5/21 CCC: Secular enviro. publications, TIME on Climate is Everything, etc.

 5/21 CCC: Secular enviro. publications, TIME on Climate is Everything, New Documentary, IPPNW, more Earth Day resources, Creation Justice Ministries Bible quotation.

A sample of periodicals from secular environmental advocacy organizations.  These membership groups are directed to the general public, not specialists or scientists.

America's Wilderness is the member newsletter from The Wilderness Society.  wilderness.org .

Arbor Day is the official publication of the Arbor Day Foundation.  arborday.org .

Audubon magazine.  audubon.org .

Banking on Climate Chaos 2021: Fossil Fuel Finance Report.  Rainforest Action Network. ran.org .

Catalyst. Union of Concerned Scientists.  ucsusa.org .

CeresWorks arrives from the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible EconomieS (CERES).

Defenders: The Voice of Defenders of Wildlife. defenders.org .

Earth Island Journal: News of the World Environment.  An Earth Island Institute publication. eii.org/projects .

Green American: Live Better, Save More, Invest Wisely, Make a Difference.  GreenAmerican.org .

Humane Activist and Humane Scorecard (reports on U.S. Congressional Sessions).  Humane Society Legislative Fund.  hslf.org .

The Living Planet Report is issued every two years by the World Wildlife Fund. worldwildlife.org .

National Parks.  The magazine of the National Parks Conservation Association.

Nature Conservancy.  See Nature.org/magazine .

Newsmagazine: Eco Edition.  Friends of the Earth.

Orion: People and Nature.  orionmagazine.org .

PETA Global: Advancing the Animal Rights Revolution.  People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.  peta.org .

Population Connection.  Magazine from Population Connection.

Rails to Trails: Inspiring Movement.  Magazine from Rails-to-Trails Conservancy.

Rainforest-Alliance.org has many reports on-line.

Sierra: Explore, Enjoy, Protect.  Sierra Club magazine.

Solutions: Finding the Ways that Work.  Environmental Defense Fund periodical.  edf.org .

The Source. Newsletter of American Rivers.org (Rivers Connect Us).

Splash.  oceanconservancy.org .

Spotlight is the new newsletter from Corporate Accountability: Join the Global campaign, a 501(c)(3) non-profit.  It also conducts annual "Corporate Hall of Shame" inductee ballot votes.

A Year of Progress for People and the Planet.  greenpeace.org .

Note: Membership benefits may include

action plans, bookmarks, briefing papers on issues, bumper stickers, calendars, financial reports,

greeting cards, legislation profiles, maps, matching funds appeals, petitions, postcards, priority projects,  return address labels, survey questionnaires, "things-to-do" lists, voting record profiles, wallet membership cards, writing note tablets, year-end reports, etc.

---------------------------------

Another "environmental" group (a continuation  from earlier monthly columns):

International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW)

IPPNW received a Nobel Peace Prize in 1985, by which time it had 135,000 members in 41 countries, having been founded in 1980 by a group of six American and Soviet doctors, one of whom was Harvard cardiologist Dr. Bernard Lown (1921-2021).  An obituary for him shares these quotes:  "To me, you cannot be committed to health without being engaged in social struggle for health."  His involvement in the IPPNW led detractors to accuse him of playing into the 'hands of Soviet propagandists,' said The New York Times.  He dismissed such criticism as irrelevant considering the cataclysmic threat posed by nuclear weapons.  "We are not indifferent to other human rights," he said in accepting the Nobel.  "But first we must be able to bequeath to our children the most fundamental of all rights, which preconditions all others: the right to survival."  (Obituary: The cardiologist who campaigned against nukes, THE WEEK, March 12, 2021, p. 35).

--------------------

A valuable TIME magazine double issue theme: CLIMATE IS EVERYTHING for April 26/May 3 is 36 pages (1/3 of the total pages) and continues their launch of a decade-long "TIME 2030" effort to spotlight "the ideas and innovations driving progress toward a more sustainable and equitable world."

The concept of "climatization" runs through the many articles: the course of processes by which climate change will transform society.  Policies and systems such as national security, finance, energy, housing, architecture,  racial justice, public health, schooling and academia, crime, transportation, economics, economies, and economic growth, politics and government, labor markets, corporate social responsibility, food, poverty, trade routes, supply chains, leadership advocacy and activism, media, science, ethics, climate risk disclosures,  the legal and medical professions, taxes, technologies, emergency preparedness, migrations, infrastructures of all kinds, urban adaptations, challenges of pollution and sanitation, the need for climate literacy at all levels of education, biodiversity protection, global senses of racial and economic inequalities, global senses of moral obligations and interdependency, catastrophic weather event warnings, etc., etc., etc., are each detailed in these TIME essays.

It is these climate connections, intersections, linkages, cross-cuttings, intertwinings, interactions, spillovers, externalities, etc., call them what you will--- the wide gamut of efforts to save the integrity of the environmental commons--- will become the priority for us.  The economic and environmental benefits and losses, the "trade-offs", will factor in more decision-making transformations across all sectors.  The essays in this edition of TIME covers these.

In other words, climate change will permeate everything.

-------------------------------

New Documentary

Extinction: The Facts is narrated by Sir David Attenborough, and premiered on PBS 3/31/2021, and is about biodiversity loss and halting it.  Attenborough is vice-president of Fauna & Flora International.  One review of the documentary is by Ed Rampell, "How We Can Put a Halt to Biodiversity Loss."

