Climate Change, Disaster and Migration - An Action
The reflection and story from this week have highlighted the impact that climate change is already having on cultures and communities around the world, impacts that are forcing people to leave their homes and communities. There are two ways that we can help those who are already suffering.
First, we can provide the funding and support to help communities adapt to the floods, droughts, intense storms, and other climate impacts that are changing the way they live and threatening livelihoods. This type of international aid, known as international adaptation assistance, can help to keep families and communities from having to make the difficult choice to move or migrate, and is usually targeted at the most vulnerable economically developing nations and small island nations around the world.
Click here for more information on adaptation assistance from Church World Service.
Second, we can provide support to those families who must leave their homes. There are many ways we can do this - through agencies that help climate migrants find new homes and new opportunities here in the US or other countries. Both of these will be vital as more and more communities are forced to migrate as a result of climate impacts.
Click here to read this statement by Pacific Church Leaders on resettlement that is caused by climate change.
An immediate action you can take is to advocate for international adaptation assistance to help those who are already suffering the impacts of climate change. President Obama's proposed 2011 budget for the federal government includes more than $330 million dollars in new funding for adaptation programs abroad. However, Congress will need to approve his budget request this spring.
Click here to send an email to Senator Conrad and Representative Spratt, the chairmen of the Senate and House budget committees and ask them to maintain the international climate budget proposed by the President.
Article provided by the ELCA e-Advocacy Network. Click here to sign up for their mailing list.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Friday, February 26, 2010
Climate Justice - A Lenten Journey of Discovery, Week 2
Climate Change, Disasters and Migration – A Story
By Tyler EdgarAssociate Director, Climate and Energy CampaignNational Council of Churches USA
Then they also will answer Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you? Then he will answer them, 'Truly I tell you just as you did not do it to one of the least of these you did not do it to me.'- Matthew 25:44-45
In August 2008, I traveled to Ghana to attend the United Nations Climate Change negotiations taking place in Accra. While there, I met with local farmers and activists who were working to help families and communities adapt to the impacts of climate change. While diplomats gathered to talk about predicted and future climate changes, Ghanaians around the country were already suffering from the devastation of climate change that was taking place in their backyard.
While in Ghana, I was taken on a tour of the greater Accra area. During this tour, I discovered that dozens of new communities have sprung up around the city over the past five years. These communities are primarily composed of families who have migrated south to the capital city from the northern region of Ghana, which is located at just below the Sahel region of Africa. The Sahel region of Africa is where the Sahara Desert begins to transition into Africa’s southern savannas, and has been an area of agricultural prosperity for thousands of years. Most of the inhabitants are semi-nomadic and historically, the northern area of Ghana has supported thousands of farmers who live off the land.
However in recent years, northern Ghana has become more and more like the northern part of the Sahel, experiencing little and inconsistent rain, warmer temperatures, and more violent storms. Crops no longer grow the way they used to and families can no longer survive on the abundance of the land, and while this has always been a fragile ecosystem, farmers have lived here for thousands of years in a sustainable manner that has nurtured one family after another. As a result of the environmental changes, hundreds of families are fleeing the north and moving south to Accra and the coast. They are hopeful that they can find work, feed their families and benefit from the tremendous infrastructure that Accra and the larger more historic coastal towns have to offer.
But Accra is not prepared to deal with this influx of people and many of the families migrating to Accra are forced to live in slums, often near the coast. As our tour guide pointed out, while families now have some support from Accra and the government, they are relocating right next to the sea, and with the impending sea level rise and increased number of severe storms, these communities are now vulnerable to a whole other set of climate impacts.
Ghana is just one of literally hundreds of examples of families and communities fleeing their homes and their cultures to escape the impacts of climate change. If climate change continues unaddressed, these stories will impact every part of God’s world and community.
How will we respond to the needs of the climate migrant who has the least among us?
Prayer for Migrants
Lord, when you multiplied the loaves and fishes, you provided more than food for the body, you offered us the gift of yourself, the gift which satisfies every hunger and quenches every thirst. Your disciples were filled with fear and doubt, but you poured out your love and compassion on the migrant crowd, welcoming them as brothers and sisters.
Lord, today you call us to welcome the members of God's family who come to our land to escape the ravages of climate change. Like your disciples, we too are filled with fear and doubt, and even suspicion. We build barriers in our hearts and in our minds.
