Sunday, May 1, 2022

5/22 CCC: Reasons for Hope

                                   5/22 Creation Corner Column: Reasons for Hope.

Hope is a discipline.  Our job is to cultivate hope.   Mariame Kaba.

THIRD ACT: Our Time is Now!  A new organization, Third Act, is mobilizing the generation (Boomers, born 1946-1964) with the most political and economic influence to fight for a working climate, among other priorities.  Such "experienced Americans", some seventy Americans over the age of 60 are being encouraged by environmentalist and United Methodist layman Bill McKibben to help stabilize the climate.  See their home page.

RESTRAINT OF GLOBAL HEATING IS POSSIBLE IF ALL MEASURES TAKEN.

For the first time, the world is in a position to limit global heating below 2C, according to the first in-depth analysis of the net zero pledges made by nations at the UN COP26 climate summit in December.

Before these pledges, a temperature rise above 2C was almost inevitable, bringing more severe effects for billions of people.  Now it is more likely that the peak rise will be about 1.9C.  However, the researchers said this depended on all nations implementing their pledges on time and in full, and warned that the policies to do that were not in place.  The pledges include some that developing countries have said will happen only with more financial and technical support.  (Source: The Guardian Weekly, 22 April 2022.)

RECENT TITLES

Climates, Habitats, Environments.  Edited by Ute Meta Bauer.

From Big Oil to Big Green: Holding the Oil Industry to Account for the Climate Crisis.  Marco Grasso.

Natura Urbana: Ecological Constellations in Urban Space.  Matthew Gandy.

Pandora's Toolbox: The Hopes and Hazards of Climate Intervention.  Wake Smith.

The Pivotal Generation: Why We Have a Moral Responsibility to Slow Climate Change Right Now.  Henry Shue.

Rewilding: The Radical New Science of Ecological Recovery, The Illustrated Edition.  Paul Jepson and Cain Blythe.

Waste: One Woman's Fight Against America's Dirty Secret.  Catherine Coleman Flowers.

From the "Earth, Inc." cover story of TIME magazine for April 28/May 2, 2022:

ESG refers to  prioritizing environmental, social, and corporate governance concerns in investing.

COP26 Coalition: a climate-justice group.

"Ecopreneurs" are environmentally focused entrepreneurs taking risks for the critical work of fossil-fuel reduction and increased awareness.  Such individuals, innovators and businesses around the world help promote technical and nature-based projects, develop new energy sources, and support climate-vulnerable communities around the world.

Examples of climate terminology in corporate 10-K SEC filings:

Climate change references include broad climate terms (climate change, global warming, climate crisis); climate effects (sea levels, biodiversity, wildfires, extreme weather); climate causes (greenhouse gases, CO2, carbon emissions, methane).

Corporate ideals include sustainable principles (ESG, closed loop and other sustainability-jargon terms); climate goals (net zero, carbon-neutral, decarbonize); social responsibility (fair trade, social impact, shared value).

Corporate actions include energy transition (clean energy, renewables, energy efficiency); climate measurement (assessment terms such as carbon footprint, Scope 3, SASB or the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board); Offsets (compensating references for emissions, such as carbon capture, carbon pricing).

TIME Magazine has a 2030 committee project that will mark this decade's progress toward a better world and offer solutions for change.

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Thursday, April 7, 2022

                                          Creation Corner Column for April 2022

            ANNIVERSARIES AND MORE THINGS TO DO FROM "YES!" MAGAZINE

ANNIVERSARIES

Celebrating 20 years and certifying hundreds of millions of dollars to environmental causes, while focusing on the next 20 years ahead is 1% For The Planet.  Everyone has a 1% to give for a better future.  Learn how you can get involved at onepercentfortheplanet.org .

It is the fortieth year in print for "ORION: People and Nature" ad-free quarterly magazine, publishing some of the best writing on the environment.  Go to orionmagazine.org .

Final List of "Things You Can Do Help In The Climate Crisis" from the Small Works column by Sarah Lazarovic in "YES! magazine: Journalism for People Building a Better World," used with permission.  See prior monthly Creation Corner Column blogs for earlier entries to this list of 100.