----------------------------

Some resources from Earth Day 2021:

Parade magazine for April 11 and again on April 18 provided several pages devoted to Earth Day issues (problems and solutions), some of which are derived from Laurie David's co-authored book Imagine It: A Handbook for a Happier Planet.  Some "earth-friendly cities" are raised up (Louisville KY, San Diego CA, Seattle WA, Orlando FL, and Washington DC).  An article by Kathleen McCleary notes "5 Ways to Help the Planet Today" (ditch the glitter; be food smart; embrace earth-friendly fashion; try a new way to compost; quit the plastic habit).  The 4/18 article "Go a Little Greener" has tips for a better wipe, a better cup of coffee, a better swab, a better ride, a better clean, a better wrap, and a better wash.

See parade.com and search for earth, earth-day-facts, and picks.

-------------------------

2 Peter 3:12-13.  The second letter of Peter asks early Christian communities to orient their lives towards their hope for "a new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home."  Such was the Bible study for Earth Day 2021 recommended by Creation Justice Ministries.

--------------------------

Mike Ochs finds common ground between religion and politics in his concern for the environment.

Politically he self-published the first "Greens Bibliography" of the English-language literature on the international Green Party movement (1989), the project for his Master of Liberal Arts in International Studies degree at Lock Haven (PA) University. He also helped plant the seeds for the Green Party of PA at that time, and remains a cyber-activist with it.

For a monthly newsletter of the ecumenical United Churches of Lycoming County (PA), he has written the "Creation Corner Column" since 1997.  It became a blog in 2011 at 

http://lutheransrestoringcreationblog.blogspot.com/

He received a B.A. degree from Gettysburg College in 1965.

                                                                        -30-

4/21 CCC: Earth Day '21, expanded edition

 April 2021 Creation Corner Column

Earth Day, Faith Climate Action Week, Stewardship Week, Arbor Day, Creation and Climate Care Zine, Inter-Faith Environmental Conversations

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April 22, 2021 is Earth Day

CreationJustice.org upholds an Earth Day Sunday theme of "A New Heaven and a New Earth" as it focuses on health, environmental racism, and eco-justice.  Educational materials available as free downloads. "Creation Justice Ministries: Justice for God's Planet and God's People" has many denomination partners and free materials can be downloaded from their web site, including "52 Ways to Care for Creation.".

EarthDay.org is the official secular site theme of "Restore Our Earth" with campaigns of The Canopy Project, Food and the Environment, the Great Global CleanUp, climate literacy, and Earth Challenge.  With many partners advancing its theme goals, an earth day tool kit, and partnering possibilities, their web site provides a link to the Biden administration's hosting an Earth Day global climate summit.

Faith Climate Action Week (.org) is April 16-25, with a theme "Sacred Ground: Cultivating Connections Between our Faith, our Food, and the Climate.  An organizer's kit is available that includes sample sermons, talks, and resources for worship services.  It is brought to us by the Interfaith Power and Light national effort that has a PA affiliate based in Lewisburg.  paipl.org .

Soil and Water Stewardship Week and Sunday, April 25-May 2, is sponsored by local affiliates of the National Association of Conservation Districts.  Since 1955 the NACD Stewardship Week has encouraged  individual responsibility for the caring of natural resource conservation, between the last Sunday in April and the first Sunday in May.  "Healthy Forests, Healthy Communities" is the theme this year, and at the NACD marketplace can be found free downloadable materials such as student booklets, an educator guide, placemat/activity guide, poster, bookmark, church leader guide, litany and program insert.

April 30 is Arbor Day and as it begins a year-long celebration up to its 150th anniversary, this year it advises "6 Ways to Celebrate Arbor Day in a Time of Social Distancing." Arbor Day Foundation.

Creation and Climate Care Zine is a free 17-page downloadable resource available from Sojourners, at sojo.net/zine.  Its 12 chapters are well-illustrated with simplified narratives.  The first two chapters begin with Bible verses:

1. Creation Care.  Gen 2:15, Lev 25:23-24, John 3:16, Job 12:7-10.

2. Creation Care & Place-Rootedness. Gen 2;15, Mark 2:30-31

3. Climate Science.  

4. Frontline Testimonies.

5. Ways to Care for Creation.

6. Communicating Faith & Climate (A Quick How-To Guide).

7. What Is Climate Justice?

8. Climate  Justice & Women

9. Climate Justice & Race

10. Climate Justice & Migration

11. Climate Justice & Peace

12. Climate Action Resources include several at sojo.net, footprintcalculator.org, global weirding series with Katharine Hayhoe, Blessed Tomorrow, Climate Justice Alliance, Christian Climate Action, and also see the Paris Agreement, Laudato Si, Jemez Principles, Principles of Environmental Justice.

A Conversation with Inter-Faith Leaders where they share how their beliefs inform their environmental advocacy and action includes participants from various religions: Buddhism, Christian (Baptist and Episcopal), Islam and Judaism, can be found at ucsusa.org/conversation-faith-climate-justice.  The sponsor is the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Faith is Green program has leaders from multiple faiths joining in a conversation on the theology of why faith communities care for the environment.  Participants include the Evangelical Environmental Network, a professor of Moral Theology at the Catholic University of America, a U.S. Muslim environmental leader, the president of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition, and a representative from the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.  See earthx.org/event/faith-is-green .