Lord, help us by your grace, to banish fear from our hearts, that we may embrace each of your children as our own brother and sister; to realize that you call all people to your holy mountain to learn the ways of peace and justice; to share of our abundance as you spread a banquet before us; and to respond to the crisis that has forced them from their home.
We praise you and give you thanks for the family you have called together from so many people. Amen.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Climate Justice - A Lenten Journey of Discovery
Climate Change and Food Security – An Action
Many people around the world rarely eat meat because of its cost, getting their protein from plants, such as beans. As standards of living rise, people tend to include more meat and fish in their diets; for example, as income levels rise in countries like China and India, their meat consumption also is rising. But meat production comes at a cost to God's creation:
You shall eat your fill and bless the Lord your God for the good land that he has given you.- Deuteronomy 8:10
Food security is an issue that millions of people around the world deal with every day. Thankfully churches and faith-based relief and development agencies are working to address the needs of families around the world and the challenges that climate change will present if left unchecked.
During this time of Lent, reflect upon your own food security.
When was the last time you went to bed hungry? Do you know people in your community who are food insecure? Have you visited places where food is scarce?
To remind ourselves of the relationship between our food and God's creation, and to remember those who go to bed hungry and do not share in God's abundance, we are asking you to join us in Meatless Mondays this Lenten season. (really any meatless day you choose is fine!)
Many people around the world rarely eat meat because of its cost, getting their protein from plants, such as beans. As standards of living rise, people tend to include more meat and fish in their diets; for example, as income levels rise in countries like China and India, their meat consumption also is rising. But meat production comes at a cost to God's creation:- The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that the meat industry produces one fifth of the greenhouse gases that are contributing to global climate change.
- Studies show that an estimated 1800 gallons of water are needed to produce one pound of meat (compared with only 250 gallons of water for a pound of soybeans). With global climate change, water, like food, is becoming a scarce commodity.
- Less meat also means fewer fossil fuel used. The production of protein from grain-fed animals requires eight times as much fossil-fuel energy as the production of plant protein, as fuel is used to plant, fertilize, harvest and ship the grain that feeds livestock as well as to transport the livestock to slaughter and meat to market.
Eating less meat means you are using fewer resources for your personal diet and reducing our dependence on fossil fuels, while making a commitment to global food security.
Click here to tell us your story and share your thoughts on Meatless Mondays.
Climate Justice - A Lenten Journey of Discovery
Climate Change and Food Security – A Story
Written by Mary Minette, Director of Environmental Education and Advocacy, andDavid Creech, Director for Hunger EducationEvangelical Lutheran Church in America
He will give rain for the seed with which you sow the ground, and grain, the produce of the ground, which will be rich and plenteous.- Isaiah 30:23
In the small community of Las Jolotas, Nicaragua, subsistence farmers like Felicita and her son Ariel are already facing the impacts of climate change. Ever since Hurricane Mitch devastated western Nicaragua in 1998, rainfall patterns have grown increasingly unpredictable. Some years the rains fall late; other years the rains fall too hard, and there is no way to predict what type of year it will be. If the rains arrive late, seeds die without producing any harvest. If the rains cause flooding, seeds are swept away.
Farmers in Las Jolotas traditionally save just enough seeds from the previous harvest to plant during the next rainy season. If those seeds are lost, the results are devastating. Farmers may have to borrow money at high rates to purchase more seeds for planting, and may have to take on additional work to pay the loans back. Some farmers have stopped planting during the rainy season, choosing instead to migrate to El Salvador, Costa Rica, or even the United States to look for work. Family members left behind struggle to keep food on the table and children in school while their land lies fallow.
To support Felicita and her family as they try to adapt to the effects of climate change, The Lutheran World Federation - working with the Faith and Hope Lutheran Church of Nicaragua - helped them dig a shallow well. The water from the well is gravity-fed to irrigate crops during the dry season. Thanks to the well and Felicita's hard work, her lush garden - full of beans, corn, squash, tomatoes, and yucca - thrives in the middle of the dry summer months. Felicita will use the garden to feed her family and small farm animals. If there are leftover vegetables, she will sell them for added income.
The well protects Felicita and her family from uncertain weather patterns. In turn, the increased food security ensures that they will have enough to eat and will not have to migrate to faraway places, disrupting and perhaps ending Ariel's schooling and leaving their culture and community behind.