Talk climate all the time.

Two words: Refrigerant management.

Two more words: Methane management.

Start a climate book club.

Compost! Mulch!

Tell big polluters how you really feel.

Decarbonize shipping.  Don't choose 2-day.

Avoid shipping by shopping locally.

Electrify everything.

Consider community solar.

Start a community food garden.

Gardeners: Know thy cover crops.

Plastic is a fracking product.  Pass it on.

Reduce your use of plastic.

Pressure politicians to up their emissions targets.

Earth stuff 101: Read! Read! Read!

Dispel climate disinfo.

Understand off sets and their limitations (not guilt-free!).

Choose low-carbon, high-nature activities.

Support innovative tech solutions.

Listen to those who are most affected by the climate crisis.

Follow the money.

Learn from Robin Wall Kimmerer.

Take science tips from Katharine Hayhoe

Preach action, not doom.

"Remember that you are alive at just the right moment to change everything."  Eric Holthaus.

Take care of yourself so you can take care of the planet!

Forthcoming Events, Dates, Anniversaries

Sunday, June 5 is World Environment Day.  The 2022 theme, in partnership with the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) is "Only One Earth", with a focus on shifting to more sustainable, greener lifestyles. This year marks 50 years since the first UN conference at Stockholm in 1972 that led to the creation of the UNEP and the designation of June 5 as World Environment Day (WED) every year.  This year the event will be hosted in Sweden.

June 1, Orca Action Month

June 8, World Oceans Day

June 19, Juneteenth 

July 1, 120th anniversary of Chickasaw National Recreation Area

July 2, International Save the Vaquita Day

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Wednesday, March 2, 2022

3/22 CCC: April Earth Day etc. events; Things to Do; Calendar dates

 



                                                March 2022 Creation Corner Column
                                   Upcoming March & April dates for meaningful events

March 31, 2022 On-line and free: A Q&A discussion with climate scientist Dr. Katharine Hayhoe on her case for hope and healing in a divided world.  Where do we begin?  What do we say when people are skeptical?  How do we stay hopeful in the face of some overwhelming trends?  And what is our call as Christians?  AustinSeminary.edu/savingus .

April 22, 2022, Friday is the 52nd anniversary celebration of Earth Day.  Look for events in your community, and check for your religious denomination's web sites, and/or see these web sites:

1.  "Invest In Our Planet: What Will You Do? theme materials at the earthday.org site.

2. Earth Day activities for churches via progressivechurchmedia.com/earthday2022

3. "Happy Mother Earth's Day: Save Earth to Save Many Lives" via earthreminder.com

4.GodSpaceLight

5.epa.gov.earthday 

6. earthdayinitiative.org (virtual stage)

7. greenmatters.com 

8. umcmission.org  resources from the United Methodist Church 

9. sciencemoms.com 

10. creationcare.org from the Evangelical Environmental Network

11. LutheransRestoringCreation.org 2022 Earth Day Virtual Worship

12. CreationJustice.org Weathering the Storm with Faithful Climate Resilience stories. 2022 resource download includes Bible stories, sermon starters, a liturgy, and action steps. 10 pages.  

April 24---May 1, 2022 (both Sundays) Soil and Water Stewardship Week theme is "Healthy Soil: Healthy Life" sponsored by the National Association of Conservation Districts, with many educational materials for pastors, Sunday Schools, etc.  Go to nacd.net/general-resources/stewardship-and-education-materials/stewardship-outreach-materials-churches/ .  In past years materials included a litany and program insert, educator and church leader guides, student booklets, placemats and activity guides, posters and bookmarks.