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Other Resources

Re: Climate change, a web site for adults is climate.nasa.gov .

One for children is climatekids.nasa.gov .

Climate Church, Climate World: How People of Faith Must Work for Change. Rev. Jim Antal.

Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We're in without Going Crazy.  Joanna Macy and Chris Johnson.

DVD series: ProFuture Faith: The Prodigal Species Comes Home.  Rev. Michael Dowd.

Journey of the Universe  book and film celebrates its 10th anniversary.  A collaborative effort of Brian Swimme, Mary Evelyn Tucker, John Grim,  et al, it combines scientific knowledge with the humanistic wisdom traditions of the West, China, India and indigenous traditions.  The creators credit inspiration from the late Thomas Berry, "geologian" and cultural historian, whose efforts included a call to humanity to save nature to save itself.  More information from the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology.

The Pulse of the Planet celebrates its 30th anniversary as a radio program from National Public Radio (NPR).

---------------------------------

Three environmentalists raised up by TIME magazine in their "The Next 100 Most Influential People" special issue of March 1/ March 8, 2021:

Vanessa Nakate, 24, climate justice champion in Uganda, Green Schools Project.

Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, 40, climate optimist, marine biologist, All We Can Save Project.

Julian Brave NoiseCat, 27, policy adviser; climate journalist and advocate; one of many in what is called the Standing Rock generation; works for the Data for Progress think tank.

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Upcoming Events

World Environment Day is June 5 and begins the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Decade on Ecological Restoration.  The Sunday nearest June 5 is celebrated as the Environmental Sabbath (June 6).

The 8th Parliament of World Religions will take place October 17-18, 2021.  The theme is "Opening Our Hearts to the World: Compassion in Action." 

----------------------------------

Mike Ochs finds common ground between religion and politics in his concern for the environment.

Politically he self-published the first "Greens Bibliography" of the English-language literature on the international Green Party movement (1989), the project for his Master of Liberal Arts in International Studies degree at Lock Haven (PA) University. He also helped plant the seeds for the Green Party of PA at that time, and remains a cyber-activist with it.

For a monthly newsletter of the ecumenical United Churches of Lycoming County (PA), he has written the "Creation Corner Column" since 1997.  It became a blog in 2011 at 

http://lutheransrestoringcreationblog.blogspot.com/

He received a B.A. degree from Gettysburg College in 1965.

3/21 Env. Groups Pt. 2, Earth Day, Film Fest, Stewardship Sunday, etc.

 3/21 Creation Corner Column: Environmental Group Goals, Part 2, Earth Day, Film 

                                    Fest., Stewardship Sunday, etc.

 Opening quotation:  "Be part of the solution, not the pollution."

Environmental Group Goals, Part 2 (part 1 in February column)

Help curb climate disruption and reign in the abuses of the fossil fuel industry, prevent the erosion of safeguards for water, air and land, remind elected officials and bureaucrats who they work for, continue to publish the "Sierra: Explore, Enjoy, Protect" magazine, with environmental hard-hitting investigations, interviews, natural world photography, etc., and help support local affiliates,  The Sierra Club.

Provide a comprehensive guide to greening your home and purchases, address global crises (from climate to hunger and corruption to racism), help create a more just and sustainable society, help reverse the climate crisis and protect people from exposure to toxic chemicals.  Green America, (formerly Co-op America).

Supports animals by initiatives that protect them from harms of suffering, abuse and neglect. Raises concerns about wildlife roaming on protected federal lands being targeted by trophy hunters, big cats abused and imprisoned in roadside zoos, thousands of dogs locked away in puppy mills, forced to reproduce over and over again until their bodies fail, or their profit-driven owners simply kill them.  Urge legislation such as the Puppy Protection Act, the Big Cat Public Safety Act, and the Prepared Act to add regulations to the Animal Welfare Act.  Humane Society of the U.S. Legislative Fund.

Make the most of opportunities for stronger protections against leasing public lands for oil and gas development at bargain basement prices, seek the overdue restoration of national parks and protections for park wildlife, build on the passage of the Great American Outdoors Act to seek the overdue restoration of our National Park Service's ability to deal with backlog of repair and maintenance needs, continue conservation efforts to reduce the threat to parks by climate change, to ensure the unmatched beauty and breathtaking wonder of our national parks for generations to come.  National Parks Conservation Association. 

Challenges rainforest destruction and disastrous pipeline projects with allies in the Amazon and Indonesia, initiates corporate reforms to build on the Banking on Climate Change 2020 flagship report and the 2021 Keep Forests Standing: Exposing Brands and Banks Driving Deforestation campaign,  to target funders and insurers of projects to address deforestation, land degradation, compromises of the rights of indigenous communities, the poisoning of Black and Brown communities, etc.  Rainforest Action Alliance.

