A prayer for Australia

Please, God, please, send Australia more good, soaking rain. And make the rest of us in far away places aware of the world's carbon debt and how we are contributing to it, so we can reduce climate change now.

+Amen.

Laudato Si Sunday Reflection: How do we receive God's love letter?

This Sunday reflection is brought to you by
Ephesians 1:17-23.

God of glory,
you give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation.

You enlighten our hearts.

You show us
the hope to which you call us.

You bless us
with the abundance of glorious inheritance
our earth has to offer.

Your great power is visible
in the many resurrections of spring.

You can be seen
in all that you have made,
you rise above all human rule and authority and power and dominion
and every name that is or will ever be.

You are the fullness we seek.

Help us not to settle for less than your love
moving in us
and in our protection
of your world.

+Amen

* * * * * * *

This week's smoky skies had a lot of people musing about the apocalypse, but as I walked our pup with a smoke tickle in the back of my throat, I found myself moodling about this amazing world God has given us to inhabit, this love letter that we too often trample in the dust rather than keep carefully.

This isn't exactly the way I intended to start this reflection, but the wildfires displacing so many of our human family in Northern Alberta played heavily on my mind as I reflected on today's paragraphs (81-85) from Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home, which can be accessed by clicking here.

The question on my mind was, "How do we receive God's love letter more gratefully and carefully?"

Paragraph 81 looks at the fact that every human being on earth has developed or is developing into a unique creature with our own ways of being: "The sheer novelty involved in the emergence of a personal being within a material universe presupposes a direct action of God and a particular call to life and to relationship" not only with God, who addresses herself and himself to me, but also with creation. Each one of us is a subject who can never be reduced to the status of an object by virtue of those relationships.

"When nature is viewed solely as a source of profit and gain, this has serious consequences for society." And not only society, but nature as a whole. Not only are people being forced to flee the fires, but many creatures' natural habitat is being lost due to human-caused climate change.

I'm so glad that the human idea that "might is right" is noted by Pope Francis and his encyclical team in paragraph 82. It's a fallacy that has led to immense inequality, injustice and violence against the majority of humanity, many other species, and our environment, since resources are exploited by the wealthiest, the most powerful, or the first on the scene. Of course, "Completely at odds with this model are the ideals of harmony, justice, community and peace as proposed by Jesus," who told us not to use power over one another, but to serve each other (and, I believe he also intended that we serve all of creation).

The main gist of paragraph 83 doesn't surprise me: "All creatures are moving forward with us and through us to a common point of arrival, which is God" -- and we are called to lead all creatures back to their Creator, say the human encyclical writers. Of course, I want to argue with this assertion. Yes, all of creation is called back to God, but we human beings with our big egos are not only leading all creatures back to God -- we are also being led by them, if we allow it. I'm thinking that the ducks in the river at the bottom of the hill are as much a sign of God's action in creation as I am. Their community is just as important as mine, and their gentle way of being together inspires me as I pause and think about where I can be with my loved ones in a gentler way...

Paragraph 84 notes that "Our insistence that each human being is an image of God should not make us overlook the fact that each creature has its own purpose." But where I beg to differ, Pope Francis, is in my assertion that each creature is as much an image of God as I am! God is not contained only in human beings -- "The entire universe speaks of God's love" and life. We human beings are putting God into a very small box when we forget that all creatures are part of God's image, just as we are.

Paragraph 85 notes that in creation, God has written a precious book, but going back to the beginning of this reflection, I prefer to think of it as a love letter. This idea of God as a lover writing a love letter first hit me as I was working on a novel in which one character says to another,

How many lovers have you had who could woo you with a gorgeous winter sunset like the one we had this evening? How many lovers could create a planet like the one I live on, and give it to me as a free gift? How many lovers could place entire diamond galaxies out in space just for us to marvel at with our dinky little telescopes? And how many lovers could create human love to show us the overarching love behind everything that is?

The Canadian bishops say, "From panoramic vistas to the tiniest living form, nature is a constant source of wonder and awe. It is also a continuing revelation of the divine." Everything God made holds a lesson for us -- "for the believer, to contemplate creation is to hear a message, to listen to a paradoxical and silent voice." And what is that message?

That we are loved.

In seeing the world's sacredness, created out of God's love, we also find our sacredness, and an encouragement to love creation as God loves it.

Where will you notice God's love letter for you in the week ahead? And what love letter will you give back to creation? Is there one small way you can reduce your fossil fuel emissions this week, to help decrease the incidence of future wildfires?

Laudato Si Sunday Reflection: To make all things new

Today's reflection is brought to you by
2 Corinthians 5:17-21.

As your family members,
when we are
one in mind and heart
with you,
O God,
creation is renewed.

You only want us to reconcile ourselves to each other
and to you
through our oneness of mind and heart,
to take up a full-time ministry of being of
one mind and heart
in you.

You do not count our sins against us,
but only call us to unity and reconciliation
with all your creation.

You call us to be your emissaries,
to live
in reconciliation and unity
and to invite others to join us.

You became one of us
so that we might become one
with you and all that you have made.

Give us minds and hearts
to see the many places and ways
where our oneness with you
can become the oneness
to bless your world
with the newness
it so desperately needs.

+Amen.

* * * * * * *

In thinking about the new creation in Christ that we hear about in today's second reading, I look around at creation at present and wonder how we can make it new with God's help. Unity of heart and mind, seeing the world with the compassion with which God sees it is certainly a big part of that. It's heating up down here, and it's much harder to ignore the climate crisis when you don't have air conditioning, as is the case for most of our family members in the developing world.

