Fwd: EDOW EC: Advent and Christmas
Doug Kelley
Begin forwarded message:
> From: "Reid Detchon" <reid.d...@gmail.com>
> Date: November 30, 2008 9:02:06 PM EST
> To: "Jane Osborne" <ja...@environmentalacademy.us>
> Cc: "Reid Detchon" <det...@boo.net>
> Subject: EDOW EC: Advent and Christmas
>
> Dear friends:
>
> On the first Sunday in Advent, we are reminded to slow down and be
> patient and faithful. Patience and faith are virtues for protecting
> the environment, too – although slowing down may not be!
>
> Getting us off on the right foot, though, is a page of tips from the
> National Council of Churches – "The Low-Carbon 12 Days of Christmas" –
> at http://www.nccecojustice.org/downloads/lowcarbonchristmas.pdf.
> It's a good list, and I'm not giving away anything by telling you that
> #12 is: Remember Why We Celebrate!
>
> To put some of those tips into action, go to ShopIPL, a discount
> energy efficiency store for faith communities and their members
> sponsored by Interfaith Power & Light. It has recently added Sears
> Energy Star appliances and new holiday lights. Just enter the code
> "shopipl" to receive 10% off (except on Sears appliances)!
>
> * * * * *
>
> Speaking of IPL, Greater Washington Interfaith Power & Light invites
> you to join them on Monday, Dec. 15, for "an evening of celebration,
> chocolate, faith & sustainability" – an impressive combination! GWIPL
> is a non-profit initiative that helps congregations, religious
> institutions and others in the Washington area work for a more just,
> sustainable and healthier creation by reducing the threat of global
> warming.
>
> The event will feature a tour of Bethesda's Adat Shalom
> Reconstructionist Congregation, led by two local environmental
> champions, Rabbi Fred Dobb and Mike Tidwell of the Chesapeake Climate
> Action Network; the building emphasizes the use of recycled materials
> and energy conservation. There will also be awards to faith
> communities and individuals "for their commitment and good work to be
> good stewards of the planet"; and "a yummy Chocolate Reception."
>
> There is no cost, but contributions are encouraged!
>
> When: Monday, Dec. 15, 7 to 9 pm
> Where: 7727 Persimmon Tree Lane, Bethesda
> How: Take River Road two miles past the Beltway to Bradley Blvd., and
> turn left. Travel one half mile to a 4-way stop sign at Persimmon
> Tree ROAD. Turn left onto Persimmon Tree Road and travel three-quarter
> mile to Persimmon Tree LANE (where a sign on the right says Country
> Club Road – Persimmon Tree Lane is on the left side). Continue past
> the golf course and a white church on the left until you see Adat
> Shalom.
> For more information or to RSVP, go to: http://www.gwipl.org/.
>
> * * * * *
>
> The same Mike Tidwell has another of his memorable rallies planned for
> Chesapeake Climate Action Network on Friday, Dec. 5. "U.S. lawmakers
> are considering bailing out the Big 3 automakers, the same automakers
> who have aggressively lobbied against higher gas mileage standards for
> years and who (surprise!) are on the verge of economic collapse," he
> writes. "If you own a Prius or other hybrid, join us for a lunchtime
> caravan around the U.S. Capitol building. We'll decorate our cars with
> our message to Congress: No Detroit bailout without a serious
> commitment to the fuel efficient cars of the future!" For more
> information, go to http://www.chesapeakeclimate.org/index.cfm.
>
> Then on Saturday, Jan. 10, CCAN will hold its 4th Annual Polar Bear
> Plunge. This year, they're expecting hundreds of people to run, jump
> and dash into the icy waters of the Chesapeake Bay near Annapolis.
> It's always crazy, and the event raises funds to keep the group
> fighting for clean energy. Go to www.keepwintercold.org to see (or
> join!) the plunge.
>
> * * * * *
>
> The so-called Green Group of national environmental organizations is
> mobilizing for action after President-elect Obama is sworn in on Jan.