Continue partnerships world-wide (local communities, governments, global corporations, non-profit organizations, and foundations) to help achieve the goals of the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) by boosting rural prosperity to stop deforestation, develop and implement technological innovations, deploy an enhanced Agricultural Certification Program, build and grow responsible supply chains, advocate for global forest-friendly economic policies. Rainforest Alliance

Building on 50 years groundwork from its first direct action in 1971, as a global movement of activists it works to stabilize the climate with litigation, investigation of possible environmental crimes, circulates petitions, changing public perceptions of fossil fuel versus renewable energy business models, pressuring companies to expand investment in renewable energy infrastructure, speak at public hearings, network via social media, and engage in worldwide days of action.  Greenpeace.

Continue being an environmental watchdog for PA through a Green Stimulus and Recovery Program Platform for sustainable industries that don't include fracking and petrochemicals, push the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), promote regulatory changes for the fracked gas industry, and provide help to protect communities from air and water pollution.  PennFuture.

With international affiliates, it helps stop the suffering, abuse, neglect, cruelty, and abandonment of animals. Urges a vegan diet inasmuch as raising animals for food is at the root of a litany of deadly diseases that include avian and swine flu et al.  Quoting the UN Food & Agriculture group, it educates that animal agriculture is responsible for 20% of human-caused Global Greenhouse Gas emissions.  People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

Takes steps to strengthen the ESA (Endangered Species Act), inasmuch as "in the last 40 years, we have lost nearly half of all wild animal species on Earth."  The ESA since 1973 "safeguards more than 2,300 of the world's most vulnerable plant and animal species".  The focus of the group is chimpanzees and their African habitat, through their Research and Rehabilitation centers, efforts to combat wildlife trafficking and disease. The founder/leader is a UN Messenger of Peace.  Jane Goodall Institute.

---------------------------

Four Non-environment specific Groups with an Environmental Agenda include:

It hopes to raise concerns about the sustainability of a growing global population and the demands that population growth makes on natural resources, thus making population an environmental issue, one that is impacted by reproduction, health, and rights.  It helps to empower women to plan their families so the world population can be stabilized, thus fostering a better, safer and healthier future for people everywhere.  Population Connection Action Fund.

Because gun violence is a public health epidemic that harms our health in various environmental settings (home, work, school, houses of worship, etc.), this group helps youth make their voices heard through the campaign team ENOUGH program, promotes legislation that would help create communities that are more safe and secure, educates about ending "family fire" with in-home steps to prevent gun suicide and avoidable tragedies, urges gun industry accountability, and wants police to be held responsible for their own gun violence. Brady Campaign: United Against Gun Violence. 

Helping to elect gun safety politicians to public office, from county sheriffs to state and national legislatures, this group promotes universal background checks, opposes the gun industry lobby in legislative action proposals to protect the public from gun violence, educates the public about gun safety, and uses digital and virtual events, campaign videos, as well as a Political Action Committee for lobbying purposes.  (Gabby) Giffords: Courage to Fight Gun Violence.

Always calling for an end to wasteful military spending, and investing in the health and welfare of our communities, it advances "natural security" as necessary to "national security." A focus on real threats such as the pandemic and global climate heating changes, the risk of nuclear weapons being accidentally or purposefully used (thus a need for their abolition to preserve human life and the integrity of the environment), and their peace agenda campaign of "Move the Money" is supported by active members and chapters nationwide.  Peace Action.

-----------------

29th Annual Environmental Film Festival, March 18-21, entirely online.

11 days of films, panels, and Q&As from the nation's capitol.  Visit DCEFF.ORG .

--------------------------

April 22, 2021 is Earth Day

CreationJustice.org upholds an Earth Day Sunday theme of "A New Heaven and a New Earth" as it focuses on health, environmental racism, and eco-justice.  Educational materials available.

EarthDay.org is the official secular site theme of "Restore Our Earth" with campaigns of The Canopy Project, Food and the Environment, the Great Global CleanUp, climate literacy, and Earth Challenge.  With many partners, it is grateful that the Biden administration will host an Earth Day global climate summit, "The World Turns to Climate Action."

April 30 is Arbor Day and as it begins a year-long celebration up to its 150th anniversary, this year it advises "6 Ways to Celebrate Arbor Day in a Time of Social Distancing."

Soil and Water Stewardship Week and Sunday, sponsored by local affiliates of the National Association of Conservation Districts.  Since 1955 the NACD Stewardship Week has encouraged  individual responsibility for the caring of natural resource conservation, between the last Sunday in April and the first Sunday in May.  "Healthy Forests, Healthy Communities" is the theme this year, and at the NACD marketplace can be found downloadable materials such as student booklets, an educator guide, placemat/activity guide, poster, bookmark, church leader guide, litany and program insert.

------------------------------------

Book for March Women's History Month:

Writing Wild: Women :Poets, Ramblers, and Mavericks Who Shape How We See the Natural World.  Kathryn Aalto.

------------------------------

Closing Quotation:  "Make the Planet Greta Again" (re: Greta Thunberg, teenage climate activist, nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize).

------------------------

Note:  This LutheransRestoringCreation (LRC)  blog column now celebrates its tenth anniversary, having been "adopted" as a blog ten years ago, March of 2011, by the LRC web site hosts.  The column originated as the monthly "Creation Corner Column" for the ecumenical United Churches of Lycoming County (UCLC), PA in October of 1997, in-print and on-line at uclc.org .  This year the UCLC celebrates its 75th year.

--------------------------------------

Mike Ochs finds common ground between religion and politics in his concern for the environment.

