tagged w/ URGENCY
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By Ted Glick
“Part of the challenge over these past three years has been that people's number-one priority is finding a job and paying the mortgage and dealing with high gas prices. In that environment, it's been easy for the other side to pour millions of dollars into a campaign to debunk climate-change science. I suspect that over the next six months, this is going to be a debate that will become part of the campaign, and I will be very clear in voicing my belief that we're going to have to take further steps to deal with climate change in a serious way.”
-Barack Obama, in “Ready for the Fight: Rolling Stone Interview with Barack Obama,” April 25, 2012
From April 22-26 there were a series of activities on the climate crisis in Washington, D.C. organized primarily by religiously-based groups. One took place on April 23rd in an auditorium of the Old Executive Office Building, right next to the White House. Several Obama administration officials, including Heather Zichal, Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change, spoke to and answered questions from about 100 people from a variety of groups and parts of the country.
One question, asked several times, was if President Obama was going to be speaking out on the climate crisis in coming months. He has not been doing so, by and large, ever since the December, 2009 international climate conference in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Zichal’s response to this question was unclear. Either she did not know about the Rolling Stone interview, about to come out two days later, or what Obama said in that interview is somewhat provisional, not to be relied on. Hopefully, recent polls that have shown broad support for action on global warming—in the mid- to high-60’s percent range--will help to move Obama and others running for office to reflect that broad support in what they say between now and November 6.
It is clear, however, that if the climate emergency is going to be a major campaign issue, and if, after the election, we are going to get the kind of federal action urgently needed on it, we can’t depend upon Democrat/Republican interactions and messaging. We need to take action so that this and other important issues are visible, out there, difficult to sweep under the rug.
It is good news that a growing number of religious denominations and leaders are doing just that. Among the activities over the past week in D.C. were these:
an event at the National Cathedral on Earth Day, April 22, honoring Wendell Berry organized by the National Religious Coalition on Creation Care (NRCCC);
the meeting next to the White House on April 23rd organized by two Christian evangelical student-based groups, Renewal and Restoring Eden. and supported by many other organizations;
a day-long conference also on April 23 organized by NRCCC on the Scientific, Religious and Cultural Implications of Global Warming, which included presentations by 24 religious, government, scientific, military, medical and cultural leaders;
a day-long series of activities on April 24th organized by Interfaith Moral Action on Climate (IMAC), a newly-formed collaborative initiative endorsed by 45 groups and scores of religious and other leaders. Highlights were:
an inspiring program at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial early in the morning featuring Bill McKibben, Ibrahim Ramey, Luci Murphy and Sarah James;
a very diverse multi-faith service at the NY Avenue Presbyterian Church with leaders from Christian (Evangelical, Protestant, Catholic), Islamic, Jewish, Baha’I, Hindu and Native American faith traditions;
a religious procession/march down Pennsylvania Avenue to Capitol Hill led by Native American women from the Onondaga and Mohawk Nations; and,
the public announcement and distribution to every Senator and House member of an “ethical report card” grading the response of Congress to the climate emergency. The overall grade given by IMAC to Congress was an “F.”;
a Global Day of Prayer for Creation Care event organized by the Evangelical Environmental Network on April 26, the highlight of which was a 3 ½-hour program of music, videos, presentations and prayers by a range of evangelical leaders from the US, Latin America and Africa.
I can’t remember ever participating in so many actions on an issue organized by religiously-based groups over such an extended period of time. It is a very hopeful sign that among people of faith, many different faiths, there is a clear stirring into action on this huge moral issue, this threat to human civilization and the ecological systems that have allowed for its development over the last 10,000 years.
The climate crisis is a deeply moral and ethical issue. To quote from the Call to Action issued by Interfaith Moral Action on Climate: “It is morally wrong to unjustifiably cause human suffering and death. Human-induced climate change is correlated with storms, floods, droughts, crop failures, diseases, and water and food shortages, as well as associated breakdowns in political, economic, social and ecological systems. . . The greatest impacts are falling on low-income people, communities of color, Indigenous peoples and others who have contributed little to climate change. . . To disrupt the climate that is the cornerstone of all life and to squander the extraordinary abundance of life, diversity and beauty of the planet is a moral failure of the first order.”
More at the linkBy Ted Glick
“Part of the challenge over these past three years has been that... more
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Shame on us.
A calamity is unfolding before our eyes - the greatest oil spill in history - and America's response is little more than a big yawn.
Bob Herbert writes:
The vast, sprawling coastal marshes of Louisiana, where the Mississippi River drains into the gulf, are among the finest natural resources to be found anywhere in the world. And they are a positively crucial resource for America. The response of the Obama administration and the general public to this latest outrage at the hands of a giant, politically connected corporation has been embarrassingly tepid. ... This is the bitter reality of the American present, a period in which big business has cemented an unholy alliance with big government against the interests of ordinary Americans, who, of course, are the great majority of Americans. The great majority of Americans no longer matter. America is selling its soul for oil.
