I attended a day-long workshop in Lansing today, titled, "Justice for Earth Days." It was put on by the Boards of Church and Society and the Social Action Gathering of the United Methodist Women, both of the Michigan districts of the United Methodist Church. There were five presentations, a few booth displays, and a panel discussion. I'll share some of my notes and links (though I haven't looked at the links yet).
The host acknowledged that the speakers would be "preaching to the choir" -- we already had an interest in environmental and social justice issues or we wouldn't have been there. But after the preaching, the choir has to perform and these speakers would help with the performance.
First up was Tyler Edgar, Associate Director of the Climate and Energy Campaign, National Council of Churches. She actually attended the Copenhagen climate conference last December.
It might be hard for Americans to pay much attention to the rising climate crisis because the effects will be felt first in poor countries. So think of it this way: America was pretty good at helping after Katrina (though New Orleans hasn't completely recovered yet almost 5 years later -- there's a new TV drama about it). Now consider having to help clean up from one or two Katrinas every year. There may not be more hurricanes, but they will be stronger. How about helping resettle 50 million environmental refugees by 2050? Consider that 100 million live within a meter of sea level. Food security will be an issue. Many areas in Africa already have drought problems and inexpensive solutions can make a big difference. The problems in Sudan began over food security.
There were two parts to the Copenhagen Accords -- how to lessen the severity of the climate crisis and how to adapt to the changes. What can we do? The block at the moment is Congress. A climate bill will be introduced in a week and both Michigan senators haven't stated their support (it may not be officially introduced yet, but it has been discussed by senators for a good long time now).
National Council of Churches Eco Justice.
Michigan Climate Action Plan
Next up was supposed to be Lana Pollack, president of the Michigan Environmental Council. She's been nominated for a job in Obama's administration, but since the Senate hasn't taken up her confirmation she is not allowed to give lectures. Instead, her husband Henry spoke. He is a geophysicist who has worked with Al Gore. He wrote the book A World Without Ice about how ice regulates our climate.
The crowd at this event was mostly older than me. Pollack said it's because his generation already dealt with recycling in WWII, so no big deal. The Localvore idea isn't all that strange either. They called them Victory Gardens.
Here are some of the ways that Michigan will likely be affected by climate change. Sugar maples, the tree that is a big part of Michigan's tourist-drawing fall color, will die out. Lakes, especially the Great ones, won't have as much of a protective ice cover and will be subject to evaporation for more of the year. Water levels will drop (they've been dropping for a couple decades already). Warmer water means stronger storms and changes in types of fish and in bird migration paths. Less ice and snow (and the tourists they draw) with winters more like northern Kentucky and summers like northern Arkansas (and our family thought summers on St. Louis were bad). Farmers will have to adjust their growing schedules and which crops to plant. Cities will have to deal with more residents with heat stress.
At the moment our country is so polarized we won't listen to the message if we don't like the messenger. If scientists brought us the faulty science of evolution then there is no reason to listen to them about a climate crisis. Church people can step in and get the message across with less hostility.
The climate crisis needs a political solution. The League of Conservation Voters has a politician scorecard. It is better to talk about an enlightened energy bill than to talk of a climate bill.
Earthwords has daily scripture from the environmental point of view.
The target level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is 350 parts per million. We're already at 390 ppm and gaining about 2 ppm a year.
Before lunch was Julie Lyons Bricker, director of Michigan Interfaith Power and Light, an organization that helps congregations become more energy efficient and sustainable.
45% of American energy is used by buildings (and we thought the big culprit was transportation). 75% of American electricity is used by buildings. It makes sense to make buildings as green as possible. Bricker talked mostly about benefits of MI-IPL membership, including energy audit and software to document effects of building changes and assistance with energy use in member homes.
Michael Way and Lisa Hardesty led off after lunch. They are from Bronson Health Care in Kalamazoo, which is one of the greenest hospitals in the country.
In the 1990s Bronson Hospital needed to build a replacement facility. At the time all of their waste was incinerated. They decided to build so the incinerator could be shut down. Their goals: Produce less pollution -- in all manner of materials work to dispose less. Recycle as much of the remaining disposed material. Conserve energy -- mostly behavior changes. Use green building designs -- include interior gardens. A green building is healthier for patients. Use sustainable food from local providers.
If you buy strawberries out of the local season, they probably came from Mexico and took 4 weeks to get to Michigan. How much preserving chemicals were added to make the berries seem fresh after 4 weeks in transit? Food transport uses more energy than the transport of any other commodity. Local food is much better for patients (and everyone else). Their efforts have boosted local growers who no longer let their greenhouses be idle over the winter.
Employees now come to the green team and say such things as, "Now that we've gotten recycling going for that material, what about this one?"
The final speaker was Fred Keller, CEO of Cascade Engineering. Yeah, this is a business that makes things out of plastic.
Sustainable means we meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability to meet needs in the future. There are three parts: social, ecological, and financial. They drive each other and are not zero-sum.
Let's rethink capitalism, which has these flaws: (1) it is destructive of nature, (2) it widens the gap -- 5% own more than the other 95%, (3) it doesn't promote happiness. We should shift from consumption to personal relationships and from self-interest to service. Our consumption should not drive someone else's impoverishment.
Cascade also began a program to help get people off welfare. The state provided an on-site social worker (getting people working was saving the state a million dollars). But that meant the senior staff of the company had to adjust their perceptions of the poor and minorities.
One of the displays in the booth room was about plastic shopping bags. There are at least a half-trillion of these things made worldwide each year. It doesn't do much good to recycle them because it costs 100 times more to recycle them than to make them. They're good at escaping from landfills and causing all kinds of havoc with wildlife. Be Drastic, Cut Plastic and use reusable shopping bags.
Another display talked about how toxic it is to make plastic and when plastic finally decomposes. It suggested ways to avoid plastic:
* Don't use Styrofoam cups.
* Don't buy anything disposable that has plastic in it, such as razors and pens.
* Don't buy plastic decorations, such as fridge magnets.
* Reuse plastic items until worn out, such as tablecloths, cups, food storage bags (I always considered the second use to be unsanitary).
* Buy plastic that has been recycled and can be again.
* Avoid plastic wrapping, if not possible send the wrapping back to the manufacturer with a note of complaint.
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