Politically he self-published the first "Greens Bibliography" of the English-language literature on the international Green Party movement (1989), the project for his Master of Liberal Arts in International Studies degree at Lock Haven (PA) University. He also helped plant the seeds for the Green Party of PA at that time, and remains a cyber-activist with it.

For a monthly newsletter of the ecumenical United Churches of Lycoming County (PA), he has written the "Creation Corner Column" since 1997.  It became a blog in 2011 at 

http://lutheransrestoringcreationblog.blogspot.com/

He received a B.A. degree from Gettysburg College in 1965.

2/21 CCC: Enviro. Group Goals, Part One

 

2/21 CCC: Enviro. Group Goals, Part One

Opening Quotation:

"I do not believe that our relationship with the earth is liable to change for the better until it gets catastrophically worse.  Our record indicates that we can walk with our eyes wide open straight into sheer destruction if there is a profit on the way---and that seems to me to be what we are doing now.  I have no great expectation that human cussedness will somehow be quickly modified and turned into generosity or that humanity's care of the earth will improve much.  But I do go around planting trees on the campus."  Lutheran theologian Joseph A. Sitler, Grace Notes and Other Fragments, 1981.***

2021 Secular  Environmental Group Effort Goals, Part One

Replant our national forests, improve communities,  save threatened rain forests, nurture children so that they might become our earth's future tree planters.  Arbor Day Foundation

Be a voice in uniting people to protect America's wild places, especially from destruction by fossil fuel companies, so that people and wild nature can flourish together, engage in repairing environmental damage, and help meet the challenges of a rapidly changing planet.  The Wilderness Society.

Preserve wildlife protection laws, protect landscapes and habitats that keep wildlife safe, protect wildlife from climate change, keep ESA (Endangered Species Act) protections intact, help guide our nation toward a clean energy future that also conserves wildlife, protect animals from habitat loss and prevent conflicts with people, protect native pollinators like bees and bats from deadly chemicals, urge solutions to help policy makers better protect species and habitats.  Defenders of Wildlife.

Continue to protect and restore our nation's rivers so that Americans have access to clean drinking water, fishable and swimmable rivers and lakes, and prevent the extinction of North America's freshwater plants, fish and other wildlife that are now at risk (an alarming 40 percent).  American Rivers: Rivers Connect Us.

Partner with low-income neighborhoods and communities of color to combat environmental threats to community health, such as by providing access to free high-quality air monitors and training to use them to collect air quality data to persuade government officials to address pollution in their communities, also help log complaints about dangerous dumping and pollution from fires at scrap metal shops, and the buildout of petrochemical facilities that can jeopardize local air and water quality while dumping significant greenhouse gas emission pollution into the air.  Clean Air Council.

Support legislative goals for progress on climate solutions and environmental justice, restore rolled-back regulatory rules that protect our air, land and water, restore federal environmental agencies to their former strength, recommit the USA to the Paris Climate Agreement, and take immediate national executive action on climate change. League of Conservation Voters.

Use the court system lawsuits and mobilize public opposition opinion as a firewall defense against attacks on the environment, such as oil development in fragile Arctic habitats, to save national monuments from fossil fuel polluters, to conserve the climate-saving Clean Power Plan of the Obama administration, to restrict the use of dozens of "neonic" pesticides products that are toxic to endangered bees, etc.  Natural Resources Defense Council.

Fighting to save the bees, promoting clean energy and a healthier food system, defend our oceans and forest from the worst effects of the climate crisis, hold governments and corporations around the world accountable for their policies that endanger the health of people and our planet, campaign for a healthier and more just world.  Friends of the Earth.

Ensure birds in crisis can survive and thrive, fight climate change (by providing incentives to capture and store greenhouse gases), safeguard wild spaces, advance environmental justice, support the Growing Climate Solutions Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act, defend wild spaces such as the Alaska's Tongass National Forest and the sagebrush ecosystem in the USA West, help address the disproportionate impact climate change has on marginalized communities and advance anti-racist solutions to ensure that every American has equal access to clean air, clean water, and outdoor spaces.  National Audubon Society (there may be a local affiliate near you).

Help people stand up against hydraulic fracturing (fracking), oil and gas pipelines and dirty and dangerous fossil fuel energy infrastructure at local, state and the national level inasmuch as fracking pollutes the air we breathe, contaminates our drinking water and worsens climate change.  Promote a path to 100% renewable energy.  Food and Water Action Fund.

Help fight plastic pollution by  banning the discharge of it and related toxins into our waterways, so that our water can be kept clean, drinkable, fishable and swimmable for everyone.  Promote the use of plastic-free alternatives and keeping fossil fuels in the ground.  The Waterkeeper Alliance, (with a global network of local waterkeeper groups).

Apply our knowledge and experience in water, sanitation, and hygiene promotion to try to stop the spread of COVID-19 in vulnerable communities, and center attention on the need to address the deep systemic inequalities that the pandemic has both exposed and deepened.  Respond to emergencies while advancing long-term solutions in the fight against inequality and injustice to every corner of the globe.  Provide humanitarian assistance to make vaccines free, fair, and accessible.  Help save lives and prevent an escalating hunger crisis from driving more people into long-term poverty.  Strengthen the role of women as local humanitarian leaders, peace builders and human rights defenders.  Oxfam America.