Climate change is also HERE -- in our backyard. Remember how hard it was to breathe in Edmonton back in August thanks to all the summer forest fires? Our sister, Mother Earth, is crying out, trying to wake us up, but are we blowing off her disasters (including storms like the one in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe) as coincidences -- at our peril?

At the beginning of a section about Weak Responses -- paragraphs 53-59 of Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home (access it by clicking here) -- Pope Francis puts it plainly: "Never have we so hurt and mistreated our common home as we have in the last two hundred years." Our advancing technology won't be able to save us if we are lacking the caring culture needed to address the earth's issues, and the leadership to bring about change. Laudato Si is the Pope's small step to push humanity in the right direction, a call to wake up.

But will it be enough? We need a solid plan that the world's entire population will buy into, with international law to back it up. Otherwise, the strongest voices (of the economy and politicians looking to save their seats) win. Climate summits have been happening every year since 1995, but not one of them has brought about serious change. I am ashamed that my Canadian government has been one of the worst when it comes to reneging on its promises toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions. I'm ashamed -- and angry -- and grieving.

Pope Francis points out that "the alliance between the economy and technology ends up sidelining anything unrelated to its immediate interests.... any genuine attempt by groups within society to introduce change is viewed as a nuisance based on romantic illusions or an obstacle to be circumvented" (paragraph 54).

It never ceases to frustrate me when people with economic interests in resources deride those who care about the environment, pointing out that without such-and-such a resource, life won't be so cozy or convenient. The thing is that many of us are only too aware of the inconveniences that come with protecting our planet, and are willing to put up with more hardship and hassles if it means future generations will have a planet worth inhabiting.

But if our environment continues to decline, none of our present sacrifices will matter. The fact that our family gave up one of our two cars has meant that sometimes we miss some events and activities, but life is not about convenience in most parts of the world! Most of our brothers and sisters on this planet don't have one vehicle, let alone two or more... Should we? I often wonder how we could live with no car at all. I'm sure it would be doable. But we'd all need to jump on that bandwagon to really make a difference at this stage in the game... and there's my terrible excuse.

Paragraph 55 looks at the fact that while some countries have made significant progress toward ecological sensitivity, overall "harmful habits of consumption" haven't changed. And Pope Francis and his team actually mention "the increasing use and power of air-conditioning" as an example. I'm sure you and I could list so many more. As the Pope notes at the end of the paragraph, "An outsider looking at our world would be amazed at such behaviour, which at times appears self-destructive." We are killing ourselves and creation by taking the good things God has given us for granted, wasting them and the earth in the process.

Paragraph 56 says that too many of us "deny doing anything wrong because distractions constantly dull our consciousness of just how limited and finite our world really is." Paragraph 57 is even less cheerful, raising the spectre of wars, nuclear and biological, once resources become scarce (I'll let you read that part for yourself) and concluding, "What would induce anyone, at this stage, to hold on to power only to be remembered for their inability to take action when it was urgent and necessary to do so?"

But as various people in the Bible say over and over again, "be not afraid." Paragraph 58 reminds us that human beings have been able to reverse some of the negative planetary impacts we have had in the past, accomplishing small things that prove that "men and women are still capable of intervening positively. For all our limitations, gestures of generosity, solidarity, and care cannot help but well up within us, since we were made for love."

The last paragraph of this section (59) warns us against "the rise of a false or superficial ecology which bolsters complacency and a cheerful recklessness." It's not enough to buy all the 'green-washed' cleaning products off the store shelves or participate in Earth Hour once a year -- and forget about changing the rest of our lives.

The planet will probably continue as it is for some time, leaving us with the illusion that things are fine and our little actions are making a difference, but if we continue with our same old thinking "carrying on with our present lifestyles and models of production and consumption... delaying the important decisions and pretending that nothing [bad] will happen," nothing NEW happens. And it's the big changes that we need to make that will save us.

I had a conversation with my future son-in-law this week about the kind of future his kids (my grandkids) will see, and he reminded me that societies have undergone radical changes when necessary in the past. The Weak Responses section that I reread this week is calling us toward stronger action NOW -- for the sake of all of creation. Could we live with one less vehicle in our lives? Could we turn off the air conditioning and lower the thermostat in the winter? Shop less? Share more? Spend more personal effort instead of taking consumer culture's quick, cheap, and easy ways out?

What am I taking for granted that I can appreciate more -- or do without?

What sacrifices am I willing to make to save our planet?

And most importantly, how can we see our world with God's compassion and help to make all things new again?

Share the journey

Lent is here again. While we should always be caring for those among us who are in need, Lent seems to be the time when we make a more concerted effort. And here's one way...

The Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace has chosen to focus on migrants and refugees this Lent, inviting us to Share the Journey of those who are displaced by forced migration due to war, famine, poverty and natural disasters. Climate change is the latest threat as our world warms to record temperatures, forcing many people in drought-stricken regions from their homes.

The fear of migrants overtaking our homelands and bringing terrorism -- so often raised by media reports (and the President of the United States) -- is unsubstantiated. In my involvement with L'Arche, I have met many people who are immigrants. Most of them would prefer to be in their own countries rather than Canada (especially in the cold we've been experiencing this winter!), and all of them want to be contributing citizens. They didn't choose to leave Syria or Burundi or other places that were home to them, but they had no choice if they wanted to live.