Solutions like this will need to be joined with other, much larger efforts, if subsistence farmers around the world are to adjust to the impacts of climate change that are already occurring. International development agencies are working hard to adapt to and address this new reality, but significant aid from governments and international agencies will be needed to ensure that families like Felicita's are able to survive and thrive as the earth's climate continues to change.
Written by Mary Minette, Director of Environmental Education and Advocacy, andDavid Creech, Director for Hunger EducationEvangelical Lutheran Church in America
He will give rain for the seed with which you sow the ground, and grain, the produce of the ground, which will be rich and plenteous.- Isaiah 30:23
In the small community of Las Jolotas, Nicaragua, subsistence farmers like Felicita and her son Ariel are already facing the impacts of climate change. Ever since Hurricane Mitch devastated western Nicaragua in 1998, rainfall patterns have grown increasingly unpredictable. Some years the rains fall late; other years the rains fall too hard, and there is no way to predict what type of year it will be. If the rains arrive late, seeds die without producing any harvest. If the rains cause flooding, seeds are swept away.
Farmers in Las Jolotas traditionally save just enough seeds from the previous harvest to plant during the next rainy season. If those seeds are lost, the results are devastating. Farmers may have to borrow money at high rates to purchase more seeds for planting, and may have to take on additional work to pay the loans back. Some farmers have stopped planting during the rainy season, choosing instead to migrate to El Salvador, Costa Rica, or even the United States to look for work. Family members left behind struggle to keep food on the table and children in school while their land lies fallow.To support Felicita and her family as they try to adapt to the effects of climate change, The Lutheran World Federation - working with the Faith and Hope Lutheran Church of Nicaragua - helped them dig a shallow well. The water from the well is gravity-fed to irrigate crops during the dry season. Thanks to the well and Felicita's hard work, her lush garden - full of beans, corn, squash, tomatoes, and yucca - thrives in the middle of the dry summer months. Felicita will use the garden to feed her family and small farm animals. If there are leftover vegetables, she will sell them for added income.
The well protects Felicita and her family from uncertain weather patterns. In turn, the increased food security ensures that they will have enough to eat and will not have to migrate to faraway places, disrupting and perhaps ending Ariel's schooling and leaving their culture and community behind.
Solutions like this will need to be joined with other, much larger efforts, if subsistence farmers around the world are to adjust to the impacts of climate change that are already occurring. International development agencies are working hard to adapt to and address this new reality, but significant aid from governments and international agencies will be needed to ensure that families like Felicita's are able to survive and thrive as the earth's climate continues to change.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Living Earth: Remembrance
Pass the (genetically engineered) stuffing!
By Mary MinetteELCA Director for Environmental Advocacy and Education
You crown the year with your bounty; your wagon tracks overflow with richness.The pastures of the wilderness overflow,the hills gird themselves with joy,the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,the valleys deck themselves with grain,they shout and sing together with joy.- Psalm 65:11-13
Did you know that 68 percent of all corn and 91 percent of all soybeans planted in the United States in 2009 were varieties that have been genetically modified to survive the application of certain commercial herbicides (mostly Monsanto's Roundup) so that farmers can more easily control weeds?
And that 63 percent of corn planted in the U.S. in 2009 contained a gene from the bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis, or Bt, that produces a protein toxic to certain types of insects, so farmers can use fewer pesticides?
Given those numbers, it is likely that the cornbread that you use to make stuffing this Thanksgiving or the grain that your turkey ate on its way to your table contain genetically engineered (GE) crops.
What does this mean for you, and for the food supply of our country and the rest of the world?
The companies that have developed these seeds argue that they allow farmers to greatly increase their yield per acre and will be needed as the earth's population grows larger. Farmers say that they are able to apply fewer chemicals to their fields, helping the environment and saving them money, time and fuel. Proponents argue that in the future GE crops will help to manage agricultural risk from drought, pests and disease to make the world's food supply more secure, and that genetic modification holds the promise of developing more nutritious crops. And because farmers do not have to till their fields to remove weeds each year the carbon in the soil stays put rather than being released into the atmosphere, helping to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change.
However, not everyone is thrilled by increasing acreage planted in genetically modified seed. Some worry that GE crops may not be safe for humans and animals to eat. Thus far, studies of the most common genetically modified food crops have failed to show that they pose any such health risk; however, the massive growth in their use has taken place over a relatively short time period and the long term impacts are not yet known.