April 29, 2022, Friday is Arbor Day (always the last Friday in April).  The first national proposal for tree planting took place 150 years ago, 1872, in Nebraska, and since 1972 the Arbor Day Foundation has inspired people to plant, nurture and celebrate trees.  Look for activities in your area for this 150th and 50th anniversary. The theme this year: "Trees are Terrific...For Today and Tomorrow."  ArborDay.org 

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More things you can do to help in the climate crisis (List derived from the "100 Things You Can Do to Help in the Climate Crisis" column "Small Works" by Sarah Lazarovic in the Winter 2022 issue of YES! Journalism for People Building a Better World, with permission).  To be continued in future columns. (Note: YES! magazine in 25 years has produced 4 periodicals per year=100 issues).

Buy just enough
Live smaller
Nix "natural" gas
Green your banking
Green your investments
Pay a little extra to purchase clean energy from your utility
Plant for pollinators
Grow your own food
Write climate letters to your paper and call in to radio shows
Demand better climate coverage
Make climate an issue at local debates and council meetings
Minimize municipal red tape to implement net-zero solutions
Volunteer to make your community more resilient
Help those around you find low-carbon solutions
Adopt new technology that will inspire your neighbors
Ask your landlord to make green retrofits
Participate in peaceful civil disobedience (sorry to block the intersection but enjoy our climate dance!) 
Learn from indigenous land guardians
Learn about the land you're on
Share emissions data (Psst!, We're the biggest emitters)
Hot new options: Solar, geothermal, a heat pump!
Donate to trusted climate organizations (Q.: R U Legit?, A.: Yep!)
Volunteer! Volunteer! Volunteer!
Organize! Organize! Organize!
Join! Join! Join!

Some of the above are big, some are small; pick your thing, don't do them all.  The crisis is large and often bleak, but find your strength with action each week.

Upcoming Calendar Dates to Notice/Observe

April 10 Florida Gopher Tortoise Day
April 22 Earth Day
April 25 Defenders of Wildlife Anniversary, founded in 1947
April 24-May 1 Soil and Water Stewardship Week (nacd.net)
April 25 75th Anniversary of Theodore Roosevelt National Park
April 29 Arbor Day, began 150 years ago, 50 years ago the Foundation for it began


May 6   115th Anniversary of Lassen Volcanic National Park
May 14  World Migratory Bird Day
May 15-21 Bear Awareness Week
May 20 Endangered Species Day
May 22 120th Anniversary of Crater National Park
May 23 World Turtle Day

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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 


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

Wednesday, February 2, 2022

2/22 CCC: Lunar New Year, Anniversaries, Help Climate Crisis

 




                     Creation Corner Column for February 2022

Lunar New Year; Quotes, Anniversaries; Help the Climate Crisis; 2022 dates; books

February 2022 marks the Chinese New Year of the Tiger.  "Today there are as few as 3,200 tigers remaining in the wild, with some subspecies in rapid decline.  Three tiger subspecies have become extinct in just the last century!"  World Wildlife Fund.

Quotations for Consideration

"The end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience."
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

"One day the absurdity of the almost universal human belief in the slavery of other animals will be palpable.  We shall then have discovered our souls and become worthier of sharing this planet with them."  Martin Luther King, Jr. 

"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them."
Albert Einstein.

Anniversaries

50th (1971-2021) for the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) that you may associate with the name Morris Dees, its founder.  Based in Montgomery Alabama, its Vision Statement is "A world in which everyone can thrive and the ideals of equity, justice, and liberation are a reality for all."

Its mission statement is that "The SPLC is a catalyst for racial justice in the South and beyond, working in partnership with communities to dismantle white supremacy, strengthen intersectional movements, and advance the human rights of all people."

Also celebrating 50 years is the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), America's Food and Health Watchdog.  CSPI "envisions a healthy population with reduced impact and burden of preventable diseases and an equitable food system that makes healthy, sustainable food accessible to all.  CSPI values independence, scientific rigor, and transparency."

Among its 2022 priorities are emphases on food labeling, navigating the COVID crisis, improving access to nutritious food, additive dangers (salt, sugar, chemicals, dyes), food supply safeguards, etc.