Help reduce climate pollution, speed the transition to a clean energy economy, promote the renewal of our country's role as a global leader by our Paris Climate Agreement participation, and advance the goals of 100% clean electric power by 2035, having all new cars be zero polluting by 2035, and have all new trucks and buses by zero polluting by 2040.  Environmental Defense Fund (Finding the ways that work).

Protect endangered species (examples include tigers, orangutans, polar bears, pandas, marine turtles), save regions that contain the world's largest and most intact tropical rain forests, the most diverse freshwater systems, the most varied coral reefs, most biologically significant deserts and most productive fishing grounds, urgently respond to climate change, promote planet-healthy choices in everyday life, engage members in an action network to promote environmental legislation.  World Wildlife Fund.

Do scientific research on ocean plastic pollution and promote the International Coastal Cleanup, Trash Free Sea Alliance, Beyond the Bag initiative, as part of the Consortium to Reinvent the Retail (plastic) Bag, raise up the Global Ghost Gear Initiative (abandoned, lost and discarded fishing gear), save the Hawaiian Monk Seal, sea turtles, whale sharks, etc., and highlight the role of oceans in climate change solutions.  Ocean Conservancy.

Ensure big polluters are not part of climate policymaking, and pay for the damage they've knowingly caused while fueling the climate crisis, call out corporations for the destruction they cause through the Corporate Hall of Shame, help mobilize people to challenge corporate power's role in lead contamination of water systems, hold "Big Tobacco" responsible for the harm it causes and the lives it destroys, expose the political influence of food and beverage industry and demand more transparency and accountability to the people, and advance the human right to water.  Corporate Accountability: Join the Global Campaign.

Defend science and scientists from political and corporate attacks, reduce the threat of nuclear war and the risk posed by nuclear weapons, advance vehicle and fuel technologies to reduce US oil use and transportation emissions, build support for climate preparedness measures and rein in dangerous emissions that cause global warming, work to ensure environmentally-friendly US agriculture practices, promote a modern electricity grid that maximizes energy storage and runs on 100 percent clean energy, fight for science and evidence-based decision-making as essential for a healthy democracy, reducing racial and economic inequity, and defending people's right to vote.  Union of Concerned Scientists. 

Highlight lands and waters facing mounting pressures in places around the world, such as in Florida, saving critical habitat for the endangered Florida panther, rebuild the decimated spruce and spruce-hardwood forests by planting 1 million trees in the central Appalachians, in Indonesia's Bornean rainforest help to prevent the disappearance of the orangutan due to the industrial logging and mining operations.  The Nature Conservancy (member's gifts can be matched by their employer).

--------------------------

Closing Quotation

"To be glad of life because it gives you the chance to love and to work and to play and to look up to the stars---to be satisfied with your possessions but not contented with yourself until you have made the best of them---to despise nothing in the world except falsehood and meanness, and to fear nothing except cowardice---to be governed by your admirations rather than by your disgusts; to covet nothing that is your neighbor's except his kindness of heart and gentleness of manners---to think seldom of your enemies, often of your friends, and every day of Christ; and to spend as much time as you can, with body and spirit, in God's out-of-doors---these are little guide-posts of the foot-path to peace."  Henry Van Dyke, My Heart Sings, ca. 1900. ***

***Note: The opening and closing quotations are derived from 100 Voices: Words That Shaped Our Souls/Wisdom to Guide Our Future, compiled by Anne Christian Buchanan and Debra K. Klingsporn, with special comments by Martin Marty.  1999.

----------------------------

Mike Ochs finds common ground between religion and politics in his concern for the environment.

Politically he self-published the first "Greens Bibliography" of the English-language literature on the international Green Party movement (1989), the project for his Master of Liberal Arts in International Studies degree at Lock Haven (PA) University. He also helped plant the seeds for the Green Party of PA at that time, and remains a cyber-activist with it.

For a monthly newsletter of the ecumenical United Churches of Lycoming County (PA), he has written the "Creation Corner Column" since 1997.  It became a blog in 2011 at 

http://lutheransrestoringcreationblog.blogspot.com/

He received a B.A. degree from Gettysburg College in 1965.

1/21 Creation Corner Col.: Books, New Concepts, etc.

 Winter Reading: Creation Corner Column, January 2021.

"You can't save a place you don't love.  You can't love a place you don't know.  And you can't know a place you haven't learned."  Watershed theologian Ched Myers' paraphrasing Baba Dioum, a Senegalese environmentalist.

"Read. Think. Do. Repeat."  Phrase often used by The Christian Century.

"To pursue the ongoing clarification of thought":  phrase expressing the purpose of Friday Night Meetings among The Catholic Worker movement houses.

Climate Crisis and Environment Book Titles

American  Birds: A Literary Companion. edited by Andrew Rubenfeld and Terry Tempest Williams.

An Almost Zero Waste Life: Learning How to Embrace Less to Live More.  Megean Weldon.

Another End of the World is Possible: Living the Collapse (and Not Merely Surviving It). Pablo Servigne, Raphael Stevens and Gauthier Chapelle.

Better Business: How the B Corp Movement Is Rethinking Capitalism.  Christopher Marquis.  ("B" businesses meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose).

Birds: A Smithsonian Coloring Book, Rachel Curtis. available 3/2021.

Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants.  Robin Wall Kimmerer.

