As I wrote yesterday, I heard from Susanna Mattingly, the Sustainability Communication Officer for the Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC). FWCC is joining a multi-faith campaign to work for sustainable living, called Living the Change. This encourages us to make personal commitments to make changes in our own lives to reduce our impact on our environment.
“Each of us has the power to make faithful choices for a flourishing world. If we have the courage to listen to the spirit, together we can ensure a peaceful and just future for our common home.” – Gretchen Castle, FWCC General Secretary
“Friends are encouraged to challenge themselves and to simplify their lives in ways that can enhance their spiritual environmental integrity.” from the Minute on Ethical Transportation, Iowa Yearly Meeting (Conservative)
The focus of Living the Change is on three high-impact areas: transportation, home energy use, and diet.
Yesterday I wrote about the Minute on Ethical Transportation that Iowa Yearly Meeting (Conservative) approved last year, that encourages the use of bicycles for transportation.
Also, from a Minute approved in 2008:
We encourage Friends to be examples as we explore creative ways to promote renewable energy, reduce energy consumption, recycle, and facilitate the use of local foods and products. There is an urgent need to curb oil consumption and greenhouse gas emissions dramatically, right now. Until some of these physical and social changes occur, it may be difficult for some Friends to give up their cars. Doing so as soon as possible is our goal, and could be a catalyst for change of the magnitude needed to reduce the current rate of environmental damage. Iowa Yearly Meeting (Conservative)
Increasingly violent weather is one effect of climate change. It was shocking to see the damage from multiple tornadoes across Iowa yesterday, especially in Marshalltown where I once lived. While some might argue it cannot be proven those tornadoes were caused by climate change, increasingly violent weather from climate change is being observed around the world.
https://nca2014.globalchange.gov/highlights/report-findings/extreme-weather
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/extreme-weather-caused-by-climate-change/
The Red Cross set up an emergency shelter at the Meskwaki Conference Center. We discussed “Building Bridges with Native Americans” at Yearly Meeting last year. One of the panel participants was Donnielle Wanatee from the Meskwaki settlement. Donnielle and I spoke briefly about that discussion as we traveled together to Minneapolis in February for a demonstration in front of the US Bank headquarters regarding their funding of fossil fuel projects.
This graph was developed by GreenFaith and is adapted from Wynes and Nicholas, 2017, Environmental Research Letter.
Quakers, social justice and revolution 