> 20. They are organizing a campaign for a clean energy future called
> "Repower, Refuel, and Rebuild America," calling on the new President
> to adopt these goals:
>
> · Move to 100 percent clean electricity: Generate power from
> clean sources such as wind and solar and reduce electricity demand
> with energy efficient buildings and homes.
> · Cut our dependence on oil in half: Improve vehicle
> efficiency; use electricity instead of oil to power our cars; and
> invest in public transportation.
> · Create 5 million new clean energy jobs: Invest in clean
> energy technologies and infrastructure that will require new engineers
> as well as factory, construction, and administrative workers.
> · Reduce global warming pollution by at least 80 percent: Set
> a firm national limit on global warming pollution, charging polluters
> for their heat-trapping emissions and using the revenue to invest in a
> clean energy future.
>
> For more information, go to http://www.ucsusa.org/action or
> http://www.environmentamerica.org/action/energy/obama-letter?id4=ES.
>
>
> * * * * *
>
> The early signs out of the Obama team are encouraging. On Tuesday,
> Nov. 18, he took time to send a "surprise" video message to a climate
> summit hosted by Gov. Schwarzenegger in California. He promised that
> "the United States will once again engage vigorously in these
> negotiations, and help lead the world toward a new era of global
> cooperation on climate change." He also reiterated his support for
> domestic action: "We will establish strong annual targets that set us
> on a course to reduce emissions to their 1990 levels by 2020 and
> reduce them an additional 80 percent by 2050," he said.
>
> To see the video yourself, go to http://www.350.org/obama-commits, or
> to see the text, go to
> http://gristmill.grist.org/print/2008/11/18/10217/445?
> show_comments=yes.
>
> * * * * *
>
> At this time of year, it's the political landscape, not the natural
> one, that usually gets the spotlight. But the Nature Conservancy has
> partnered with the Washington Society of Landscape Painters to capture
> on canvas conservation efforts taking place around D.C. and throughout
> Maryland and Virginia.
>
> The area's most talented landscape painters were invited to give their
> impression of some of the environmentally significant areas that are
> close to where Washingtonians live, work and play. A special exhibit
> features works by Richard Whiteley, the Society's past president, and
> Bethanne Cople. It will continue through Jan. 4 at the Athenaeum, 201
> Prince Street, in Alexandria.
>
> * * * * *
>
> Bethesda Green is a new organization that is focusing this month on
> recycling. You can find a list of 10 ways to "reduce, reuse, and then
> recycle" at
> http://www.bethesdagreen.org/index.cfm?
> fuseaction=page.viewpage&pageid=500.
>
> One of the most common questions about recycling is what to do with
> computers and other such gear. Bethesda Green has organized an
> Electronics Recycling Day on Sunday, Dec. 14, at Walt Whitman High
> School, from noon to 4 pm. (Ironically, you can enter a raffle to win
> a new TV.)
>
> The amazingly long list of accepted items can be found at:
> http://www.bethesdagreen.org/index.cfm?
> fuseaction=Calendar.eventDetail&eventID=8.
>
> * * * * *
>
> Ann Loikow passed along a troubling article from Grist about natural
> gas drilling and contamination of water supplies. The natural gas
> industry takes pains to describe itself as clean – and indeed, gas is
> clean-burning. But the extraction process can be a messy one,
> especially with the new boom in hydraulic fracturing that is releasing
> large amounts of previously trapped gas from shale formations, even in
> Eastern states like Pennsylvania.
> To read more, go to
> http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/11/13/15214/978.
>
> * * * * *
>
> On the brighter side (literally!), at St. Barnabas' Episcopal Church
> in Norwich, VT the electric meter now runs backward on sunny days,
> thanks to a new system of solar panels. At the dedication, Bishop
> Thomas Ely said, "I wonder if in this time of global climate crisis we
> can think of this system of renewable energy that we dedicate today,
> and others like it, as sacraments of grace reflecting God's energy
> working in us and our commitment to be faithful stewards of God's
> creation."
