has created?

 

 

 

27 Feb

What Place Does “Ecology” Have at the Home and Garden Show?

Posted by midwestnaturalist in Botany, Climate Change, Corporate Ecology, Creation Care, Ecology, Environmental Missions, Environmentalism, Gardening, Housing, Wetlands. Tagged: , , , , , , , , .

earth-moonThis weekend I look forward to working the booth at the Fort Wayne Home and Garden Show for two of my favorite environmental care groups – Little River Wetlands Project and Acres Land Trust. But some may wonder what place these two organizations have at a Home and Garden Show. Was there simply booth space leftover?

The truth is that both, and others like it, ought to be the centerpiece of any home show. The origin of the current term ecology finds it’s place in the late 19th century (originally as oecology): and comes from the  Greek oikos ‘house’ + -logy. So ecology has to do with the study or care of our home.

It’s unfortunate we limit our concept of home to the four walls that surround us or the survey markers that define our property. Home is the place we share together.

While in West Africa last week, I was chatting with local leaders about the concept of community. I think North Americans have a pretty good concept of relationship, but we’re really weak when it comes to living in community. We emphasize ownership, privacy and establishing contractual relationships. We like to know about each other, but we don’t really do life together very well. In essence, we live in isolation from one another in our individual homes and therefore have little understanding of what it means to share in the care of our greater home. The garden, so to speak, in which we live.

Nothing happens in isolation. The water I pollute may not affect me, but it will impact those who live downstream. Likewise, recent announcements by China to restrict future carbon emissions will not simply improve conditions around Beijing, but will ultimately lower carbon emissions around the world. Ecology is a global concept. We can never think of creation care in local terms alone. The entire earth, and universe that surrounds us, is our home – a place we share in community with one another.

 

 

3 Jan

Green Spaces and Human Health

Posted by midwestnaturalist in Children and Nature, Corporate Ecology, Creation Care, Ecology, Environmentalism, Politics, Religion, Spirituality in Nature. Tagged: , , , , , , , .

IMG_0460While the United States has recently averted its “Fiscal Cliff” with a last-minute revision of its taxation model, it has yet to deal with the thorny matter of reducing spending if it hopes to make a meaningful dent in its deficit. In the meanwhile, everyone has their own ideas about what should be cut.

However, not all cuts are equal. Some expenses can actually save us money in the long run. This includes health, recreation and ecological concerns.

For example, one of the programs on the chopping block is the National Parks Department. Yet according to John Gardner of the National Park Conservation Association (NPCA), the current cost to taxpayers is just 1/14th of one percent of the federal budget. Not bad when you consider there are 394 National Parks in the United States. Further restricting funding or access to national parks certainly won’t solve our budget problems.

However, there is another side to this issue that requires consideration. If we want to exercise a fiscally responsible approach to the matter, we ought to also consider the fiscal benefits of spaces like National Parks and other green spaces currently on state and municipal lists of items to be cut or curtailed from their budgets. Quite simply, green spaces improve human health, reduce the need to deal with carbon emissions and increase individual productivity.

NASA, on the other hand, receives about 5 times what the National Parks Department does from the federal budget. While NASA has had its wings clipped over the last few years, I still wonder about the benefit of space exploration. I still can’t take a walk on the moon (not that I want to), neither can any of the people who currently access national, state and municipal green spaces on a regular basis.

It’s interesting to read through the Bible and find multiple examples of God moving people to places of solitude in order to restore and refresh them. Elijah was fed by God through a raven at a brook named Cherith in a quiet and lonely place, and Jesus regularly pulled his disciples aside from the crowd of followers so they could be refreshed and regroup in the wilderness. In fact, he himself found the mountains to be a great place to retreat to in order to pray (Luke 4:42, John 6:15).

Mark Kinver, environment reporter for BBC News, comments on the growing evidence linking green spaces to human wellbeing could help strengthen the case for conservation in “Human wellbeing can strengthen case for conservation”.

