hope – Page 7 – 350orbust

“I Refuse to Believe I am Part of a Lost Generation”

January 15, 2010 by Christine

Here is a video, Lost Generation, that won the AARP “U at 50” You Tube contest. According to the AARP website, the contest, launched in August 2007 was designed to give:

… people between the ages of 18 and 30 the chance to submit short videos on the subject of what they expect their lives to be like at age 50. The goal of the U@50 Challenge was to encourage intergenerational dialogue enabling young people to speak their minds and give AARP insight into their views.

20 year-old Jonathan Reed of Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia won second place for this entry, which is based on an award-winning Argentinian political advertisement. This video is only 1 minute and 44 seconds long – don’t stop halfway through! Thanks, Todd, for bringing it to my attention.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42E2fAWM6rA]

A New Way of Looking at the World

January 1, 2010 by Christine

Telephone-sheep from the Frankfurt Museum of Communications — Telephone sheep from the Frankfurt Museum of Communications

More Telephone Sheep from the Frankfurt Museum of Communications

2010 is fresh and sparkling new. What better way to start it than by considering that there may be a new way of imagining our world? These “telephone sheep” from the Frankfurt Museum of Communications take old dial-up phones and transform them into something completely different, something most of us wouldn’t have imagined when looking at a useless outdated phone.

We human beings have within us the ability to imagine a different world, as well as the amazing capacity to work towards creating it. I invite you to imagine a world where fossil fuels are used carefully, like the precious resource that they are; a world with cleaner air and water; a world where those of us in the industrialized world don’t leave a legacy of pollution and destruction for those in the developing world, and our own future generations.

We do not need magic to change the world. We carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better. ~JK Rowling, speech to Harvard Alumni Association, 2008

The problems of the world cannot possibly be solved by skeptics or cynics whose horizons are limited by the obvious realities. We need men (sic) who can dream of things that never were. ~ John F. Kennedy

The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them. ~ Albert Einstein

Thanks to my brother Jon for bringing the “telephone sheep” pictures to my attention!

Post-Copenhagen – What Now?

December 22, 2009 by Christine

It’s been 4 days since the historic UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen ended. The general consensus among those concerned about the future of the planet, and the impact of man-made emissions on it, seems to be that Copenhagen was a failure (see my posts here and here). Grist.org’s David Roberts has written a comprehensive discussion of the conference, Copenhagen: a look back at the most striking narratives, that is worth a read. He discusses why it is significant that it was leaders, and not their negotiators, that were “up in it” the last few days of the conference. He also looks at China’s obstructive role in the process, why the UN may not be the best place to advance this cause, and the role of the U.S. Senate now. He has this to say about looking forward from here:

“What came out of Copenhagen is nothing but a faint promise. To make it something real, much less what’s needed, will require intense pressure from civil society, elites, businesses, enlightened governments, and ordinary citizens. And guess what? If there is a robust, legally binding treaty signed in Mexico next year, with sufficient targets and timetables … intense pressure will still be required.

This will be a century-long fight. If the green movement is going to sustain itself over time, it might be wise to try to avoid the emotional roller coaster of “last chances” and “historic failures.” That’s a recipe for burnout. There will be no cathartic moment, no final breakthrough, only a war of inches won by sheer persistence and creativity.”

So, relax and enjoy the holiday season and bring in the New Year with gusto. Recharge your batteries (sustainably of course!), and don’t despair (that’s a luxury we can’t afford right now). There’s more work to be done in 2011!

Message of Hope – 350 Reasons To Care For God’s Creation

December 13, 2009 by Christine

The following video was created by Hope Mennonite Church in response to the challenge of climate change, and in solidarity with the people around the globe who are already experiencing the devastating effects of climate injustice. Here’s what their YouTube posting says:

The crazy folks at Hope Mennonite Church (in Winnipeg Canada) believe God wants us all to take care of the earth. And they want to show you 350 Bible references to “prove” it!

Enjoy the video, which was directed and produced by Curtis Wiebe. Curt also wrote and performed the music. In the interests of full disclosure, I should admit I had a part in organizing the event.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7TFBqUmfNw]

Copenhagen Day 7 – The Earth Needs Our Prayers

December 13, 2009 by Christine

Tens of thousands of people rallied in Copenhagen and around the world this weekend, holding signs that read “There Is No Planet B”, “The World Wants A Real Deal” and “Bla Bla Bla Act Now”, sending leaders a message that people want a real, binding, and enforceable agreement on climate change. Grown men cried in the UN meetings, pleading for a deal that would save their island nations. The World Council of Churches is calling on churches around the globe to ring the alarm on climate change by ringing their bells 350 times at 3:00 pm local time. As today is Sunday, a day traditionally set aside in North America for spiritual reflection and renewal, I thought it would be appropriate to repost Brian McLaren and Tim Costello‘s Prayer for the Earth.