Butterflies of North America: Titian Peale's Lost Manuscript.  American Museum of Natural History.

The Butterfly Isles: A Summer in Search of Our Emperors and Admirals.  Patrick Barkham.

Canine Confidential: Why Dogs Do What They Do.  Marc Bekoff.

Cataclysms: An Environmental History of Humanity.  Laurent Testot

The Disappearance of Butterflies.  Josef H. Reichholf.

Earth From Above, Updated Edition.  Yann Arthus-Bertrand.

Earth Vote, Frank Lingo. Novel (read free excerpt at EarthVote.world .

The Edible Ecosystem Solution: Growing Biodiversity in Your Backyard and Beyond.  Zack Loeks.

Feeding the People: The Politics of the Potato.  Rebecca Earle.

Floriography: An Illustrated Guide to the Victorian Language of Flowers.  Jessica Roux. 

Foresters, Borders, and Bark Beetles: The Future of Europe's Last Primeval Forest.  Eunice  Blavascunas.

Fruit from the Sands: The Silk Road Origins of the Foods We Eat.  Robert N. Spengler III.

The Future of Fallout, and Other Episodes in Radioactive World-Making.  Joseph Masco.

Future Sea: How to Rescue and Protect the World's Oceans.  Deborah Rowan Wright.

The Genesis Quest: The Geniuses and Eccentrics on a Journey to Uncover the Origin of Life on Earth.  Michael Marshall.

The Green Good News: Christ's Path to Sustainable and Joyful Life.  T. Wilson Dickinson.

Grow the Pie: How Great Companies Deliver Both Purpose and Profit.  Alex Edmans.

A Guide to EU Environmental Law.  Josephine van Zeben and Arden Rowell.

Humanity's Last Stand: Confronting Global Catastrophe.  Mark Schuller.

Intervolution: Smart Bodies, Smart Things.  Mark C. Taylor.

Katrina: A History, 1915-2015.  Andy Horowitz.

Latin for Bird Lovers: Over 3,000 Bird Names Explored and Explained.  Roger Lederer and Carol Burt. 

Living Lightly on the Earth: Building an Ark for Prince Edward Island, 1974-76.

The Ministry for the Future (climate crisis, "cli-fi", fiction).  Kim Stanley Robinson.

National Parks Conservation Association: A Century of Impact.

The New Wilderness.  Diane Cook. ("cli-fi" novel).

The Next Great Migration: The Story of Movement on a Changing Planet.  Sonia Shah.

Oak Flat: A Fight for Sacred Land in the American West.  Lauren Redness.

Our Only Home: A Climate Appeal to the World.  The Dalai Lama and Franz Alt.

Planetary Mine: Territories of Extraction under Late Capitalism.  Martin Arboleda.

Refuge: America's Wildest Places.  Ian Shive. Photographs of America's National Wildlife Refuges.

Reimagining Capitalism in a World on Fire.  Rebecca Henderson.

Resisting Throwaway Culture: How a Consistent Life Ethic Can Unite a Fractured People.  Charles C. Camosy.

Secondhand: Travels in the New Global Garage Sale.  Adam Minter.

Seen: True Stories of Marginalized Trailblazers: Rachel Carson. Graphic Novel.  Birdie Willis and Rii Abrego.  Forthcoming.

A Series of Fortunate Events: Chance and the Making of the Planet, Life, and You.  Sean B. Carroll.

Sex Robots and Vegan Meat: Adventures at the Frontier of Birth, Food, Sex, and Death.  Jenny Kleeman.

Stewardship of Eden: What Scripture Says About the Environment and Why It Matters.  Sandra L. Richter.

Tales From the Ant World.  Edward O. Wilson.

To Show Another Way: How to Learn, Heal, and Serve at a Time of Crisis on Planet Earth.  Susan S. Trout.

Trees: Between Heaven and Earth.  Art Wolfe, Gregory MacNamee; Wade Davis, intro.

The Truth About Nature: Environmentalism in the Era of Post-truth Politics and Platform Capitalism.  Bram Buscher.

Vesper Flights.  Helen Macdonald.  Essays.

What Is a Bird?  An Exploration of Anatomy, Physiology, Behavior, and Ecology. edited by Tony D. Williams.

What Would Nature Do?  A Guide for Our Uncertain Times.  Ruth DeFries.

Work, Mate, Marry, Love: How Machines Shape Our Human Destiny.  Debora L. Spar.

World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments.  Aimee Nezhukumatathil.

Pandemic Issues Books

Covid Chronicles: A Comics Anthology.  Graphic Novel (GN).

Fevers, Feuds, and Diamonds. Ebola and the Ravages of History.  Paul Farmer.

More Deadly Than War: The Hidden History of the Spanish Flu and the First World War.  Kenneth C. Davis.

The Plague: How Trump Bungled America's Coronavirus Response.  Special issue publication from motherjones.com/plague .

"Playbook for Early Response to High-Consequence Emerging Infectious Disease Threats and Biological Incidents" (Obama administration).

The Sickness is the System: When Capitalism Fails to Save Us from Pandemics, or Itself.  Richard D. Wolff.

"Totally Under Control", 123 minute documentary, released Oct. 13, re: Trump administration response to Covid-19.

Viral BS: Medical Myths and Why We Fall for Them.  Seema Yasmin. 