Others argue that pollen from genetically modified crops can easily become commingled with pollen from conventional crops. Pollen drift has already led to disputes between organic farmers and their neighbors growing GE crops. Pollen drift from GE crops tolerant of herbicides could potentially lead to "super weeds" resistant to commonly used herbicides and "super bugs" resistant to Bt. If this occurs, farmers will have to return to using more toxic herbicides and pesticides at the expense of the environment.
Some say that the promise that genetically modified crops will help to feed the world ignores structural problems with the world's food supply. They argue that overall supply is not the problem; other factors including unequal distribution of food and international trade policies that favor wealthy countries over poor countries are the root causes of global hunger.
Still others argue that the increasing use of GE crops in agriculture is assisting in the consolidation of our food system and the decline of small farms, as the influence of large agricultural corporations grows through the use of their genetically modified seed and related products.
These are all things to ponder this Thanksgiving, as we enjoy the fruits of the harvest and remember in our prayers those around the world who continue to live with chronic hunger.
Learn More and Speak Out
The ELCA has a social policy resolution on genetically modified organisms and is developing a social statement on genetics. A draft of the social statement will be available in mid-March 2010 and the ELCA Task Force on Genetics will be asking for your input and comments in hearings around the country from March through November of next year. Keep an eye on the ELCA’s website (www.elca.org/socialstatements) for the draft social statement and opportunities to comment!
A Prayer for the Journey
O Lord, maker of all things, you open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living creature. We praise you for crowning the fields with your blessings and enabling us once more to gather in the fruits of the earth. Teach us to use your gifts carefully, that our land may continue to yield its increase, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.- Evangelical Lutheran Worship, p. 62 (Augsburg Fortress 2006)
By Mary MinetteELCA Director for Environmental Advocacy and Education
You crown the year with your bounty; your wagon tracks overflow with richness.The pastures of the wilderness overflow,the hills gird themselves with joy,the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,the valleys deck themselves with grain,they shout and sing together with joy.- Psalm 65:11-13
Did you know that 68 percent of all corn and 91 percent of all soybeans planted in the United States in 2009 were varieties that have been genetically modified to survive the application of certain commercial herbicides (mostly Monsanto's Roundup) so that farmers can more easily control weeds?
And that 63 percent of corn planted in the U.S. in 2009 contained a gene from the bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis, or Bt, that produces a protein toxic to certain types of insects, so farmers can use fewer pesticides?
Given those numbers, it is likely that the cornbread that you use to make stuffing this Thanksgiving or the grain that your turkey ate on its way to your table contain genetically engineered (GE) crops.
What does this mean for you, and for the food supply of our country and the rest of the world?
The companies that have developed these seeds argue that they allow farmers to greatly increase their yield per acre and will be needed as the earth's population grows larger. Farmers say that they are able to apply fewer chemicals to their fields, helping the environment and saving them money, time and fuel. Proponents argue that in the future GE crops will help to manage agricultural risk from drought, pests and disease to make the world's food supply more secure, and that genetic modification holds the promise of developing more nutritious crops. And because farmers do not have to till their fields to remove weeds each year the carbon in the soil stays put rather than being released into the atmosphere, helping to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change.
However, not everyone is thrilled by increasing acreage planted in genetically modified seed. Some worry that GE crops may not be safe for humans and animals to eat. Thus far, studies of the most common genetically modified food crops have failed to show that they pose any such health risk; however, the massive growth in their use has taken place over a relatively short time period and the long term impacts are not yet known.
Others argue that pollen from genetically modified crops can easily become commingled with pollen from conventional crops. Pollen drift has already led to disputes between organic farmers and their neighbors growing GE crops. Pollen drift from GE crops tolerant of herbicides could potentially lead to "super weeds" resistant to commonly used herbicides and "super bugs" resistant to Bt. If this occurs, farmers will have to return to using more toxic herbicides and pesticides at the expense of the environment.
Some say that the promise that genetically modified crops will help to feed the world ignores structural problems with the world's food supply. They argue that overall supply is not the problem; other factors including unequal distribution of food and international trade policies that favor wealthy countries over poor countries are the root causes of global hunger.
Still others argue that the increasing use of GE crops in agriculture is assisting in the consolidation of our food system and the decline of small farms, as the influence of large agricultural corporations grows through the use of their genetically modified seed and related products.