 

In his article, he refers to the comments by Prof Norris, a co-author of the UK National Ecosystem Assessment, at the British Ecological Society’s recent conference. Norris explained that he explained that he favoured a framework that embraced the “ecosystem services” concept, which places a value on ecosystem functions – such as reducing pollution or cleaning water – based on what the economic cost would be if we degraded an area’s biodiversity. ”We know that these things are linked to our wellbeing, so that means that they can also be linked to our health,” Prof Norris observed.

So what “fat” do we cut from the federal budget and what exactly do we consider to be “fat”? If green spaces are of benefit to you, perhaps you need to let congress know. The NCPA does a great job of lobbying the government on your behalf, as does the Nature Conservancy. Local trail association and land trusts can also use your help. As a trail steward for Acres Land Trust, I know that filling out a visitor card as you depart any one of their more the 50 properties in Indiana, Ohio or Michigan, helps them in applying for grants from private foundations or from federal or state agencies. The same is true of the Little River Wetlands Project in Fort Wayne.

Preserving our green spaces is not a luxury. It’s necessary to sustain life, sanity and our spiritual connection with God.

 

9 Dec

Climate Change: Should Rich Nations Compensate Poor Nations

Posted by midwestnaturalist in Climate Change, Corporate Ecology, Creation Care, Environmental Missions, Environmentalism, Politics, Religion. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , .

UN Climate Talks in Qatar

UN Climate Talks in Qatar

About one year ago, I found myself in the backseat of a taxi traveling four hours into New Delhi, India. As we neared the city the smog become so thick that from time-to-time it was nearly impossible to see more than a block away. Then came the burning sensation in the back of our throats accompanied by the watering eyes. We noticed people on the sidewalks, and even in their cars, covering their mouths and noses with kerchiefs.

Then we asked the question everyone in the taxi later wished we had never asked. Yes, we inquired of our, up until now, polite English-speaking taxi driver, “Why is there so much smog in New Delhi?” Bad question. He responded in such a way we knew recognized he had either prepared, or delivered his response before, “It’s because huge corporations come and set up their plants in our country so that they can freely pollute in ways that would never be tolerated in their own countries.”

Suddenly my worldview took yet another shift as I recognized that my efforts in the Midwest of the United States of America have little meaning if we are simply “greened-up” our own backyards, but relocating our problems to someone else’s.

This last week, on the heels of the Lausanne Movement’s statement regarding climate change and it’s affect on the poorest nations, (see “6. Radical action to confront climate change.”) the UN has been meeting for climate talks in Qatar with the prospect of rich nations having to compensate poor nations for losses due to climate change.

According to the BBC, the US has fiercely opposed the measure – it says the cost could be unlimited.
But after angry tussles throughout the night the principle of Loss and Damage is now in the final negotiating text. Small island states at risk from inundation say they will walk out if the US vetoes the proposed deal.

The political stakes are high. The EU’s position is not yet well defined, but soundings suggest that it can live with the text.

The report went on to say, the US will be seeking support from other big polluters – like Canada – likely to face liability for climate damages.

You may want to reread my blog on the Keystone XL Pipeline. The intent of the Kyoto Accord was to have 37 of the most industrialized nations sign on to an agreement in which they would seek to lower their carbon emissions by 5% over a period of 20 years. Many of these countries signed the accord and met or exceeded their cuotas. The United States increased its carbon emissions by 11%. But they never signed the accord in the first place. Canada, who signed the accord, increased their emissions by nearly 18%. The source in large part: he Alberta Tar Sands.

If the US is left alone fighting against the chair’s text, its negotiators face a dilemma – either to bow to the majority and accept that the nations which caused climate change bear a moral responsibility to other nations damaged by it, or to refuse to sign.

If the US vetoes the text, President Barack Obama will be accused of hypocrisy and failure after re-committing himself to tackling climate change since his re-election.

While the US does have a point in that the cost could be unlimited and in our current economic state we’re hardly ready to start handing out compensation to poor nations impacted by climate change. However, there is without a doubt a moral principle to consider.

Again the BBC reports points out, already poor nations are bitter that rich nations, particularly the US are dragging their feet over a promise made at the failed Copenhagen climate summit to mobilise $100 billion by 2020 to help poor nations get clean energy and adapt to climate change.