The video below is a good summary of the issue of forced migration, and offers Canadians a way to help, even if we've never met a migrant or refugee. And the Share Lent website can be accessed by clicking here. It offers more information and places to donate.

As we begin Lent, let's do what we can to help our faraway family members who are forced to flee their homes. After all, humanity is one big family.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVofjg1WhuI

For the sake of Paradise

My friend, Allison, posted this picture from outside her home on Facebook yesterday morning with the caption, "Uhhhhh, anyone know about this?"

Today I have learned that Allie has lost her home and business in Paradise, California, to the latest wildfire in that state. And oh, my heart is breaking for her. Of course, she's the kind of person who, while she will grieve her losses, is also grateful that she and her husband, Mike, were able to relocate to the home of a friend with 4 elderly friend and family members, and their 4 dogs. They are all safe, thanks be to God. They are putting a brave face on it, and will get through it all somehow, no doubt.

Most of us live far from these kinds of climate tragedies, and fool ourselves into believing that we are safe from this kind of thing, so we go on with our lives as though nothing needs to change. But if we really think about it, climate change could easily wipe out our own neighbourhoods with a wildfire, a storm, or a longterm electrical outage in deep winter. Call me a pessimist if you like, but it's the truth.

I am too far away to be of much help to Allie, who has many friends to support her in the U.S. Of course, I send my thoughts and prayers, and I've made a contribution to a Go Fund Me page for the family. Beyond that, I'm writing this post today to encourage everyone, everyone, to please think about every little thing you can do that will help to reduce the climate change impacts that create these kinds of events. Maybe even think about supporting an environmental agency or organization if you can.

The thing is, we all live in Paradise, though we seem to take it for granted every day. Our beautiful planet needs us to really appreciate it, to take climate change seriously, and to live much MORE simply, sustainably, and carbon-neutrally than we do at this moment. We're too late to prevent the burning of Allie's paradise in Paradise, California, but if we get on it NOW and make some serious sacrifices when it comes to our own use of fossil fuels and other resources, perhaps we can save the rest of the Paradise in which we all live. Call me an optimist if you like, but it's the truth.

A sense of urgency

On Thanksgiving Monday, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which is made up of a group of the world's top climate scientists, released their 6th report since 1974. It's scary, but hopeful.

And today, one year to the day before our next federal election, I finally sat down with a green highlighter pen to read a 34-page summary of it, which I then packaged up and took to the office of my member of parliament. I added a letter requesting that she do everything she possibly can to encourage the alignment of Canada's climate policies with what the scientists tell us we must do before 2030 in order to avoid more climate and human catastrophes. The document I dropped off had a lot of green text. I was just going to highlight the important parts, but it's all important!

The report came out on October 6th (click here to read it for yourself), but was shuffled to the bottom of the news cycle by most media outlets, something that makes no sense to me. We're talking about our future here, and hundreds of scientists from all over the world are in agreement, telling us that we need to make changes now or

• we will see a lot more intense climate and weather extremes, and an increase in droughts, floods, wildfires and weather events that will make travel to our favourite places less possible (the Skyline Trail in Jasper is no longer recommended for hikers because of fire danger, a friend's trip to Mexico has been cancelled because of Hurricane Willa, many friends' summer vacations were spoiled by smoke that stretched from the coast to Ontario this summer... see the pattern?)
• we will lose many more ecosystems (our coral reefs and marine ice are disappearing already)
• more species loss and extinction will result in further loss of biodiversity, which has already impoverished our planet and us as a species in many ways
• climate zones will continue to change, bringing desert regions to higher latitudes
• oceans will continue to acidify, currents will continue to change, and invasive species will get around more than they already have (if you think zebra mussels in the Great Lakes are bad enough, just wait...)
• there will be more risks to human health, livelihoods, food security, water supplies, human security and economy
• disadvantaged, vulnerable and often indigenous populations, especially those in the tropics and southern hemisphere, will suffer the most
• urban heat islands, already in the news this summer where people were dying from extreme temperatures in large cities, will only increase as temperatures climb
• food production in extreme weather will be more difficult, and water stress is already a concern in many countries

There are things we can do, and that's why this report is so important. It reminds us that it is possible to reduce CO2 emissions by lowering energy use, increasing energy efficiency, and working to implement the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals because action on them can create synergies between countries in the areas of health, clean energy, responsible consumption and production, the health of our oceans -- and get cities and communities working together for the benefit of all.

None of this will be easy, because governments like to talk more than act. So we have to push...

All of it will require a willingness to make sacrifices and change our ways. It might start with accepting that we need to tighten our belts and pay a carbon tax to kick start an economy that relies less on fossil fuels. That we might have to drive less and walk or carpool more get by with fewer pipelines and more solar and wind energy. That we give up on those tropical vacations altogether for the sake of our grand kids' futures. And eat less meat. And waste less of the earth's resources, using what we already have until it wears out. And remember that we are not entitled to waste things, but that we are to share them, especially with those in the developing world...

Whatever we do, we only have until 2030 to do it. Less than 12 years. So let's start now.

What to DO about our smoky skies

Edmonton this afternoon...

With so many wildfires in British Columbia (and other places) this summer, Western North America is under a pall of smoke. I live less than five kilometers from our downtown skyscrapers, and it's not easy to see them through the haze.