These are all things to ponder this Thanksgiving, as we enjoy the fruits of the harvest and remember in our prayers those around the world who continue to live with chronic hunger.
Learn More and Speak Out
The ELCA has a social policy resolution on genetically modified organisms and is developing a social statement on genetics. A draft of the social statement will be available in mid-March 2010 and the ELCA Task Force on Genetics will be asking for your input and comments in hearings around the country from March through November of next year. Keep an eye on the ELCA’s website (www.elca.org/socialstatements) for the draft social statement and opportunities to comment!
A Prayer for the Journey
O Lord, maker of all things, you open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living creature. We praise you for crowning the fields with your blessings and enabling us once more to gather in the fruits of the earth. Teach us to use your gifts carefully, that our land may continue to yield its increase, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.- Evangelical Lutheran Worship, p. 62 (Augsburg Fortress 2006)
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Stop Moutainton Removal on Coal River Mountain
ON TUESDAY NOVEMBER 10TH SPEAK OUT FOR THE MOUNTAINS!
Join in a faith day of action against mountaintop removal coal mining
"Rise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice."- Micah 6:1
Mountaintop removal coal mining is a practice used primarily in the Appalachian Mountains, where the tops of mountains are removed to expose seams of coal; earth and rock from the mountaintop is then dumped in neighboring valleys. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, over 1,000 miles of streams in the Appalachian region have been buried by fill from mountaintop mines and at least 800 square miles of mountaintops have been lost forever. Mountaintop removal mining provides jobs in one of our country's poorest regions, but at the expense of the land, water, culture and community of the Appalachian Mountains. Learn more about mountaintop removal here.
Several years ago, at the urging of several synods in the Appalachian region, the ELCA Churchwide Assembly adopted a social policy resolution that expressed great concern about the destructive practice of mountaintop removal coal mining and advocated for an end to it.
In the years since that resolution passed, numerous efforts have been made to slow or halt the practice of mountaintop removal mining. The ELCA has continued to urge both an end to the practice and the development of alternative energy sources that may become a source of jobs and economic growth in the Appalachian region and beyond.
We need your help now to stop one of the most destructive of these mines from destroying yet another mountain!
Blasting recently began on Coal River Mountain in West Virginia, and the West Virginia DEP has confirmed that coal is being moved off the mountain. This was devastating news to advocates in nearby communities who have rallied around an alternate plan to build a wind farm on Coal River Mountain, the highest peak ever slated for mountaintop removal mining in West Virginia and one of the last intact peaks in the Coal River Valley. The proposed wind farm has the potential to provide electricity for over 70,000 homes, as well as to create good, permanent jobs for the community. When fully operational, the mountaintop removal mine will stripmine over 6,000 acres of Coal River Mountain -- close to 10 square miles that will be forever changed and no longer useable for wind power.
God entrusted stewardship of the land and water to our care (Genesis 2:15). As part of our call to be stewards of creation, we have a duty to use the land responsibly, to manage it so that it serves the good of all, and to protect it for future generations and for all life. Send a message to the Environmental Protection Agency asking them to intervene and end the Coal River Mountain mining project.
Send a letter to the following decision maker(s): EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson
Below is the sample letter:
Subject: Stop MTR on Coal River Mountain
Dear Lisa Jackson,
As a person of faith, I believe that we are called to be stewards of the Earth and to manage our land, water and other resources for the benefit of all of his creation and for future generations. I am greatly troubled by the destructive practice of mountaintop removal coal mining in the Appalachian Mountains -- this practice favors short term economic gain over the protection of these ancient mountains and the unique culture and communities that depend upon them.
Recently, mining operations have begun on Coal River Mountain in West Virginia. This mountaintop removal mine has been opposed by many in the surrounding communities, who favor building a wind farm on the mountain as a way to protect it for current and future generations, provide energy for more than 70,000 homes, and create good, permanent jobs for residents of the surrounding area. This project would epitomize the clean energy future that President Obama spoken of so often; the mountaintop removal m ine that will prevent it from becoming a reality is a symbol of the dirty energy status quo.
I thank you for all that you have done so far in your term as administrator to slow the growth of mountaintop removal mines, and urge you to intervene in any way possible to prevent the mountaintop mine on Coal River Mountain from further damaging the mountain. I also urge you to lend your support to local community members fighting to establish a wind project on the mountain as a sustainable alternative to the mountaintop mine.