Ocean Conservancy notes its 50th year in 2022.  As a non-profit environmental advocacy group  located in Washington, D.C., it helps formulate ocean policy at the federal and state levels, based on peer reviewed science.  Projects include trash-free seas; coastal clean-ups; sea turtle, whale shark, and manatee protection; and initiatives to replace the single-use plastic retail bag, among other efforts..

Defenders of Wildlife celebrates its 75th anniversary this year.  Founded in 1947, it is one of the country's leaders i science-based, results-oriented wildlife conservation.  Its mission is to protect all native wild animals and plants in their natural communities.  Headquartered in Washington, D.C., Defenders has field offices all around the country and represents nearly 1.8 members and supporters nationwide.

Common Cause at its 50th year continues to promote participatory democracy, acts against the spread of disinformation, helps shift the power away from wealthy special interests in formulating public policies, and works on behalf of people everywhere whose voices and perspectives too often get lost in the politics and actions of elected and appointed officials seeking to secure and consolidate unearned power.

Greenpeace, on its 50th anniversary, is known for not accepting money from corporations or government, thus permitting it to pursue peaceful protest, non-violent action, and creative communication in advocacy for people and the planet as it challenges the systems of power and privilege that result in pollution and the prioritization of profits.

Among its campaigns are those that put our economy on a climate-safe trajectory, protecting at least 30% of the high seas as ocean sanctuaries by 2030, and tackling the drivers of deforestation.  One recent report is "The Climate Emergency Unpacked: How Consumer Goods Companies are Fueling Big Oil's Plastic Expansion".

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

Twenty-five things you can do to help in the climate crisis.  "Some are big, some are small; pick your thing, don't do them all.  The crisis is large and often bleak, but find your strength with action each week."

Vote for real climate action.
Hold your leaders accountable.
Commend politicians when they support meaningful change.
Share and contextualize important climate stories.
Encourage friend to talk about the climate crisis.
Amplify climate voices.
Call out companies with poor environmental stewardship.
Understand emissions.
Tackle your biggest household emissions: fleet, heat, meat.
Can you go far without a car?
Push for public transit, safe streets, and more bike lanes.
Hey Leader, clean the grid (please).
Insulate, insulate, insulate.
Plug your leaks.
Change your lights.
Fly less (or not at all).
Eat less meat.
Waste less food.
Eat what's in season.
Understand your carbon footprint, because individual action inspires systemic change (and because the average American emits 2.5x as much as someone in the United Kingdom).
Replace clothes and devices less often.
Mend before you spend.
Maintain your things.
Don't idle. Don't pollute.
Combine trips.

(List derived from the "100 Things You Can Do to Help in the Climate Crisis" column "Small Works" by Sarah Lazarovic in the Winter 2022 issue of Yes! Journalism for People Building a Better World, with permission).  To be continued in future columns.

Calendar Dates in 2022 Worthy of Consideration, past, present, and future.

January 10, 5th anniversary of Harriet Tubman National Historical Park
January 13, 5th anniversary of  Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument
January 24, 100th Anniversary of Great Basin National Park

February 11, International Day of Women and Girls in Science
February 22, World Spay Day
February 27, International Polar Bear Day

March 3, World Wildlife day
March 8, International Women's Day
March 19, Save the Florida Panther Day
March 20-26 Lobo Week
March 22, World Water Day
March 30, Manatee Awareness Day

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

Climate Change Books Worth Considering

The Case for Climate Hope.  Katharine Hayhoe.

Fire and Flood: A People's History of Climate Change.  Eugene Linden.

Environmental  Books Worth Considering

Becoming Wild: How Animal Cultures Raise Families, Create Beauty, and Achieve Peace.  Carl Safina.

Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel.  Carl Safina.

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

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 


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

Sunday, January 2, 2022

1/'22 CCC: New Year Quotes, a MOOC, Creation Care, Pandemic Lit

                                     January 2022 Creation Corner Column

   New Year's Resolutions/Quotations; MOOC; Creation Care Viewpoint; Pandemic Lit.

Quotations for Resolutions in the New Year

"Drop the Patents" sign on a carboard coffin carried during a demonstration against Covid-19 patents in London on October 12, 2021, also signs  "A Grave Injustice" and "Greed Kills."