Audio Titles

Humankind: A Hopeful History.  Roger Bregman.  Hachette Audio, 11.5 hours.

2021 Anniversaries

Sixty years since Dr. Jane Goodall arrived at Gombe National Park to study chimpanzees.  See the Jane Goodall Institute.

Hints for Further Reading

Book publishers often allow you to search by topic.  To take one example, Oxford University Press has listings categorized, and here is an example for each:

Environmental History

Make It a Green Peace: The Rise of Countercultural Environmentalism

Sustainability

Hydraulic Fracturing: Environmental Issues

The Environment and US

Navigating Environmental Attitudes

Environmental Politics

Down to the Wire: Confronting Climate Collapse

Ecology & Conservation

Green Equilibrium: The Vital Balance of Humans and Nature

NEW CONCEPTS

Climate Grief refers to personal depression, anxiety, and mourning over a sense of loss due to climate change effects.

The Pyrocene Age, according to fire historian Stephen J. Pyne, is upon us, an era of wildfires that are bigger, fiercer, and deadlier.  Consider a lyric from an old spiritual song: "God gave Noah the rainbow sign, nor more water but the fire next time."

------------------------------------------------30--------------------------------------------------

Mike Ochs finds common ground between religion and politics in his concern for the environment.

Politically he self-published the first "Greens Bibliography" of the English-language literature on the international Green Party movement (1989), the project for his Master of Liberal Arts in International Studies degree at Lock Haven (PA) University. He also helped plant the seeds for the Green Party of PA at that time, and remains a cyber-activist with it.

For a monthly newsletter of the ecumenical United Churches of Lycoming County (PA), he has written the "Creation Corner Column" since 1997.  It became a blog in 2011 at 

http://lutheransrestoringcreationblog.blogspot.com/

He received a B.A. degree from Gettysburg College in 1965.

12/20 CCC: Quotes, Podcast, Intersectionality, Pandemic, Climate Action

                                         12/2020 Creation Corner Column

                 Quotations, Podcast, Pandemic Books, Intersectionality, Climate Crisis                                                                      Action, etc.

Opening Quote:  "Right there on page one, it explains that our job is to exercise careful dominion over the planet, which God has just made and found good.  It's literally job one.  We are failing to meet the first instruction laid down in Genesis." 

source:   Bill McKibben's article "Job One" in the November 2020 Sojourners magazine.  McKibben, a layman in the United Methodist Church, is an environmentalist, activist, and author of 17 books on ecology since 1989, and helps fight against fossil fuels through the grassroots campaign 350.org.

The 350 mark of "parts per million" is what climate scientist Jim Hanson thinks is the upper boundary for carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to maintain the ecological integrity of our civilization.  The 2019 global average atmosphere CO2 level was 409 parts per million (ppm).

Podcast

How to Save a Planet (Gimlet).  Weekly chat by conservation strategist  Ayana Elizabeth Johnson with Gimlet Media co-founder Alex Blumberg.

Pandemic Book Titles

Constructing the Outbreak: Epidemics in Media and Collective Memory.  Katharine A. Foss.

Evolutionary Concepts in Immunology.  Robert Jack and Louis Du Pasquier.

Ten Lessons for a Post-Pandemic World.  Fareed Zakaria.

A World Out Of Reach: Dispatches from Life Under Lockdown.  Meghan O'Rourke.

On-line Video Series

Earth's Great Seasons.  BBC America.

Cooperation for the Paris Climate Agreement

The "We Are Still In" coalition supports the Agreement.  The "Climate Action 100+" partnership includes more than 500 investors helping to move the largest greenhouse gas emitters to take meaningful, measurable action on climate change.  

A New Kind of Environmentalism:  The Intersectional Environmentalist (IE)

The interconnected intersections of our identity (class, race, gender, etc.) as they apply to systems of disadvantage (or privilege) become, for example, a link between social and environmental justice that can result in "environmentalists for Black Lives Matter."

Anniversaries

2020 was the the 35th anniversary of the International Coastal Cleanup.

December 2, 1970, fifty years ago, the Environmental Protection Agency was established.

December 28th is the 47th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act.

Quotations

"We need a revolution of compassion for the planet and all its inhabitants...(T)his beautiful planet is our only home...(T)he earth's future is our future."  The Dalai Lama's Call to Action on the Climate Crisis.

"Inspired by faith, committed to action" is the motto of the Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), that will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2021.  Among its goals are leveraging investor power to catalyze social change and to press for bolder corporate action to address the global climate crisis.  Look to its web site for your church's participation.

"The welfare of each is bound up in the welfare of all."  Helen Keller

"In the woods, we return to reason and faith."  Ralph Waldo Emerson.

                                                          -30-

----------------------------------------

Mike Ochs finds common ground between religion and politics in his concern for the environment.

Politically he self-published the first "Greens Bibliography" of the English-language literature on the international Green Party movement (1989), the project for his Master of Liberal Arts in International Studies degree at Lock Haven (PA) University. He also helped plant the seeds for the Green Party of PA at that time, and remains a cyber-activist with it.

For a monthly newsletter of the ecumenical United Churches of Lycoming County (PA), he has written the "Creation Corner Column" since 1997.  It became a blog in 2011 at 

http://lutheransrestoringcreationblog.blogspot.com/

He received a B.A. degree from Gettysburg College in 1965.