The developing countries say the original sum was too low – especially in the light of Mr Obama’s request to Congress for Sandy damages of $60 billion, and the UK’s bid to raise £200 billion for clean energy by 2020.

While there doesn’t seem to be a quick solution, a number of items stand out as first-things-first:

  • Corporations ought be follow the same envirnmental standards regardless of where they “set up shop” around the world.
  • Climate change and environmental issue are global in nature an so the responsibility for, and cost of restoration, ought to be shared.
  • Accords are what they are, “agreements” made in good faith. If we have made commitments, whether in good faith or in writing, we should honor our statements.

As I participated in a church service this morning celebrating the season of advent, I was caught be the words of a prayer, particularly the use of the word “humble” although I do not know the prayer’s author, this is what we recited,

Gracious Lord, prepare our lives to receive you beloved Son as he come to us in humble, simply and unexpected way. Let us love the humble one in our time and place. Let us be humble witnesses of your power and await him with joy. Amen. 

May we be the humble ones in our time and place.

6 Dec

Creation Care – Lausanne’s Call to Action

Posted by midwestnaturalist in Climate Change, Creation Care, Environmental Missions, Environmentalism, Food, Religion, Spirituality in Nature, Weather and Atmospheric Conditions. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , .

DSCN1687The Lausanne Global Consultation on Creation Care and the Gospel met from 29 Oct – 2 Nov 2012 in St. Ann, Jamaica to build on the creation care components of the Cape Town Commitment. 

The gathering consisted of theologians, church leaders, scientists and creation care practitioners, fifty-seven men and women from twenty-six countries from the Caribbean, Africa, Asia, Latin America, Oceania, North America and Europe.

Many biblical passages, including reflections on Genesis 1 – 3, Psalm 8 and Romans 8, informed prayers, discussions and deliberations on the themes of God’s World, God’s Word and God’s Work. The consultation immediately followed Hurricane Sandy’s devastation of the Caribbean and coincided with that storm’s arrival in North America; the destruction and loss of life was a startling reminder as to the urgency, timeliness and importance of this Consultation.

Two Major Convictions:

Two major convictions emerged from the discussions:

  • Creation Care is indeed a gospel issue within the lordship of Christ.
  • We are faced with a crisis that is pressing, urgent, and that must be resolved in our generation.

Call to Action

The following points are directly quoted from what was referred to as a specific Call to Action:

1. A new commitment to a simple lifestyle.

Recognizing that much of our crisis is due to billions of lives lived carelessly, we reaffirm the Lausanne commitment to simple lifestyle (Lausanne Occasional Paper #20), and call on the global evangelical community to take steps, personally and collectively, to live within the proper boundaries of God’s good gift in creation, to engage further in its restoration and conservation, and to equitably share its bounty with each other.

2. New and robust theological work.

In particular, we need guidance in four areas:

  • An integrated theology of creation care that can engage seminaries, Bible colleges and others to equip pastors to disciple their congregations.
  • A theology that examines humanity’s identity as both embedded in creation and yet possessing a special role toward creation.
  • A theology that challenges current prevailing economic ideologies in relation to our biblical stewardship of creation.
  • A theology of hope in Christ and his Second Coming that properly informs and inspires creation care.

3. Leadership from the church in the Global South.

As the Global South represents those most affected in the current ecological crisis, it possesses a particular need to speak up, engage issues of creation care, and act upon them. We the members of the Consultation further request that the church of the Global South exercise leadership among us, helping to set the agenda for the advance of the gospel and the care of creation.

4. Mobilization of the whole church and engagement of all of society.

Mobilization must occur at the congregational level and include those who are often over-looked, utilizing the gifts of women, children, youth, and indigenous people as well as professionals and other resource people who possess experience and expertise. Engagement must be equally widespread, including formal, urgent and creative conversations with responsible leaders in government, business, civil society, and academia.