"You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you.  You have to decide what kind of difference you want to make."   Jane Goodall, UN Messenger of Peace. Quoted in the 12/21 newsletter from the Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter.

"Everything that is done in the world is done by hope."  Martin Luther. First quote in the adult coloring book issued by the (Jacques) Cousteau Society.

"In the Face of Climate Change, We Must Act So That We Can Feel Hopeful---Not the Other Way Around."   Katharine Hayhoe, Christian and Climate Scientist, quoted in a recent letter from CERES (Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies).

"We seek a world free of war and the threat of war.  We seek a society with equity and justice for all.  We seek a community where every person's potential may be fulfilled.  We seek an earth restored."  Friends Committee on National Legislation (fcnl.org).

"What God requires of us is that we not stop trying."  Bayard Rustin (1912-1987).

"If you assume that there is no hope, you guarantee that there will be no hope.  If you assume that there is an instinct for freedom, that there are opportunities to change things, then there is a possibility that you can contribute to making a better world.  The choice is yours."  Noam Chomsky.

"Put your heart, mind, and soul into even you smallest acts.  This is the secret of success."  Swami Sivananda (1887-1963).

"You are never too small to make a difference."  Greta Thunberg, young Swedish climate activist.

"The most important thing you can do to fight climate change: talk about it." Katharine Hayhoe.

Free Online Course

"Religions and Ecology: Restoring the Earth Community" can be found at fore.yale.edu/online-courses.  It is what is known as a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course).  This one is sponsored by the Forum on Religion and Ecology, based at Yale University, hosted by Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim (formerly at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania, where I first met them).

A retired ELCA pastor's view of creation care:

"When God spoke creation into being, God's grace was woven into the world's fabric.  Creation's ecology, which is just right for sustaining life, is God's grace made flesh.  Yet as scientists have shown, a habitable planet is a rare occurrence.  We believe that amazing occurrence is a gift from a loving God.  This giftedness of a just-right creation also is God's grace.
We sing our praise of God for this just-right planet.  But we live out our praise as we tend Earth's diverse life, so that creation flourishes.  Life serving life is the best praise."

From the December 31, 2021 meditation by writer Wendy Wirth-Brock, in "The Word in Season" from Augsburg Fortress Publishers.

Announcements

The annual report of the Susquehanna Greenway Partnership, linking river towns with education and outreach, land and water trails, may be found at their web site susquehannagreenway.org .

From the Archives:  The Spring 2007 issue of MS. Magazine featured a cover story, "Heat's On---We Respond: Rising Up To Stop Global Warming" with a story by Laura Orlando, "The Melting Point."

New Titles re: COVID-19 Pandemic

After the Virus:  Lessons from the Past for a Better Future.  Hilary Cooper and Simon Szreter.

Breathtaking: Inside the NHS in a Time of Pandemic.  Rachel Clarke.

The Covid Consensus: The New Politics of Global Inequality.  Toby Green.

Covid by Numbers: Making Sense of the Pandemic with Data.  David Spiegelhalter and Anthony Masters.

The Enablers: How Team Trump Flunked the Pandemic and Failed  America.  Barbara Kellerman.

Failures of State: The Inside Story of Britain's Battle with Coronavirus.  Jonathan Calvert and George Arbuthnott.

Intensive Care: A GP, a Community & a Pandemic. Gavin Francis.

Life Support: Diary of an ICU Doctor on the Frontline of the Covid Crisis.  JIm Down.

New Pandemics, Old Politics: Two Hundred Years of War on Disease and Its Alternatives.  Alex de Waal.

Plagues Upon the Earth: Disease and the Course of Human History.  Kyle Harper.

Shutdown: How Covid Shook the World's Economy.  Adam Tooze.

Spike: The Virus Vs. The :People---The Inside Story.  Sir Jeremy Farrar and Anjana Ahuja.

The Spirit of Green: The Economics of Collisions and Contagions in a Crowded World.  William D. Nordhaus.

