9/22 CCC: Books, Nature Therapy, Incineration, Quotes

                                           9/22 Creation Corner Column

                          Books, Nature Therapy, Incineration, Quotations

BOOK TITLES

Animalkind.  Ingrid Newkirk and Gene Stone.

The Book of Minds: How to Understand Ourselves and Other Beings, from Animals to AI to Aliens.  Philip Hall.

EcoActivist Testament: Explorations of Faith and Nature for Fellow Travelers.  H. Paul Santmire.

How To Sell A Poison: The Rise, Fall, and Toxic Return of DDT.  Elena Conis.

Is Science Enough?: Forty Critical Questions About Climate Justice.  Aviva Chomsky

The Next Apocalypse: The Art and Science of Survival.  Chris Begley.

Plagues in the Nation: How Epidemics Shaped America.  Polly J. Price.

Science for a Green New Deal: Connecting Climate, Economics and Social Justice.  Eric A. Davidson.

Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic.  David Quammen

The Viral Underclass: The Human Toll When Inequality and Disease Collide.  Steven Thrasher.

Water Always Wins: Thriving in an Age of Drought and Deluge.  Erica Gies.

FREE E-BOOK FOR A GREENER, FAIRER FUTURE

Resilience Matters: Opportunities for Action to Strengthen Communities.  Laurie Mazur, editor.  Available on-line at no cost, visit Islandpress.org/progressive.  A publication from the Urban Resilience Project.

BOOKS re: EFFECTIVE ALTRUISM, see William MacAskill

BOOKS re: HISTORY OF FOSSIL FUEL USE, see Andreas Malm

NATURE THERAPY, AN "EVERGREEN SOLUTION".  Free passes for patients to visit national parks are provided by some healthcare providers in four Canadian provinces.  Prescribing nature to help people, the touted benefits include increased energy, decreased anxiety, pain reduction, reduced stress and improved heart health. Source: "This therapy is out there" article in  Aug/Sep issue of Men's Health magazine.

TOXIC BURN PITS AND BACKYARD BURNER  BARREL BURNING

A recently passed U.S. bill to aid veterans exposed to toxic burn pits might spur municipalities that permit backyard burner barrel burning to reconsider, and ban the practice. 

With burn pits and burner barrels  being used to dispose of trash, batteries, chemicals, cans, tires, petroleum products, plastics, human waste (used diapers), etc., and evidence linking the toxic chemical fume pollution and particulate matter from such incineration to some respiratory illnesses (asthma, bronchitis), certain cancers, skin and cardiovascular problems, migraines, some neurological conditions, etc., it could be argued that it is time for municipalities that permit the practice to "clear the air" and ban backyard burner barrel burning as an ounce of prevention to prevent any further exposure to such air-borne pollution.

QUOTABLE

"The distrust between faith and science is not just an unfortunate circumstance.  It's actually costing lives."  Francis Collins.

"The apocalypse is here, it's just not evenly distributed." Gregory Hays.

"Big climate bill: Spending green bucks to spur green energy." Associated Press headline, Aug. 12, 2022.

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Note: This column from Michael Ochs began 25 years ago, issued in the monthly print newsletter of the ecumenical United Churches of Lycoming County (UCLC), Williamsport, PA.  He is a member of the UCLC Christian Social Concerns Committee.

8/22 CCC: Summer Books, etc., II

 8/22 Creation Corner Column:  Summer Books, etc. II

BOOKS

The Anthropocene as a Geological Time.  Jan Zalasiewicz.

Carbon Democracy.  Timothy Mitchell.

Climate, Catastrophe, and Faith: How Changes in Climate Drive Religious Upheaval.  Philip Jenkins.

Engineering Vulnerability: In Pursuit of Climate Adaptation.  Sarah E. Vaughn.

Ever Green: Saving Big Forests to Save the Planet.  John W. Reid and Thomas E. Lovejoy.

Handbook of Environmental Sociology. Beth Schaefer Caniglia et al, editors

How Climate Change Affects Surgery.  Joseph Wayne Smith and Guy Maddern.