A Prayer for the Earth

Most gracious God, creator of all good things, we thank you for planet Earth and all creatures that share it.

Have mercy on us, Lord. Through ignorance and carelessness we have poisoned clean air and pure water. For monetary gain we have reduced verdant forests to barren wastes. In our craving for more we have plundered your beloved creation and driven many of our fellow creatures to extinction. Only recently have we begun to realize the dangerous future into which our current patterns of consumption and waste are driving us, especially in relation to Earth’s climate. Only recently have we begun to see our need to find a wiser and better way of life in the future, before it is too late and our choices are limited by the consequences of inaction.

We who join in prayer today believe the time has come, Lord. Please guide us now, our God, at this critical moment in history, to better fulfill our role as stewards of this fragile planet. Guide the leaders of nations who will gather in Copenhagen on Dec. 7. Give them courage to set noble goals that reach beyond short-range political expediency, short-term economic profit, and short-sighted self-interest. Impress upon their conscience our sacred duty to bequeath to our children and grandchildren a healthy and thriving environment rather than a world in climate crisis.

Real Deal vigil.Dec11.09 — The World Wants A Real Deal Candlelight Vigil

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Musings from a Mom on Climate Change

December 11, 2009 by Christine

Day 4 into the UN Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen, and my initial caption for my posting today was going to be “Living in the Age of Stupid”. But as I began to write, I remembered that this is the Weekend of Action for a Real Deal around the globe. Mothers, fathers, daughters, sons and grandparents around the world will be gathering en masse to send our leaders a message that the world needs real, binding, and ambitious agreement. While there are incredibly diverse ways of being human, we have this in common. We are all someone’s son or daughter. Many of us also have children of our own. My daughters are why I can’t give in to pessimism and hopelessness. They are worth fighting for.

Recently, I’ve heard skeptics argue that “fear mongering” regarding the dire planetary emergency we are in should set off warning bells. Fear = untruth seems to be their argument. As a parent, I know when fear is a healthy thing to employ. When my daughters were younger, if one of them went too near a hot stove, I didn’t stand back and point out to her that 1% of people who have touched a hot stove believe that it isn’t harmful. If one of them went near the edge of a precipitous cliff, I didn’t stand back and engage her in debate about the odds of surviving a fall.

California’s Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger explained it like this:

“If 98 doctors say my son is ill and needs medication and two say ‘No, he doesn’t, he is fine,’ I will go with the 98. It’s common sense—the same with climate change. We go with the majority, the large majority.”

Fourteen Days to Seal History’s Judgement on this Generation

December 7, 2009 by Christine

Published today by 56 newspapers around the world in 20 languages, the editorial 14 Days to Seal History’s Judgement on This Generation, is a call for action from world leaders on climate change:

Today 56newspapers in 45 countries take the unprecedented step of speaking with one voice through a common editorial. We do so because humanity faces a profound emergency.

Unless we combine to take decisive action, climate change will ravage our planet, and with it our prosperity and security. The dangers have been becoming apparent for a generation. Now the facts have started to speak: 11 of the past 14 years have been the warmest on record, the Arctic ice-cap is melting and last year’s inflamed oil and food prices provide a foretaste of future havoc. In scientific journals the question is no longer whether humans are to blame, but how little time we have got left to limit the damage. Yet so far the world’s response has been feeble and half-hearted.

Climate change has been caused over centuries, has consequences that will endure for all time and our prospects of taming it will be determined in the next 14 days. We call on the representatives of the 192 countries gathered in Copenhagen not to hesitate, not to fall into dispute, not to blame each other but to seize opportunity from the greatest modern failure of politics. This should not be a fight between the rich world and the poor world, or between east and west. Climate change affects everyone, and must be solved by everyone.

The science is complex but the facts are clear.

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Open Letter to Canadians on Faith and Climate Change

December 6, 2009 by Christine

Mardi Tindal is the Moderator of The United Church of Canada. The Hon. David MacDonald chaired the House of Commons Committee on the Environment from 1989 to 1993. Both will attend the COP 15 UN meetings on Climate Change in Copenhagen. In this open letter to Canadians, they explain why the Copenhagen Conference is a place where faith and science must meet. Here is an excerpt from their letter. To read the complete letter, click here.

We believe the United Nations Climate Change Conference is a place where faith and science must intersect.

These talks will almost certainly determine the fate of coming generations. The future of our children is at stake. Finding a way forward will require that we attend to the best science available, so we are firmly grounded in reality. But it also demands that we recognize the spiritual values that have guided humans for centuries so we can work toward a vision of wholeness.

Science tells us what is and, given certain parameters, what will come to be. Spiritual values teach us what ought to be. Only the two, working together, can see us safely through this perilous time.

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