>
> In a letter to the Diocese, Ely added, "The creation God has given us,
> the creation we love and rely on for life, the creation that bears
> witness to the glory, the majesty and the mystery of God's grace and
> love is in danger of death, and we are both its greatest enemy and its
> greatest source of hope. We who love it have brought it to this brink,
> and we must love it enough to bring it back from that precipice."
>
> You can see a wonderful picture of the system at:
> http://www.dioceseofvermont.org/Mountain%20Echo/Mountain%20Echo%2008/
> November08Echo.pdf.
>
> * * * * *
>
> Looking for a Christmas gift? First, consider choices from
> Alternative Gifts International (http://www.altgifts.org/). You can
> buy a solar cooker in Gambia or a meal for a street child in Kenya or
> for the hungry here at home. You can save a newborn in Romania or
> plant trees in Haiti. Your donation goes 100% toward helping the
> planet and its people.
>
> If you want something more tangible, how about The Green Bible, a
> newly published NRSV text? This first Bible of its kind has over
> 1,000 passages outlined in green to show the role of creation in God's
> story, and inspirational essays from leaders such as N. T. Wright,
> Barbara Brown Taylor, Brian McLaren, Matthew Sleeth, Pope John Paul
> II, and Wendell Berry.
>
> Here's a review by David Crumm, editor of www.ReadtheSpirit.com, from
> Amazon's web site: "Desmond Tutu writes the Foreword to this landmark
> new edition of the Bible. He concludes with this powerful affirmation:
> 'It is possible to have a new kind of world, a world where there will
> be more compassion, more gentleness, more caring, more laughter, more
> joy for all of God's creation, because that is God's dream. And God
> says, "Help me, help me, help me realize my dream."'
>
> "This new edition of the Bible is just one stepping stone toward that
> dream -- just one new religious tool in a new kind of toolbox.
>
> "By simply marking Creation-care passages in green – like the earlier
> red-letter edition launched a century ago – new generations of Bible
> readers will find fresh focus on the green themes in Scriptures. That
> was the same basic principle that led to the red-letter Bibles that
> first appeared about 100 years ago. People needed to change their
> focus when reading scriptures in the 20th Century, the creators of the
> red-letter concept believed. For their century, they thought the
> central challenge was encouraging people to return to the teachings of
> Jesus, so they marked Jesus' words in red.
>
> "Now, at the dawn of a new century, the creators of this new edition
> realize that many of us want to rediscover the Bible's many teachings
> about the compassionate commitment we all should make to our planet
> and to the creatures, plants and humanity living all around us on the
> fragile blue ball that God provided for us. So, they've marked
> Creation-care passages in green for us.
>
> "That's so simple and yet so helpful. If you're a typical Bible
> reader, you already own several Bibles -- and this one is a smart
> addition to your devotional choices.
>
> "This is far from the end of the green trail for people of faith.
> There is a long way yet to go, even with green Bibles. For example,
> this is a Bible with an introductory reflection from the writings of
> Pope John Paul II – but only the Protestant books of the Bible between
> its covers. Obviously, we also need a Catholic edition of the Green
> Bible. This is a weighty book. We need shorter portions of scripture
> printed this way. Most of the supplements for Bible study are printed
> as a series of introductory essays, written as this green movement is
> just emerging broadly in Christian churches. We will need another
> edition down the road, as our prayerful reflections deepen and our
> collective responses mature.
>
> "This truly is a milestone. If we could turn back the clock to the
> dawn of the 20th Century, I'm sure that most Bible readers would go
> out and snap up copies of the first red-letter edition to hit
> bookstore shelves. Now, as the first Green Bible emerges, you'll want
> this on your shelf.
>
> "Yes, it's a first step, but it is a major step on a crucial journey."
>
> * * * * *
>
> On behalf of the Environment Committee,
>
> Reid Detchon
>