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Wednesday, December 1, 2021

12/21 CCC: Quotes, Enviro Actions, COVID-19, Announcements

                               Creation Corner Column for December 2012


          Notable Quotations, Environmental Actions, COVID-19 books, Announcements

Quotations Worth Noting

In 1989 TIME magazine chose the endangered earth as "Planet of the Year" in lieu of the usual "Person of the Year."

In 2021 TIME entitled their Nov. 8-15 issue primary contents as "Climate is Everything."

The climate battle is "a fight for our lives, an existential battle and we need to behave like it...and for some people in the world it already is absolutely existential: they're losing their lives."  John Kerry, United States climate envoy to the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP 26), the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, quoted in TIME magazine of Nov. 8-15, 2022.

Among the COP26 goals are (according to the same issue of TIME):

1. Restore and protect the ecosystems that make human life possible.
2. Ensure a rapid and equitable transition away from coal.
3. Make climate solutions profitable.
4. Shift the global vehicle fleet from gas-powered to electric.
5. Finalize the Paris rule book to guarantee the integrity of carbon trading.
6. Persuade the world to invest in renewable energy.
7. Help vulnerable cities become more resilient.
8. Urge the developed world to share the burden.

"Human beings (said Steve Jobs, 1955-2011) have a responsibility to be guardians of the earth for future generations, to pay attention to problems and do something about them."

Action for the Environment

If you seek to help your church, temple or mosque to express care for the creation, consider "googling" these helpful web sites:

10 steps to greening your church
10 tips to help your church go green
7 simple steps to green your church
Greening your church: 9 stewardship strategies that won't break the budget
Greening your church: Getting started and doing the basics
20 ways to get your church thinking green, going green
10 eco-friendly practices you can make at church to help the planet

All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis.  Edited by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson & Katharine K. Wilkinson.

Our Changing Menu: Climate Change and the Foods We Love and Need.  Carrie Koplinka-Loehr, Danielle L. Eiseman, and Michael P. Hoffman.

Sustainability Made Simple: Small Changes for Big Impact (updated edition).  Rosaly Byrd and Lauren DeMates.

New Titles re: COVID-19 Pandemic

After Lockdown: A Metamorphosis.  Bruno Latour.

Coronavirus Criminals and Pandemic Profiteers:  Accountability for Those Who Caused the Crisis.  John Nichols.

Democracy in the Time of Coronavirus.  Danielle Allen.

The First Shot: The Epic Rivalries and Heroic Science Behind the Race to the Coronavirus Vaccine.  Brendan Borrell.

The Long Year: A 2020 Reader.  Edited by Thomas J. Sugrue and Caitlin Zaloom.

World War C: Lessons From the Covid-19 Pandemic and How to Prepare for the Next One.  Sanjay Gupta, M.D.

Announcements

Evangelical Christian and atmospheric scientist Katharine Hayhoe has been appointed as the new chief scientist for The Nature Conservancy.  See her article, "A Climate For All Of Us" in the winter 2021 issue of "Nature Conservancy" magazine, nature.org/magazine .

The 2022 Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture Conference is Feb. 10-12, 2022.  pasafarming.org/conference .Virtual pre-conference January 4-28, 2022.

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Monday, November 1, 2021

11/21 CCC: Faith for Earth, Climate, Pandemic

                                           Lutherans Restoring Creation Blog    


                                            11/21 Creation Corner Column

                                        Faith for Earth/Climate Crisis/Pandemic


Ecology and Religion

Faith for Earth: A Call for Action.  Prepared in advance of the UN IPCC Glasgow Scotland meeting 10/31-11/12, this 57 page book is produced by the UN Environmental Program and the Parliament of World Religions.  Available on-line.

Sacred Earth, Sacred Soul: Celtic Wisdom for Reawakening to What Our Souls Know and Healing the World.  John Philip Newell.

Saving Us: A Climate Scientist's Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World.  Katharine Hayhoe.  (also see "The New Yorker" interview with her at "How to talk about climate change across the political divide"). Haydoe is an atmospheric scientist and evangelical Christian.