We are called by God to till and tend God's garden; mountaintop removal mining flies in the face of God's call to stewardship. I urge you to continue to do all that you can to ensure a cleaner, and less destructive, energy future for our nation.
Sincerely,
(Your Name)
Join in a faith day of action against mountaintop removal coal mining
"Rise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice."- Micah 6:1
Mountaintop removal coal mining is a practice used primarily in the Appalachian Mountains, where the tops of mountains are removed to expose seams of coal; earth and rock from the mountaintop is then dumped in neighboring valleys. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, over 1,000 miles of streams in the Appalachian region have been buried by fill from mountaintop mines and at least 800 square miles of mountaintops have been lost forever. Mountaintop removal mining provides jobs in one of our country's poorest regions, but at the expense of the land, water, culture and community of the Appalachian Mountains. Learn more about mountaintop removal here.
Several years ago, at the urging of several synods in the Appalachian region, the ELCA Churchwide Assembly adopted a social policy resolution that expressed great concern about the destructive practice of mountaintop removal coal mining and advocated for an end to it.
In the years since that resolution passed, numerous efforts have been made to slow or halt the practice of mountaintop removal mining. The ELCA has continued to urge both an end to the practice and the development of alternative energy sources that may become a source of jobs and economic growth in the Appalachian region and beyond.
We need your help now to stop one of the most destructive of these mines from destroying yet another mountain!
Blasting recently began on Coal River Mountain in West Virginia, and the West Virginia DEP has confirmed that coal is being moved off the mountain. This was devastating news to advocates in nearby communities who have rallied around an alternate plan to build a wind farm on Coal River Mountain, the highest peak ever slated for mountaintop removal mining in West Virginia and one of the last intact peaks in the Coal River Valley. The proposed wind farm has the potential to provide electricity for over 70,000 homes, as well as to create good, permanent jobs for the community. When fully operational, the mountaintop removal mine will stripmine over 6,000 acres of Coal River Mountain -- close to 10 square miles that will be forever changed and no longer useable for wind power.
God entrusted stewardship of the land and water to our care (Genesis 2:15). As part of our call to be stewards of creation, we have a duty to use the land responsibly, to manage it so that it serves the good of all, and to protect it for future generations and for all life. Send a message to the Environmental Protection Agency asking them to intervene and end the Coal River Mountain mining project.
Send a letter to the following decision maker(s): EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson
Below is the sample letter:
Subject: Stop MTR on Coal River Mountain
Dear Lisa Jackson,
As a person of faith, I believe that we are called to be stewards of the Earth and to manage our land, water and other resources for the benefit of all of his creation and for future generations. I am greatly troubled by the destructive practice of mountaintop removal coal mining in the Appalachian Mountains -- this practice favors short term economic gain over the protection of these ancient mountains and the unique culture and communities that depend upon them.
Recently, mining operations have begun on Coal River Mountain in West Virginia. This mountaintop removal mine has been opposed by many in the surrounding communities, who favor building a wind farm on the mountain as a way to protect it for current and future generations, provide energy for more than 70,000 homes, and create good, permanent jobs for residents of the surrounding area. This project would epitomize the clean energy future that President Obama spoken of so often; the mountaintop removal m ine that will prevent it from becoming a reality is a symbol of the dirty energy status quo.
I thank you for all that you have done so far in your term as administrator to slow the growth of mountaintop removal mines, and urge you to intervene in any way possible to prevent the mountaintop mine on Coal River Mountain from further damaging the mountain. I also urge you to lend your support to local community members fighting to establish a wind project on the mountain as a sustainable alternative to the mountaintop mine.
We are called by God to till and tend God's garden; mountaintop removal mining flies in the face of God's call to stewardship. I urge you to continue to do all that you can to ensure a cleaner, and less destructive, energy future for our nation.
Sincerely,
(Your Name)
Monday, October 12, 2009
"The Shack"
"Our earth is like a child who has grown up without parents, having no one to guide and direct her. ...Some have tried to help her, but most have simply tried to use her. Humans, who have been given the task to lovingly steer the world, instead plunder her, with no consideration other than their immediate needs. And they give little thought to their own children, who will inherit their lack of love. So they use her and abuse her with little consideration, and then when she shudders or blows her breath, they are offended and raise their fists at God" (The Shack, Wm. Paul Young).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)