5. Environmental missions among unreached people groups.

We participate in Lausanne’s historic call to world evangelization, and believe that environmental issues represent one of the greatest opportunities to demonstrate the love of Christ and plant churches among unreached and unengaged people groups in our generation (CTC II.D.1.B). We encourage the church to promote “environmental missions” as a new category within mission work (akin in function to medical missions).

6. Radical action to confront climate change.

Affirming the Cape Town Commitment’s declaration of the “serious and urgent challenge of climate change” which will “disproportionately affect those in poorer countries”, (CTC II.B.6), we call for action in radically reducing greenhouse gas emissions and building resilient communities. We understand these actions to be an application of the command to deny ourselves, take up the cross and follow Christ.

7. Sustainable principles in food production.

In gratitude to God who provides sustenance, and flowing from our conviction to become excellent stewards of creation, we urge the application of environmentally and generationally sustainable principles in agriculture (field crops and livestock, fisheries and all other forms of food production), with particular attention to the use of methodologies such as conservation agriculture.

8. An economy that works in harmony with God’s creation.

We call for an approach to economic well-being and development, energy production, natural resource management (including mining and forestry), water management and use, transportation, health care, rural and urban design and living, and personal and corporate consumption patterns that maintain the ecological integrity of creation.

9. Local expressions of creation care, which preserve and enhance biodiversity.

We commend such projects, along with any action that might be characterized as the “small step” or the “symbolic act,” to the worldwide church as ways to powerfully witness to Christ’s Lordship over all creation.

10. Prophetic advocacy and healing reconciliation.

We call for individual Christians and the church as a whole to prophetically “speak the truth to power” through advocacy and legal action so that public policies and private practice may change to better promote the care of creation and better support devastated communities and habitats. Additionally, we call the church to “speak the peace of Christ” into communities torn apart by environmental disputes, mobilizing those who are skilled at conflict resolution, and maintaining our own convictions with humility.

Observations and Opportunity:

In reading through all of the information, I noted that the signers to this Call to Action, consisted overwhelmingly of participants from what has become known today as the Global South, or Majority World. This is not to say that those belonging to what traditionally has been considered the West or the most industrialized nations of the world, are unconcerned. What it does say is, if the Global South is the most vulnerable to the impact of climate change, they ought to have the strongest voice at the table.  Among the fifty-seven participants there were just 11 from the United States.

If you’d like to read the entire document, or even sign your name to it as an individual, representative of an association, agency or local church, you can visit the Lausanne Movement website.

4 Dec

Someone’s Always Coming Up With a Better Mousetrap

Posted by midwestnaturalist in Children and Nature, Environmentalism, Recycling. Tagged: , .

Recycling arrowsMy daughter wrote the other day about visiting the local hardware store with my three grandchildren in tow. The trip was prompted by evidence mice had left behind of their unwelcome presence in their house with the on set of winter. So as she made her way through the aisles, while my two grandsons, five and three years old, helped out by checking to see if someone had invented a better mousetrap lately.

Suddenly, the second oldest found a mousetrap to beat all mousetraps. It had a recycling symbol on the side of the box so he exclaimed at the top of his voice, “Hey mom! Here’s a mousetrap that let’s you recycle the mice!”

Needless to say, she found a mousetrap, paid for it and slipped out of the store as quickly as possible.

29 Nov

Going Green with a Live Christmas Tree?

Posted by midwestnaturalist in Botany, Creation Care, Eco-Friendly Products, Ecology, Energy Conservation, Environmentalism, Trees. Tagged: , , .

I agree. It seems like an oxymoron, but apparently buying a fresh cut Christmas tree is “greener” than an artificial one.

Turns out that, according to the research of St. Joseph’s University (Philadelphia) biology professor Clint Springer, cutting a live Christmas tree each year is more sustainable than using the same artificial tree for six years running.

Springer takes a number of factors (including allergies to tree pollen) into account, but concludes that if only greenhouse gas emissions are considered the series of six individual live trees has a 60% smaller footprint than a single artificial tree.