"This sucks!" "It's so gross out there!" "I feel like I'm suffocating!" are all comments I've heard in the past 24 hours. But the big question is:

What are we going to DO about it?

We need to get past the complaining and see how the way we live is contributing to the problem. Human beings are the most influential species in our planet's web of life. I know there are people who don't believe in climate change, but to them I say, "Look at the skies. It's here. And what are we going to DO about it?"

"There's nothing I can do," is a cop out, especially when we get into the car to drive somewhere for a cup of coffee. Couldn't we reduce our impact on the environment by choosing to
cut down our use of fossil fuels,
conserve resources,
reduce, reuse, recycle, and
sacrifice a few comforts and pleasures for the sake of being able to breathe?

My neighbour with asthma certainly hopes so.

For the past 8 years, almost, I've been moodling here occasionally about Simple Suggestions that we can follow to increase our own health and community well-being. I was delighted when Pope Francis came out with Laudato Si, his letter to the world about how we are to care for our only home and the poor (who are most affected by climate change). And now these smoky skies are telling us, in no uncertain terms, that we need to get serious about changing our lifestyles and cutting greenhouse gases, pollution, and waste of the earth's resources, just like Pope Francis and many other wise people say.

Maybe it's time to stop dissing our environmentalists and start listening to them.

Today I offer, once again, a few resources to help us think about what we can DO about our smoky skies. Check these out to

• Learn about your ecological footprint and how to reduce it

• Try out the top ten ways to stop climate change

• Discover how the city of Edmonton is encouraging its citizens to combat climate change (and perhaps see if your own region has similar programs)

• Find some other simple changes you can make to reduce your impact on the planet (many of these are working for me!)

The thing is, we have to go on living. But we have the power to DO things better than we have been. So let's stop complaining, and start making a difference!

Worried

I was going to post some gorgeous pictures of this morning's blossom-filled walk, but instead I'm praying for Fort McMurray, Red-Earth Creek, High Level, and any other place under threat of fire. If you are someone who prays, please pray with me.

God of everything,
we probably deserve everything that we get
when it comes to
the disastrous effects of climate change,
simply because
we've disrespected your wondrous creation.
But you're not a god of vengeance.
It's probably more heart-breaking for you to watch fires ripping through forests and fields,
blackening the earth,
heating the atmosphere further,
and destroying the homes and livelihoods
of so much wildlife and so many people.
After all, you made it all.

Please, God, please, send Alberta rain.
Help us to know that all you have given cannot be taken for granted,
but must be treated as precious gift.
Show us how to live more lightly on your earth,
and make us generous in sharing what we have
with those who are losing so much.
Bless all those who are fighting the fires
and keep everyone safe.

I know that this prayer is too little, too late,
but please hear me
and send us a good, soaking rain...

+AMEN

P.S. My cousin and her family are safe at the Syncrude camp near Fort McMurray. No word yet on whether their home was spared by the wildfires.

Have your say on Alberta's Climate Change Strategy

The aftermath of July's forest fire at Medicine Lake near Jasper

Here's a really quick moodling to encourage my Alberta readers to share your thoughts about dealing with climate change. The Alberta government is looking for input about how to proceed toward the December climate conference in Paris.

Have your say by clicking here.

What our world is doing now clearly isn't working -- we are having more instances of severe weather that is leading to floods, forest fires, food shortages, the melting of our glaciers and icecaps, and that's all just the tip of the iceberg. What are you willing to sacrifice so that future generations have a chance? I don't mean to be alarmist, but if the alarm bells aren't already ringing, it's only a momentary reprieve. We human beings seem to think that if we're okay, the world is too... but there are too many places in the world where climate change is making life more difficult for all living things.

Our family continues to look for ways to reduce our energy use and cut our greenhouse gas emissions, and we hope that our leaders will do the same in Paris.

What do you think?

Have your say by clicking here.

Laudato Si: Sunday Reflection #6... The elephants in the room

Life magazine's celebration of the "Throwaway Life"
August 1, 1955

A "throwaway culture," climate change, and the common good -- all in four paragraphs. Pope Francis and his encyclical writer friends certainly know how to pack their punches. Laudato Si, the latest encyclical, is designed to name the elephants in our earth's rooms (that is, environmental issues that we'd rather ignore) and get us thinking about what we need to do to save our planet and as many of its species as we can. The extinction of species in particular has been on my mind since I heard some frightening stats this week about how many creatures are disappearing daily because of the activities of one particular species -- ours.

This Sunday's piece of Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home (paragraphs 22-26 -- you can access the entire document by clicking here) looks briefly at the way many of the world's industrial systems (that create things to satisfy our needs and wants) are linear rather than circular. Unlike biologically sound ecosystem cycles, most of our human-made production methods are unable to "absorb and reuse waste and by-products," simply because recycling/reuse hasn't been built in, and a lot of us don't bother to reduce our consumption by using only what we need (and our wants are clearly too much for the planet to handle on its own).

When it comes to reducing, reusing and recycling as much as possible -- well, we have a long way to go to counteract our throwaway culture, which was first celebrated by a Life magazine article 60 years ago, picturing a family delightedly throwing disposable articles into the air because of all the convenience they offered. And we are still suckers for convenience. Paper towels, plastic bags, single use coffee cups, disposable water bottles, the list goes on...