How the World Breaks: Life in Catastrophe's Path, from the Caribbean to Siberia.  Stan and Paul Cox.

IPCC, Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change.  Working Group III Contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability.

Literature for a Changing Planet.  Martin Puchner.

Losing Earth: The Decade We Could Have Stopped Climate Change.  Nathaniel Rich.

The Ministry for the Future.  Kim Stanley Robinson.

The Nature of Tomorrow: A History of the Environmental Future.  Michael Rawson.

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

Oceans of Grain: How American Wheat Remade the World.  Scott Reynolds Nelson.

Profits and Power: Navigating the Politics and Geopolitics of Oil.  David Detomasi.

The Sociology of Survival: Social Problems of Growth.  Charles H. Anderson.

The Treeline: The Last Forest and the Future of Life on Earth.  Ben Rawlence.

The Understory: A Female Environmentalist In The Land Of The Midnight Sun.  M.E. Schuman.

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

GRAPHIC NOVELS

The Cartoon Introduction to Climate Change, revised edition.  Brady Klein and Yoram Bauman.

The Most Important Comic Book on Earth: Stories to Save the World.  Paul Goodenough and Rewriting Extinction.

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An August 2022 headline: "Chances of climate catastrophe are ignored, scientists say", 8/2/22 news article by Associated Press Science Writer Seth Borenstein.

August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina hits New Orleans.

                                                                             -30-

7/22 CCC: Summer Books (Earth, Pandemic, etc.)

 July 2022 Creation Corner Column:  Summer Reading Suggestions

BOOKS ON THE ENVIRONMENT, NATURE, CREATION, EARTH, ECOLOGY

Above Sea Level (novel).  Douglas E. Congdon.

American Earth: Environmental Writing Since Thoreau.  Edited by Bill McKibben.  Foreword by Al Gore.

Beloved Beasts: Fighting for Life in an Age of Extinction.  Michelle Nijhuis.

Birdscapes: Birds in Our Imagination and Experience.  Jeremy Mynott.

The Book of Green Quotations.  James Daley, editor.

Chimpanzee Memoirs: Stories of Studying and Saving Our Closest Living Relatives.  Edited by Stephen Ross and Lydia Hopper..

The Coal Trap: How West Virginia Was Left Behind in the Clean Energy Revolution.  James M. Van Nostrand.

The Day the World Stops Shopping: How Ending Consumerism Saves the Environment and Ourselves.  J. B. MacKinnon.

Earthlings: Imaginative Encounters with the Natural World.  Adrian Parr.

Ending Fossil Fuels: Why Net Zero Is Not Enough.  Holly Jean Buck.

The High /Sierra: A Love Story.  Kim Stanley Robinson.

The Insect Crisis: The Fall of the Tiny Empires That Run the World.  Oliver Milman.

The Intersectional Environmentalist: How to Dismantle Systems of Oppression to Protect People + Planet.  Leah Thomas.

Klimat: Russia in the Age of Climate Change.  Thane Gustafson.

On Earth as in Heaven: Daily Wisdom for Twenty-First Century Christians.  N. T. Wright.

Passions for Birds: Science, Sentiment, and Sport.  Sean Nixon.

Plastic Unlimited: How Corporations Are Fueling the Ecological Crisis and What We Can Do About It.  Alice Hah.

Power in the Wild: The Subtle and Not-So-Subtle Ways Animals Strive for Control Over Others.  Lee Alan Dugatkin.

Reckoning with the U.S. Role in Global Ocean Plastic Waste.  By Committee on the United States Contribution to Global Ocean Waste; The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Requiem for America's best Idea: National Parks in the Era of Climate Change.  Michael J. Yochim.

Saving Yellowstone: Exploration and Preservation in Reconstruction America.  Megan Kate Nelson.

Second Nature: Scenes from a World Remade.  Nathaniel Rich.

Sex in City Plants, Animals, Fungi, and More:  A Guide to Reproductive Diversity.  Kenneth D. Frank.

