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Download a pdf copy of recent newsletters: Fall 2007 | Winter 2008 | Spring 2008 | Summer 2008 | Winter 2009 | Earth Day 2009 | Harvest 2009 | Winter 2010 | Spring 2010 | Fall 2010 | Winter 2011 | Summer 2011 Read a copy of Joan Brown's e-notes:
Eco-Stations of the Cross Resources for Faith Communities Energy Efficiency for Faith Communities: Ways to Green Your House of Worship and Home Making and Installing a $15 energy efficient window in churches and homes A great article on the origin of fossil fuels, suggested by the students of Holly Meyer: Mother Earth's 350.org Wiki Link The climate change-related play, “Mother Earth vs. World's People,” has just been placed in the wiki (resource list) of Bill McKibben's great organization, 350.org! From this location the complete script and materials are now available at no cost to anyone in the world with a computer and Internet access. And with deliberately no copyright, it can easily be changed to fit any performance situation without even asking. It has been performed in many venues around the country since 2006 by actors of all ages, experience, and ethnicities, memorized or with scripts in hand. Being a trial, it's easily adjustable for length by how many witnesses Mother Earth calls to the stand (11 are available, with Mother Earth invariably including “Hurricane Katrina”). And with his generous permission, the script includes an optional prologue by Bill McKibben. As one audience member wrote, “[It is] very difficult to mix humor with disaster. This play managed to do it.” To check out the play, just click on the link below and you're on your way:
Wondering what you can do to help in the fight against global warming? Go on a Low Carbon Diet!
Grounded in over two decades of environmental behavior change research, this illustrated workbook offers much more than a list of eco-friendly actions. It walks you through every step of the process, from calculating your current C02 “footprint” to tracking your progress. By making simple changes to actions you take every day, you’ll learn how to reduce your annual household CO2 output by at least 15%. And, for those who are more ambitious, you’ll discover how you can become “carbon neutral” and help your workplace, local schools, and community do the same. Go on a Low Carbon Diet today, and join the growing number of Americans who have decided to take global warming into their own hands. Low
Carbon Diet: A 30 Day Program to Lose 5000 Pounds, by David Gershon. Gallup Solar Gallup Solar was formed in March 2007 by a group of women traveling to see Jane Goodall. Their ideas had been coalescing for sometime around stewardship of the planet. As the crisis of global warming became clear they suddenly and without planning felt a desire for change. A group was formed and began to meet weekly. Within a month over 75 people had joined. Gallup Solar envisions a flourishing and healthy environment that enables all communities to live in harmony with Creation and is collaborating with communities, elected representatives, utilities and industry to bring solar power to all peoples in our area. Visit the website: gallupsolar.org and download the flyer for more information. Green, meet God The secular environmental movement sees an opportunity in the world of religion. Is this a marriage made in heaven? By Henry G. Brinton Download the pdf file to read this USA Today article. Joan Brown,osf of NMIPL participated in a press conference October 15 highlighting Enviroment New Mexico's October 2008 report, Feeling the Heat: Global Warming and Rising Temperatures in the United States. The report states that globally, the year 2007 tied for the second warmest year on record, behind the record warmth of 2005. This warmth is part of a long-term trend toward rising temperatures and extreme weather events resulting from global warming. Global average surface temperatures have increased by more than 1.4°F since the mid-19th century. In 2007, the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded that the evidence of global warming is “unequivocal” and that human activities are responsible for most of this rise in temperature. Representing NMIPL, Joan stated that as readings are taken on the external temperatures a moral reading of the internal temperature of the lifestyles of citizens and people of faith must be taken. "It will take effort, commitment and community to begin measuring the temperature within that measures compassion, care and action for change in our lifestyles and public policies that take into account the justice issues of global warming. Now the signals from the physical world, from God's creation, tell us that we have definitively gone too far and it is time to turn around in some new direction. We will need each other's encouragement and help in doing that," she said. The Envirnoment New Mexico report compares temperature data for the years 2000–2007 with the historical average, or “normal,” temperature for the preceding 30 years, 1971–2000. Data was collected at 255 weather stations—those with the highest quality data—in all 50 states and Washington, DC. Overall, temperatures were above the 30-year average across the country, indicating pervasive warming. New Mexico average temperature degrees above normal from 2000-2007:
Recommendations of the report call for the US to establish mandatory, science-based caps on global warming pollution. At minimum the U.S. needs to reduce total emissions by 20 percent below current levels by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050. To assist in this goal strong public policies designed to accelerate the transition to 100 percent clean renewable energy are needed.
Read these articles from Rocky Mountain Institute. www.rmi.org/sitepages/pid467.phpwww.rmi.org/sitepages/pid257.php
RESOURCES for Faith Communities Ashes to Ashes – A Meditation, by Rev. Elizabeth Lyman. Download the pdf. An Interview with climate scientist Katherine Heyhoe, August 25, 2011 Earth Day Liturgy helps:
Place Matters: Grounding your ministry in a sense of place. Free materials. RAFFI: The Right to a Future: We Need a New Lexicon for Conveying Climate Collapse http://huffingtonpost.com/raffi/raffi-climate-change_b_809353.html Setting the Record Straight—responses to common challenges to climate science (6 page download) “The Wonder of Water” with Larry Rasmussen, Th.D. — A reflection on water used in sacred rites and the origins of life on our “Planet of Water.” Water and ethical issues. Download the Word doc.
www.theregenerationproject.org/resources.htm Previous News Hearings on Desert Rock Power Plant Global Climate Report Released: click here for more information
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