Chuck Brodsky, a folksinger I heard at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival three weeks ago, sang a wonderful, tongue-in-cheek song, pointing out the fact that really, we can't throw anything "away":

....That old TV quit on me brother
Ten years ago so I got me another
The first one's sittin' out by the porch swing
With the stove and the 'fridge and a bunch of other things.
Take 'em out back, dump 'em in the river,
Take 'em out back, throw 'em in the woods,
Take 'em out back, chuck 'em down the hillside,
Keep the front yard looking good.... 

Of course, this approach to waste management is why Francis and friends pointed out that particular elephant when they wrote that the earth is starting to look like "an immense pile of filth." Only when our production loops become a full circle including the three Rs -- reduce, reuse, and recycle -- will we have a solution to the problems created by our throwaway culture. We probably shouldn't even be creating or using those things for which the loop can't be closed. There's no question -- wasteless living requires a huge amount of thought and effort!

Having addressed the throwaway culture elephant, Francis and friends turn their attention to the climate change elephant. Explaining that "the climate is a common good... a complex system linked to many of the essential conditions for human life," the encyclical calls us to "recognize the need for changes of lifestyle, production and consumption, in order to combat... the human causes" which aggravate climate change (paragraph 23).

It's been a few years since we learned that 97% of scientists agree that our climate is changing because of human use and abuse of greenhouse gases, creating a vicious cycle that is messing with our weather patterns. Our scientist pope names the issues clearly in paragraph 24 and following, explaining that it is the poor who live in areas most affected by dangerous weather, which will only worsen if we continue with our present rates of production and consumption. Environmental degradation means that people become desperate to find ways to migrate -- and this week's horrific story of our 71 brothers and sisters found dead in a truck in Austria should be reason enough to want to preserve peoples' homelands from both violence and climate disasters.

This weekend's 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina is a good time to rethink our lifestyles and "develop policies so that, in the next few years, the emission of carbon dioxide and other highly polluting gases can be drastically reduced." We need to increase our use of renewable energies, cut greenhouse gas emissions, and reduce energy waste, and get rid of all the elephants in the room.

Wednesday at Maligne Lake

My husband and I went camping this week (not the best use of fossil fuels, I'll admit) in Jasper National Park. I love breathing the fresh mountain air and seeing the sun on the lakes -- but neither of those things were quite right this time around. The droughts being experienced in Western North America this summer because of climate change have caused a huge forest fire in the state of Washington, almost 600 km south, and on Wednesday, we could hardly see the mountains for the smoke. Of course, that's nothing compared to what people in Washington are experiencing. What scared me was when Lee commented, "If we don't reduce climate change, our air could be like this permanently, as it is in places in China."

So this week, let's see how many times we can cut back on our creation of greenhouse gases by using alternate transportation (feet, bicycles, transit) and using less energy, period. Our sister, Mother Earth, and all her children (not just the human ones) are depending on us to change. The only species I would like to see extinct are these elephants in the room.

*******

A prayer for our earth

All-powerful God, you are present in the whole universe
and in the smallest of your creatures.
You embrace with your tenderness all that exists.
Pour out upon us the power of your love,
that we may protect life and beauty.
Fill us with peace, that we may live
as brothers and sisters, harming no one.
O God of the poor,
help us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten of this earth,
so precious in your eyes.
Bring healing to our lives,
that we may protect the world and not prey on it,
that we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction.
Touch the hearts
of those who look only for gain
at the expense of the poor and the earth.
Teach us to discover the worth of each thing,
to be filled with awe and contemplation,
to recognize that we are profoundly united
with every creature
as we journey towards your infinite light.
We thank you for being with us each day.
Encourage us, we pray, in our struggle
for justice, love and peace.

+AMEN.

(A prayer for our earth and all quotations from Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home © Libreria Editrice Vaticana)

Next up: #7... What are you made of?

Kill the air conditioning...

If air conditioning had not been invented, I wonder how long it would take the people in power to pay attention to the climate problems besetting our planet? A lot of governments and oil companies' head offices are in pretty warm places... and they might not need every office space cooled as much as the people of Karachi, Pakistan, would appreciate relief from the latest heat wave. At least a thousand have died this week. The poor pay the price for our convenience too often.

Pope Francis' latest encyclical is underlining how some of our technologies are costing us and this gorgeous planet we share by increasing the speed of climate change. I'm reading it instead of moodling these days. Can you tell?

Simple Suggestion #209... Spend love miles, not air miles

Once upon a time, when global climate change was hardly considered a real threat by the majority of the world's scientists, a young Canadian woman travelled to Europe and met a wonderful Belgian couple who showed her Flanders and the North Sea. They adopted her as their Canadian daughter because they had lost a son to Canada (he made his life in Ontario and now has a Canadian family). The relationship between the couple and the young woman bloomed quickly and continued to flourish through letters and parcels. When she married, she and her husband spent some precious time in Belgium so he could get to know her 'Flemish parents.' Their children heard many stories about the Belgians who adopted two Canadians, and last summer, one of the children actually met them.

Almost thirty years later, the friendship is still going strong, thanks to the love of this amazing couple. I will see them again tomorrow for the first time in twenty-two years. (And today, we are visiting Vimy Ridge, which they showed us 22 years ago.) I'm so excited!

Being a proponent and active practitioner of Voluntary Simplicity, a trip overseas is not something I am very comfortable with because of my concern for the health of our planet. Creating the kinds of fossil fuel emissions that jet planes do, they should be used infrequently, if at all. But in a world where families and beloved friends are scattered far and wide, how do we manage to reduce the carbon we're putting into our atmosphere, especially when it has become clear that global climate change affects us all?

