This letter from PA IPL member and former intern Barb Donnini was published in the Good Steward Campaign newsletter, as well as in the Centre Daily Times here.
A Simple Wish
I wish for an excellent quality of life for every human being, for biodiversity and for a great outdoors to exist for my children.
It is for these reasons, and my desire to follow moral guidelines, that I am deeply disturbed to learn of people who think climate change is not real, but is instead an elaborate scam to raise taxes.
The World Health Organization estimates that 150,000 deaths are directly attributable to climate change.
In a sick ironic twist, the people hurt the most by climate change aren’t emitting the most (or even a lot). The most affected nations are the poorest. Their citizens are barely able to subsist day to day, let alone pay to cope with the new effects of climate change on their communities (extreme drought in Africa, for example).
What’s being asked of all of us is small: Conserve energy in your home and encourage clean energy projects. This doesn't mean changing your political party. It means signing an online petition, helping a nonprofit or supporting national policy that increases renewable energy usage.
Even if you still aren’t convinced, we can all agree that conserving energy is a good thing, if just for financial reasons.
I’d like to believe that most can identify with right versus wrong, fair versus unfair. It isn’t fair that we use much more energy than needed while so many others feel the consequences.
We have one chance at preserving the planet - the risk is too great to do nothing.
Showing posts with label letter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label letter. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Climate Cliff
This letter from PA IPL board president Rev. Bill Thwing was published on 12/10/2012 in the Johnstown Tribune Democrat
Nation facing more ‘cliffs’ than fiscal
Three recent news stories have caught my attention.
While headlines scream that a “fiscal cliff” looms and that Republicans and Democrats can’t reach agreement, another, smaller story whispers that China and the United States have traded places as world economic powers.
Apparently, as recently as 2006, the United States was the largest trading partner around the world, with 127 countries versus China’s 70.
By 2011, that ratio had reversed, with China now serving as the largest trading partner for 124 countries and the United States serving 76.
Wow! That’s a really big “fiscal cliff.”
A second article catching my attention was “Study: CO2 emissions increase by 3 percent.”
Apparently, China and the United States have now also switched places as the world’s biggest polluter. The amount of heat-trapping pollution the world spewed rose last year by 3 percent with China being the world’s biggest carbon dioxide polluter. The United States and Germany reduced their emissions.
Worldwide, we’ve added nearly 9 ppm of CO2 emissions in only one year! That’s a huge change.
In 2006, CO2 was advancing by only 1 ppm per year. It looks to me like we humans are heading for a “carbon cliff.”
Which cliff is worse: The domestic fiscal cliff that leads to another recession, the balance of trade cliff that leads to the loss of world economic dominance for the United States, or the carbon cliff that leads to climate chaos, failing nations, mass extinctions and the potential collapse of human civilization?
All these cliffs can be avoided simply by agreeing to work together on solutions for the common good.
Rev. William C. Thwing
Johnstown
The link to the letter online is here: http://tribune-democrat.com/editorials?start=10 Rev. Thwing's is the second letter.
Nation facing more ‘cliffs’ than fiscal
Three recent news stories have caught my attention.
While headlines scream that a “fiscal cliff” looms and that Republicans and Democrats can’t reach agreement, another, smaller story whispers that China and the United States have traded places as world economic powers.
Apparently, as recently as 2006, the United States was the largest trading partner around the world, with 127 countries versus China’s 70.
By 2011, that ratio had reversed, with China now serving as the largest trading partner for 124 countries and the United States serving 76.
Wow! That’s a really big “fiscal cliff.”
A second article catching my attention was “Study: CO2 emissions increase by 3 percent.”
Apparently, China and the United States have now also switched places as the world’s biggest polluter. The amount of heat-trapping pollution the world spewed rose last year by 3 percent with China being the world’s biggest carbon dioxide polluter. The United States and Germany reduced their emissions.
Worldwide, we’ve added nearly 9 ppm of CO2 emissions in only one year! That’s a huge change.
In 2006, CO2 was advancing by only 1 ppm per year. It looks to me like we humans are heading for a “carbon cliff.”
Which cliff is worse: The domestic fiscal cliff that leads to another recession, the balance of trade cliff that leads to the loss of world economic dominance for the United States, or the carbon cliff that leads to climate chaos, failing nations, mass extinctions and the potential collapse of human civilization?
All these cliffs can be avoided simply by agreeing to work together on solutions for the common good.
Rev. William C. Thwing
Johnstown
The link to the letter online is here: http://tribune-democrat.com/editorials?start=10 Rev. Thwing's is the second letter.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
A letter from Canadian faith leaders
A letter released on October 25, 2011 titled "Canadian Interfaith Call for Leadership and Action on Climate Change" is worth reading. Excerpts appear in Canada's Embassy magazine here. A PDF of the entire text can be downloaded from the national IPL website here. (Click on "read this important statement" just below the paragraph announcing the letter.)
The first paragraph states
"We, representatives of Canadian faith communities, are united in our conviction that the growing crisis of climate change needs to be met by solutions that draw upon the moral and spiritual resources of the world's religious traditions. We recognize that at its root the unprecedented human contribution to climate change is symptomatic of a spiritual deficit: excessive self-interest, destructive competition, and greed have given rise to unsustainable patterns of production and consumption. Humanity's relationship with the environment has become distorted by actions that compromise the welfare of future generations of life."
Paragraph 4 is my favorite as an inspiration for both speech and action by individuals, voices of faith, and communities of faith in our wider communities.
"All religious traditions uphold the nobility of the human spirit, calling us to seek moderation and service to the common good. Such a vision empowers individuals to take responsibility for relationships with each other and our planet. Indeed, our everyday choices about food, transportation, clothing and entertainment are all practical expressions of what we value. At the same time, disconnections between our professed beliefs and our daily actions indicate our need for personal and collective awareness and transformation. We need to seek coherence between our beliefs and our actions, so that our lives and consumption habits reflect our relationship with the rest of humanity and the Earth itself. "
Which parts speak to you? Please use the comments to lead us to the writings within your own denomination or tradition that have inspired you to act on energy use and climate change!
The first paragraph states
"We, representatives of Canadian faith communities, are united in our conviction that the growing crisis of climate change needs to be met by solutions that draw upon the moral and spiritual resources of the world's religious traditions. We recognize that at its root the unprecedented human contribution to climate change is symptomatic of a spiritual deficit: excessive self-interest, destructive competition, and greed have given rise to unsustainable patterns of production and consumption. Humanity's relationship with the environment has become distorted by actions that compromise the welfare of future generations of life."
Paragraph 4 is my favorite as an inspiration for both speech and action by individuals, voices of faith, and communities of faith in our wider communities.
"All religious traditions uphold the nobility of the human spirit, calling us to seek moderation and service to the common good. Such a vision empowers individuals to take responsibility for relationships with each other and our planet. Indeed, our everyday choices about food, transportation, clothing and entertainment are all practical expressions of what we value. At the same time, disconnections between our professed beliefs and our daily actions indicate our need for personal and collective awareness and transformation. We need to seek coherence between our beliefs and our actions, so that our lives and consumption habits reflect our relationship with the rest of humanity and the Earth itself. "
Which parts speak to you? Please use the comments to lead us to the writings within your own denomination or tradition that have inspired you to act on energy use and climate change!
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