Climate Crisis Books

The Atlas of a Changing Climate. Brian Buma.

The Atlas of Disappearing Places: Our Coasts and Oceans in the Climate Crisis.  Christina Conklin and Marina Psaros.

Believers: Making a Life at the End of the World.  Lisa Wells.

The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times.  Jane Goodall and Douglas Abrams.

The Climate of History in a Planetary Age.  Dipesh Chakrabarty.

Deep Adaptation: Navigating the Realities of Climate Chaos.  Edited by Jem Bendell and Rupert Read.

Electrify: An Optimist's Playbook for our Clean Energy Future.  Saul Griffith.

The Environmentalist's Dilemma: Promise and Peril in an Age of Climate Crisis.  Arno Kopecky.

Gasoline Dreams: Waking Up from Petroculture.  Simon Orpana.

How to Talk to a Science Denier: Conversations with Flat Earthers, Climate Deniers and Others Who Defy Reason.  Lee Mcintyre.

The Nutmeg's Curse: Parables for a Planet in Crisis.  Amitav Ghosh.

Our Biggest Experiment: An Epic History of the Climate Crisis.  Alice Bell.

Overheated: How Capitalism Broke the Planet---and How We Can Fight Back.  Kate Aronoff.

Paradise: One Town's Struggle to Survive an American Wildfire.  Lizzie Johnson.

Psychological Roots of the Climate Crisis: Neoliberal Exceptionalism and the Culture of Uncare.  Sally Weintrobe.

They Knew: The US Federal Government's Fifty-Year Role in Causing the Climate Crisis.  James Gustave Speth.

White Skin, Black Fuel: On the Danger of Fossil Fascism.  Andreas Malm.


Plagues/Pandemics/Covid-19 Books

After the Virus: Lessons from the Past for a  Better Future.  Hilary Cooper and Simon Szreter.

The Biomedical Empire: Lessons Learned from the COVID-19 Pandemic.  Barbara Katz Rothman.

Chronic: The Hidden Cause of the Autoimmune Pandemic and How to Get Healthy Again.  Steven Phillips, M.D.

Coronavirus Politics: The Comparative Politics and Policy of COVID-19.  Edited by Scott L. Greer et al. 

The Enablers: How Team Trump Flunked the Pandemic and Failed America.  Barbara Kellerman.

To End a Plague: America's Fight to Defeat Aids in Africa.  Emily Bass.

Global Health Security: A Blueprint for the Future.  Lawrence O. Gostin.

The Great Smallpox Epidemic of 1775-1782.  Elizabeth A. Fenn.

House Arrest: Diary selections from the Pandemic Year March 2020 to March 2021.  Alan Bennett.

How Bad Thinking Happens to Good People: How Philosophy Can Save Us from Ourselves.  Steven Nadler and Lawrence Shapiro.

Maladies of Empire: How Colonialism, Slavery, and War Transformed Medicine.  Jim Downs.

Misunderstanding Health: Making Sense of America's Broken Health Care System.  Rohit Khanna.

The New Normal: A Roadmap to Resilience in the Pandemic Era.  Jennifer Ashton, M.D.

New Pandemics, Old Politics: Two Hundred Years of War on Disease and its Alternatives. Alex de Waal.

The Origins of COVID-19: China and Global Capitalism.  Li Zhang.

The Palliative Society; Pain Today.  Byung-Chul Han.

Plagues Upon the Earth: Disease and the Course of Human History.  Kyle Harper.

Pox Americana: The Great Smallpox Epidemic of 1775-82.  Elizabeth A. Fenn.

The Precariat: The New Dangerous Class (Special Covid-19 edition).  Guy Standing.

Preventable: The Inside Story of How Leadership Failures, Politics, and Selfishness Doomed the U.S. Coronavirus Response.  Andy Slavitt.

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

Uncontrolled Spread: Why COVID-19 Crushed Us and How We Can Defeat the Next Pandemic.  Scott Gottlieb, M.D., former FDA Commissioner.

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