Well, for one thing, those of us who live in wealthier nations can opt out of our air miles/travel rewards programs as much as possible. Frivolous reward vacations might seem like a dream come true for a tropical week or two, but scientists are saying that we're reaching a global tipping point (if we haven't reached it already) as far as our planet is concerned. Rather than spending air miles just to satisfy our wanderlust, we can content ourselves with being armchair tourists and taking in cultural events in our own region, leaving trips across the oceans to those who have loved ones with whom they need to visit and spend time.

I first came across the air miles vs. love miles idea when I heard an interview of British writer and environmental activist George Monbiot (click here for a link to his blog). Air miles are, of course, the airline industry's ploy to keep us addicted to travel... and few of us have much self control when it comes to planning our vacations -- if we have the money to go, let's go, forget those carbon impacts. But our desire for sandy beaches and palm trees is actually leading to the melting of polar icecaps and the possibility that those beaches (and possibly some island nations) will end up underwater.

So I am spending these love miles with a considerable amount of unease and anxiety for future generations, and am expecting and hoping that this will be my last airline trip in a long time. It's hypocritical of me to be in Europe and jabbering here about global climate change when I am definitely a contributor -- another example of the conundrums of this age we live in. But oh, it will be so good to hug my dear friends again!!!!

Love miles, not air miles!

P.S. Looking for more Simple Suggestions? Click here.

Watery thoughts on a Sunday

There's been some excitement in Alberta for the last couple of days, and not the good kind. If you haven't heard about it where you live, people south of here are experiencing flooding due to some pretty heavy rainstorms... High River, Bragg Creek, and parts of Calgary are under water. And some of that water is moving really fast. My heart goes out to all those whose homes have been damaged or destroyed, and to those who have lost loved ones, pets, and possessions.

We've heard for ages about droughts and floods due to climate change in other parts of the world (our daughter was in Germany earlier this month when there was flooding there). It seems the climate change phenomenon has finally come home to roost here, too. I have a number of relatives who were either on alert, have been evacuated, or have been stranded by flooding in the past three days. Cougar Creek, near my cousin Teresa's house, is actually a raging river. I've passed it many times when it was bone dry, so it's almost hard to imagine, except for the non-stop news reports and videos posted online.

Edmonton is under a flood alert, too, but I don't think we'll have serious issues unless we get the kind of 100 mm rainstorm they had in the Rockies on Wednesday/Thursday. Here's what our river looked like today -- a bit high, but not jumping the banks yet.

The problem is that people aren't connecting the dots... that these weather aberrations are directly linked to our highly consumptive lifestyles. Mindless living without considering the impact we are having on this gorgeous planet God gave us is creating conditions like the incredible melting of polar ice that leads to climate alteration and storms that cause so much damage and danger. It's time to rethink how we live, to use less of everything, and to walk more lightly on our earth in an effort to bring nature and humanity's impact on it back into balance.

With these things weighing heavily on my mind, I leave you with a beautiful but somewhat sombre piece of music by Camille St. Saens from his Carnival of the Animals. It ends on a lighter note... which is how I hope humanity's story ends, too.

Simple Suggestion #150... Turn down the heat by 2 degrees

Did you know that tomorrow, February 7th, is National Sweater Day? I just learned about it this morning, thanks to my Master Composter/Recycler newsletter. What is National Sweater Day? Well, the suggestion is that we all turn our thermostats down by two degrees and wear our granny-given sweaters in an effort to mitigate the effects of global climate change caused by all the fossil fuels we use to heat our homes. And if we can lower the heat on a regular basis, even better!

Of all the negative things going on in the world today, global climate change is by far the most terrifying. I'm not saying that the crises in the Middle East aren't frightening, or that the lives being lost and the amount of money being spent on conflict in places like Mali and Afghanistan isn't scary. What makes climate change the worst is that it is broader than these terrible conflicts -- it touches every person no matter where they are on the planet because superstorms threaten us all. It's too easy for us to ignore the obvious signs of climate change, like melting glaciers and disappearing global ice caps, because, like the conflicts I've mentioned, they are far away... but global climate change is becoming more and more obvious everywhere. Talk about climate change with people in Australia, who seem to be alternating between forest fires and floods. Or ask the people on the Solomon Islands, who experienced a 1 metre tsunami yesterday that killed 5 people because sea level has been rising at alarming rates for sea level communities. And then there are the folks in the Sahara Desert who experienced a snowstorm this week. Have you noticed an increase in the severity of storms where you live?

All good reasons to turn that thermostat down and listen to our grannies... though the grannies put forth by the World Wildlife Fund are more like grandmas when I was growing up than like any cool, zumba-grandmas I've met in our present day. Even so, WWF has come up with an interesting campaign to encourage us to reduce our consumption of heating fuels. If you have a few minutes, check out the website at http://www.sweaterday.ca/. I love how it's all done up in old-fashioned "granny-ness," doilies and all. And I'm really tempted to set up a granny phonecall for a few people I know, and for myself. It would be lovely to talk to any one of these ladies, I'm sure. "Now stop being so ornery and just wear the sweater!" -- and reduce climate change by a little bit. All those little bits can add up to something big. And check out these grannies for yourself!

P.S. Looking for more Simple Suggestions? Click here.

I'm a radical. How about you?