Silent Earth: Averting the Insect Apocalypse.  Dave Goulson.

Sonorous Desert: What Deep Listening Taught Early Christian Monks and What It Can Teach Us.  Kim Haines-Eitzen.

Subtract: The Untapped Science of Less.  Leidy Klotz.

Surveying the Anthropocene: Art and Photography Now.  Patricia Macdonald.

Thoughts on People, Planet & Profit.  Amy Domini.

Urban Climate Insurgency (An issue of Social Text, 150).  Editors: Ashley Dawson, Marco Armiero, Ethemcan Turhan and Roberta Biasillo.

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

Water Always Wins: Thriving in an Age of Drought and Deluges.  Erica Gies.

Why Veganism Matters: The Moral Value of Animals.  Gary L. Francione.

Wild Souls: Freedom and Flourishing in the Non-Human World.  Emma Marris.

PANDEMIC LITERATURE

Dear Vaccine:  Global Voices Speak to the Pandemic (poetry). Naomi Shihab Nye, David Hassler and Tyler Meier.

Natural Immunity and Covid-19: What it is and How it Can Save Your Life.  William A. Haseltine and Josephine Gurch.

Next Time  There's a Pandemic.  Vivek Shraya.

Omicron: From Pandemic to Epidemic.  The Future of Covid-19.  William A. Haseltine and Griffin McCombs.  An on-line e-Book updated regularly.

Plagues & Pencils: A Year of Pandemic Sketches.  Edward Carey.

Variants: The Shape-Shifting Challenge of Covid-19.  William A. Haseltine.  An e-book updated regularly.

Victories Never Last: Reading and Caregiving in a Time of Plague.  Robert Zaretsky.

The World the Plague Made: The Black Death and the Rise of Europe.  James Belich.

6/2022 CCC: Rights of Nature Movement

                                          June 2022 Creation Corner Column 

                                            The Rights of Nature Movement

"Learn to Love Our Planet the Way God Does" is a description of a new book,  A Christian's Guide to Planet Earth: Why It Matters and How To Care For It, by Betsy Painter.

God has a covenant with his creation; what is our covenant with God's creation?   The Green Bible (2008) helps us understand the Bible's powerful message for the earth, and we can look to the secular rights of nature movement to discern how we might try to express our responsibility, as God's agents, to care for the integrity of God's creation.

The Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) is one example of such an effort.  Founded by Thomas Linzey (full disclosure, my acquaintance with him dates to the 1990s), a recent article by Elizabeth Kolbert in The New Yorker of April 18, 2022, "Testing the Waters: Should the natural world have rights?" is an interesting overview of CELDF's history and attempts to fulfill its mission.

Also noted therein is a law review article and book profiling the efforts of Christopher Stone, "Should Trees Have Standing?---Toward Legal Rights for Natural Objects".

Worth mentioning too is the recent special issue on the environment published by The Progressive magazine of  April/May 2022, wherein one finds the "Vox Populist" column by Jim Hightower, "Protecting the Rights of Nature",  that surveys worldwide enactment of enforceable Rights of Nature provisions.

As Bill McKibben (founder of 350.org) notes in his June 2022 "Deep Economy" column article, "The Greatest Dereliction of Duty", in Sojourners magazine, we've "...long known that we needed to do something about climate change---after all, the Arctic is melting, which seems like the kind of sign that doesn't require much interpretation."

Further, as the McKibben article "pull-quote" emphasizes, "We must take evil seriously when it arises, not putting it off in the hope that someone else will take it on."

One example  of climate change deniers and doubters is profiled in a new PBS Frontline docuseries, "The Power of Big Oil".

Finally, as the motivating description of reasons for reading the new book by Martin Puchner, Literature for a Changing Planet, puts it: "Why we must learn to tell new new stories about our relationship with the earth if we are to avoid climate  catastrophe."

That sentence expresses, in my estimation, what the purpose of  Lutherans Restoring Creation is.

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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.

                                                                    -30-

                                          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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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 

http://lutheransrestoringcreationblog.blogspot.com/

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