Which, if my back-of-the-envelope estimates are correct, means that you’d have to use the same tree for fifteen years before it breaks even in terms of carbon footprint.  Maybe some families (you know who you are) are frugal enough to use an artificial tree for fifteen years before replacing it, but I suspect they’re in the minority.

Nevertheless, Springer suggests the following green options if you already own an artificial tree:

  • Consider using LED lights to decorate the house. A typical 50-light strand of C7 bulbs, often used for outdoor lighting, uses approximately 99 percent more energy than an LED strand of the same number of lights.
  • Buy local and sustainably farmed produce for holiday gatherings. This lessens the use of fossil fuels for transportation, cutting down on carbon dioxide emissions, a major contributor to global climate change.
  • Buy organic produce. Though pricey for some families, buying organic produce is an even better choice for party season. Organic food is not farmed with artificial fertilizers, which require a tremendous amount of fossil fuels to produce.
  • Recycle whenever possible. Consider using wrapping paper or boxes made from recycled material and be sure to recycle them once the gift giving is over.

Well, my wife has already set up our artificial tree (which we replaced last year after 10 years of use), so I guess we won’t be buying a real tree for at least another 10 years.

 

 

 

24 Oct

Lausanne Consultation – Creation Care as a Gospel Issue

Posted by midwestnaturalist in Ecology, Environmental Missions, Environmentalism, Religion, Spirituality in Nature. Tagged: , , , .

“Creation Care” is a term that has come into common usage particularly among Christians concerned with environmental issues. Whether holding to “new earth” or “old earth” beliefs, both camps agree that we are held responsible by God to properly steward what he has created, and that his creation speaks of his glory and provision for all living things. As such, the neglect of God’s creation reflects on our attitude toward him and others who rely on the earth for their sustenance and survival.

Beginning on Monday October 29, 2012, sixty two people from more than twenty countries–”a good mix of scientists, theologians and practitioners”–will gather in St. Ann, Jamaica to consider the implications of gospel on creation care. Such discussions and even resolutions have been presented and adopted. However, this conference will be a major milestone in what has been a subject often ignored by the global Christian community.

According the leadership of the movement:

Christians everywhere ought to be, and are, dismayed by the degree to which God’s creation is suffering in our day.  We are beginning to realize that this is not an issue peripheral to the gospel, but is something that strikes at the heart of our faith:

We cannot claim to love God while abusing what belongs to Christ by right of creation, redemption and inheritance. We care for the earth and responsibly use its abundant resources, not according to the rationale of the secular world, but for the Lord’s sake. If Jesus is Lord of all the earth, we cannot separate our relationship to Christ from how we act in relation to the earth. For to proclaim the gospel that says ‘Jesus is Lord’ is to proclaim the gospel that includes the earth, since Christ’s Lordship is over all creation. Creation care is a thus a gospel issue within the Lordship of Christ.  [Cape Town Commitment, Part I Sec. 7 Par. a]

This consultation will explore the implications of “creation care as a gospel issue”:  Scientists will share from various professional and personal perspectives what we know is now happening to God’s creation.  Theologians will help us explore relevant biblical themes.  And creation care practitioners will describe innovative and effective responses to environmental challenges that are already being used around the world.  Together we will explore and plan ways to awaken and mobilize the worldwide church to respond biblically and effectively.

We will meet at the lovely Cardiff Hall Hotel, Runaway Bay, Jamaica from October 29 to November 3 (arrival Monday afternoon; departure Saturday morning).  The program will explore creation care around the three themes of God’s World, God’s Word and God’s People.

The stated outcomes from this consultation are as follows:

1. To come to an understanding of, and agreement on, how creation care is included in the gospel, God’s plan of redemption through Jesus Christ.


2. To lay the groundwork for a global creation care movement of scientists, theologians and practitioners that will foster similar national movements. 


3. To communicate the content of the consultation so that it becomes commonly accepted as part of the modern evangelical world view and understanding of mission.

The Global Consultation on the Gospel and Creation Care is cohosted by Lausanne and the World Evangelical Alliance, and is supported by a variety of organizations including ACTS, A Rocha International, Care of Creation, Tearfund, and World Vision International.

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