The Honourable Minister of Natural Resources, Joe Oliver, called me a radical on Monday in an open letter he had printed in the Toronto Globe and Mail. If you missed it, you can find it here. Here's the part where he refers to folks like me who oppose the building of the Gateway Pipeline to carry Oilsands bitumen through the forests of British Columbia to a port located on a pristine coast where our First Nations brothers and sisters fish for their food:

Unfortunately, there are environmental and other radical groups that would seek to block this opportunity to diversify our trade. Their goal is to stop any major project no matter what the cost to Canadian families in lost jobs and economic growth. 

No forestry. No mining. No oil. No gas. No more hydro-electric dams. 

These groups threaten to hijack our regulatory system to achieve their radical ideological agenda.

Minister Oliver, I'm very disappointed in you. As the Minister of Natural Resources, you, of all people, should be able to see the forest for the trees. I would think you would know that ordinary Canadians are concerned with more than just the building of a pipeline for the sake of Canada's wealth. I would think you would know that the word radical can also refer to roots, as in grassroots... and that there are a lot of ordinary, grassroots Canadians who can see that calling people names and accusing them of ulterior motives is just another reason for them to protest against the unsustainable choices your government is making.
 
Minister Oliver, you're letting me down. Honestly, I could care less about the name calling, but I expect you to think about ALL our natural resources, not just the ones that stimulate our economy. I would hope you would give first consideration to the environment on which we all depend for clean air, water, food and housing. I would like you to ensure that the appropriate development of the Oilsands (including dealing with increasing carbon emissions and those nasty tailings ponds) take place before any further thought be given to building pipelines. I would appreciate knowing that if Canadians allow the Oilsands to continue to develop, we won't be paying for them with the very atmosphere our children and grandchildren will inherit. 

Minister Oliver, I am not against forestry, or mining, or oil, or gas, or hydroelectric dams. I rely on all those things (except the dams -- we buy windpower) to live in a chilly northern Canadian city. What I am against is the exploitation of those resources by politicians and businessmen who are more concerned with an unsustainable economy's bottom line than with the environment that we all depend upon in order to live. I don't want to live in a world whose climate change becomes a constant threat to our very existence. I don't want my First Nations brothers and sisters' fishing grounds to become any more polluted than they already are, or to be endangered by the possibility of oil spills. I don't want forestry to decimate old growth rain forests that help to balance ecosystems that are tied to other ecosystems in ways that we will only discover when those ecosystems are dying. I don't want mining to lead to the erosion or pollution of important watersheds. If I have to use less oil, gas or electricity, I will find ways to adapt, because I am willing to make personal sacrifices for a healthier future. 

In other words, I just want the planet Earth and all its life forms to continue, whole and well, for many generations. I'm not convinced that you or your government cronies really understand how a pipeline will change things for the worse. So for the sake of your children and grandchildren, I write my own open letter to you. 


If my attitude makes me a radical, I wear the t-shirt proudly. And I'll mail my commentary/rant to you, and invite all the other radicals I know to write you their own letters

Minister of Natural Resources, Joe Oliver, can be reached at Joe.Oliver@parl.gc.ca. Even better, send a snail mail (no stamp required): 

Hon. Joe Oliver, House of Commons

Ottawa, Ontario

K1A 0A6

(t-shirt picture from Surropa.com).

We know we're in trouble when...

... our government leaders have their heads so far in the sand that they tell 14-billion-dollar lies at the Durban Climate Change Conference. When they blame China, India and Brazil for not doing enough to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (when China has actually done more per capita than Canada!) And when they take their marbles and go home before positive things have a chance to happen. Talk about childish!

I'm not saying that the Kyoto Protocol was the be all and end all of Global Climate Change action. Its flaws are many, and touted well enough by the press. But it was a place to start. And if the Canadian government under the Conservatives had stuck to the original agreement put in place by the former government, Canada would be within 20% of achieving its original goals in cutting carbon emissions. Instead, our country has gone backwards, and Peter Kent has pulled Canada out of the agreement entirely, without the approval of the Canadian public. No wonder Canada has Colossal Fossil status in the world when it comes to environmental sensitivity!

What Kent and Prime Minister Harper seem to be ignoring is that we have to begin somewhere to turn things around. So the Kyoto conversation didn't take a direction of which they approved. That doesn't give them the right to walk away. We need climate action now. We're already well past the 350 parts per million of greenhouse gases that are considered borderline "safe" for our atmosphere. Putting the economy's woes above our environment's degradation might win Peter Kent a few political points in the minds of his Big Oil supporters for the moment, but it's not going to prevent microburst storms from knocking the glass out of Calgary's skyscrapers, or end the drought in the Horn of Africa. If we don't do something now, we have less than a 66% chance of keeping climate issues to a dull roar... and how many of us would get on a plane if we had less than 2/3 of a chance of landing? (That brilliant point was made on a radio commentary I heard this morning.)

I've already written to Peter Kent and Prime Minister Harper about the importance of participating fully in the climate talks in Durban. I told them that they need to do something for the sake of their children, grandchildren, and future generations. Of course, they didn't want to hear me, so now I'll just have to write them again.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who objects to their refusal to talk about climate change in a constructive fashion. So, my friends... wherever you are, please, today, write a respectful letter to your elected officials. Tell them that Global Climate Change is real, it's our planet's most pressing issue (we'll get through economic meltdowns somehow, but not planetary ones!) and it's time to do something about it. Time to find alternatives to burning fossil fuels. Time to build sustainable economies using alternate energies (entire towns in Germany are already off the grid!) Time to wake up! And do what's necessary, even if it means we have to make some sacrifices.