Where is the outrage? Where are the millions marching in the streets, where is the round-the-clock roadblock coverage tracking every moment of the crisis, every effort to plug the leak, every desperate attempt to mitigate the damage?
Where is the White House? Where are Republicans? Where are Democrats? Where is the left? Where is the right? Where is the "fierce urgency of now?"
Prominent oceanographers [are] accusing the government of failing to conduct an adequate scientific analysis of the damage and of allowing BP to obscure the spill's true scope. The scientists assert that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other agencies have been slow to investigate the magnitude of the spill and the damage it is causing in the deep ocean.
In the movies, pretend heroes like Bruce Willis and Will Smith save the planet while the whole world watches with breath and belief suspended. In real life, a global catastrophe is treated like a mere annoyance, mismanaged by a rapacious oil company, while drill-baby-drillers double down on their folly and the White House puts out defensive fact sheets about how they were on it from "day one."
Is this really the best we can do?
America is capable of greatness -- but our reaction to this unprecedented event is anything but great.
In some parts of the country, the sight of oil drifting toward the Louisiana coast, oozing into the fragile marshlands and bringing large parts of the state's economy to a halt, has prompted calls to stop offshore drilling indefinitely, if not altogether. Here, in the middle of things, those calls are few. Here, in fact, the unfolding disaster is not even prompting a reconsideration of the 75th annual Louisiana Shrimp and Petroleum Festival. "All systems are go," said Lee Delaune, the festival's director, sitting in his cluttered office in a historic house known as Cypress Manor. "We will honor the two industries as we always do," Mr. Delaune said. "More so probably in grand style, because it's our diamond jubilee."
Granted, some scientists are telling us the truth, some reporters are digging up unpleasant facts, some citizens are rising in anger, some federal agencies are doing what they are tasked to do. People are working to fix this. But by and large, America's collective response to this crisis is disproportionately anemic.
More at the link:Shame on us.
A calamity is unfolding before our eyes - the greatest oil spill in... more
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Rockin' Rob's latest political satire piece, featuring Michael 'the Skull' Scaredoff, the Official HEAD of Homeland SCARITY, warning us all to be very, verrrry careful, because the Skull is watching (and LISTENING TO)....YOU!Rockin' Rob's latest political satire piece, featuring Michael 'the... more
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Rockin' Rob at it again, with another political satire piece, this one on Homeland Security and their incessant Terror Alerts. Features Michael 'the Skull' Scaredoff, Official Head of the Dept. of Homeland SCARITY!Rockin' Rob at it again, with another political satire piece, this one on... more
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Rockin Rob combines Willie Nelson's A Peaceful Solution song, with dramatic anti-war protest footage & audio tracks. Music by Willie Nelson www.willienelsonpri.com. Special thanks to Willie for his Willie Nelson Peace Research Institute. Rockin Rob combines Willie Nelson's A Peaceful Solution song, with dramatic... more
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The world is facing a possible nuclear war! Considering the
worldwide stockpile of nuclear, biological and chemical
weapons of mass destruction, such a war bears an incalculable
risk and is a threat to all of mankind.
The death of millions of people and the contamination of our
entire planet for generations have become real threats. In
this situation, we, the people of the world, are putting
everything aside that separates us, in order to commit to one
common goal: the prevention of a nuclear war and the
survival of mankind. We, the people of different countries,
religions and races, are raising our voices together.
We call on the nuclear powers and all other governments to
immediately, publicly and clearly distance themselves from
any nuclear attack or any other war of aggression!The world is facing a possible nuclear war! Considering the
worldwide stockpile of... more
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Rockin' Rob offers his anti-war song in the style of Country Joe MacDonald's classic What Are We Fighting For, to clips from a recent anti-war protest rally. Features the traveling exhibit The Wall of Heros. Music and lyrics by Rockin' Rob. Rockin' Rob offers his anti-war song in the style of Country Joe MacDonald's... more
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Rockin' Rob Hicks performs President Al (in the style of Paul Simon's You Can Call Me Al), as his animated alter-ego 'Ramblin' Rob'. Original and borrowed lyrics combined with original music to a familiar beat & melody line (melody not exact but 'in the style of' You Can Call Me Al) all for the SOLE PURPOSE OF ENTERTAINING AL GORE INTO RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT IN 2008 (as seen on YouTube/rockinrobhicks).
Related; Willie Nelson's Peace Research Institute (www.willienelsonpri.com)
Youtube.com/BobbTV
Youtube.com/rockinrobTV
Run, Al......RUN!Rockin' Rob Hicks performs President Al (in the style of Paul Simon's You... more
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Outstanding anti-war/anti-facist poem, delivered at the onset of one of many anti-war protests held in America in the past 5 years, demanding a withdrawl of American troops from Iraq.Outstanding anti-war/anti-facist poem, delivered at the onset of one of many anti-war... more
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