Here's Prime Minister Harper's email address: pm@pm.gc.ca

Here's Peter Kent's email address: kentp@parl.gc.ca

Here's where you can find an email address for your elected Member of Parliament: http://www.parl.gc.ca/MembersOfParliament/MainMPsCompleteList.aspx?TimePeriod=Current&Language=E

If you're from outside of Canada, I'm sorry I can't guess at who your elected officials might be, but please, google them and send them a note. We really don't want more climate trouble than we already have. And we know we'll have even more trouble if we throw up our hands in dismay and do nothing! Maybe, if enough people speak truth to power, things will get done in time. We live in hope, right?

***

December 16, 2011

Here's my letter to Prime Minister Harper. Feel free to use it if you need some sort of template for your own letter.

Dear Prime Minister Harper,

I am saddened, disappointed, and ashamed of the fact that you allowed Peter Kent to pull Canada out of participation in the Climate Change Conference in Durban without having the decency to come up with and present concerned Canadians with a serious plan to reduce the effects of global climate change. Future generations deserve better from your government! Your kids deserve better!

I expect to see some serious initiatives to reduce Canada's dependency upon carbon based fuels and technologies, and to make wise transitions to a more sustainable future. Our economy must move away from the Oil Sands and toward sustainable energy sources like wind, solar, and geothermal. We need to work with other countries to protect our planet from further climate catastrophes, and walking away from opportunities to reduce our share of carbon emissions will not prevent Calgary skyscrapers from being buffeted by microburst storms, or stop the flooding of Manitoba, or ease the need for monies sent by Canadians to help with drought and famine in the Horn of Africa. What will it take for you and the rest of our government to wake up to the environmental crisis that we still have time to avert? A tornado in the House of Commons?

I am ready to make sacrifices if I have to. Are you?

What is your plan to reduce Canada's emissions and encourage other international leaders to do the same? Canada should be taking a leadership role here, rather than lagging behind everyone else as a colossal fossil. As our Prime Minister, you have the opportunity to come up with a really good plan. Please use it.


Something truly scary... and this year's Halloween costume

On Saturday morning, I woke up to radio reports about the flooding in Bangkok, and decided it was time to moodle about climate change again. I hate moodling about climate change, because it scares the heebie jeebies out of me. It's too easy to imagine that my own addiction to fossil fuels has no impact on anyone else... until Bill McKibben writes this op/ed piece about it, and Stephen W. Thomson makes it visual (see below). I am frightened, because who's to say the same sorts of things can't happen here? And I worry about my brothers and sisters in Thailand. How will they manage?

Here are more reasons to be a hummingbird, to live simply,
and to try to get by using as few fossil fuels as possible.

****

On a lighter note, after her successes as laundry basket, traffic light, and radio over the last few years, here's my youngest hobgoblin at school in the Hallowe'en costume she made this year!

Here's my girls' pumpkin art.

Happy All Hallow's Eve!

Moving the Planet... toward a cleaner environment

We were a little slow off the mark this morning, so my daughters and I missed the beginning of the Moving Planet rally on Whyte Avenue. Instead, we opted for riding straight to the Legislature Grounds to meet the procession as it arrived at noon. We heard the drums long before we saw the crowd...

To be honest, it wasn't a large crowd, but not bad for a first Moving Planet event in Edmonton. It will only get bigger as people realize that we need to get our governments to work with people and reduce carbon emissions to slow climate change.

Scientists have become aware that for most of our planet's existence, carbon levels have been around 270 parts per million, and last century they guesstimated that more than 350 ppm would be detrimental to the planet's ecosystems. So 350.org, the organization that planned today's worldwide rally, was named for the upper limits of non-destructive carbon levels in our atmosphere. Unfortunately, carbon levels have already reached 392 ppm, and we are starting to see some disastrous results in heatwaves, floods, droughts and bizarre weather in places that used to have moderate atmospheric conditions.

The rally was well organized. Peter Adamski acted as emcee, and there were various speakers and musicians.

Paula Kirman sang a folk song she composed, a lament for the environment that is undergoing so much change because of pollution...

Julian Brimelow spoke about some of those changes, and encouraged us to check out www.skepticalscience.com. Of course, he was preaching to the converted...

And what would a rally be without the Raging Grannies adding their unique musical perspective?

Or a mascot? (A polar bear on a unicycle is brilliant, if you ask me.)

Invitations were sent to civic leaders, MLAs and MPs, but only Linda Duncan came to show support for 350's initiative. I was glad to see her -- she's my member of parliament, and I think she is a wise one. 

One thing's sure... the weather is getting weird in a lot of places on this earth, and so many floods, droughts, tornadoes and forest fires aren't just weird quirks of Mother Nature. I think it was David Parker, a past Green Party member, who read a brief poem which explained that Mother Nature follows biology, chemistry and physics, and we can't argue with Mother Nature... but we can live and act differently to make biology, chemisty and physics work in our favour. If that's the case, it's definitely past time to get the planet's peoples to reduce our use of fossil fuels and rely more on our own sources of energy.

My prediction? The Moving Planet movement will continue to grow, people will write letters to their politicians asking for climate action, and things will get better rather than worse. But we all have to do our parts!