Moving Washington Beyond Coal

by LeeAnne Beres

In the last few months, Jessie and I have made several trips over to Spokane to host events educating and empowering faith communities to advocate for clean energy. We partnered in this work with Spokane's Faith & Environment Network. On one of our visits, FEN's Felicia Reilly interviewed me about the impact of coal as an energy source, the alternatives that lie before us, and opportunities for the faith community to be involved. Below is her blog, posted recently on the Faith & Environment Network's website:

Most of us realize that burning coal is not a clean or environmentally friendly way to produce energy. But many believe we need the energy coal produces at the cheap price it provides. I have to admit that until recently my knowledge on the subject was limited to the knee-jerk reaction of ‘Coal Bad, Renewable Energy Good’.

Then our friends at Earth Ministry/Washington Interfaith Power & Light informed me that the coal plant in Centralia causes mercury pollution that is especially dangerous to pregnant women and babies! Being a mother of two beautiful boys this was outrageous to me. I was aware of the scary statistic that newborns are, on average, born with over 300 contaminants from pesticides to industrial contaminants but until now I was unaware that among those contaminants were pollutants from things like, you guessed it, coal-burning power plants.

Learning this prompted me to find out how I can help stop coal pollution from harming God’s amazing creation and our future generations. So, I asked LeeAnne Beres of Earth Ministry some questions and she gave me some very thoughtful and encouraging answers:

Q: What are the health impacts of burning coal?

A: Every step of the coal-fired process is dangerous to human health, from mining and processing to burning and storage of waste ash. Those most often impacted by these dangerous processes are the most vulnerable members of our communities: the poor, the elderly, and children.

The TransAlta plant in Centralia is Washington’s only coal plant, but it is our #1 source of mercury pollution, which is causes neurological damage and developmental delays in babies and children. It’s also the #1 source of nitrogen oxide pollution, which causes haze and worsens asthma. The National Park Service has identified TransAlta as one of the 3 worst plants in the entire country for damaging visibility in national parks and wilderness areas.

Last but not least, it’s #1 for global warming pollution – which flies in the face of the religious community’s call for immediate action on climate change. The TransAlta plant has been spewing out unregulated pollutants for nearly 40 years and it’s time to put the health of our children and communities before profits. We need to transition this coal plant to cleaner fuels by 2015.

Q: How can we replace the electricity generated by coal-fired power plants?

A: The Northwest Power and Conservation Council, which is a government agency responsible for planning and oversight of the region’s electrical systems, says that all 5,000 Megawatts of coal power in the entire Northwest can be replaced at minimal cost to consumers while delivering extensive public health and environmental benefits.

The NW Energy Coalition’s Bright Future report agrees: the Northwest has ample, affordable energy conservation and renewable energy resources (wind, solar, and geothermal power) to serve future power needs, slow climate change, and revive our economy. For negligible costs compared to continued reliance on dirty power sources, we can cover future electric demands, help salmon survive both climate change and the hydrosystem, shut down the highly polluting coal plants and meet state and regional greenhouse gas reduction goals.

Q: What is the religious community doing to help move Washington beyond coal?

A: Earth Ministry and the Faith & Environment Network are partnering on a statewide Beyond Coal campaign. Together, we are educating people of faith on both sides of the state about the danger of coal-fired plants and the need to transition to cleaner energy sources. We’re organizing meetings with elected officials to ensure that our values of stewardship, sustainability, and justice are incorporated into decision-making about the TransAlta plant. It’s important for Governor Gregoire and state legislators to hear that the faith community supports transitioning the TransAlta coal plant by 2015 and an end to the $5 million annual tax subsidy given to this Canadian corporation.

The religious community has historically spoken up for the “least of these” among us, and caring about creation and the health of our neighbors is an important part of putting our faith into action. Other organizations, such as the Sierra Club, Earthjustice, Physicians for Social Responsibility, and Cool Mom are also involved in the Beyond Coal campaign.
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LeeAnne’s responses encouraged me that change can happen but it will take all of us working together to get it done. So, write your representatives, Governor Gregoire, pray for a solution and speak of for the least of these among us. I for one know who I will be speaking up for my two little boys who I hope one day will be able to live in a world that is Beyond Coal.

children imitating cormorants
are even more wonderful
than cormorants
Issa

by Bryson Nitta

Every animal that moves and plant that grows has found its way into this universe, just like us. And while we may be filled with doubt as to our purpose or our place, we cannot be skeptical of the fact that we are all here, together. Our ancestors, from our parents and grandparents all the way to the first organism to pass on its DNA, struggled to survive, and those struggles are imprinted and manifest in our being now. We, too, struggling against and for all, are participants in the long march of time.

When we see, for instance, a simple pigeon pecking in the streets, we shouldn’t see it merely as an individual bird among millions of others; we should see the culmination of a material and biological history, the single product of countless others and their relationships. And it will eventually pass away, becoming another nameless contributor to a future present moment.

The fact of the matter is, when we try to see the world in all its complexity, when we try to see beyond our lives or histories or species, the world opens itself up. Animals and plants take on powerful meanings.

I wish we could experience this tremendous vision all the time. I wish that we could see with the eyes that God must use to see His Universe: eyes that see everything in its relationship to everything else, temporally and physically.

How much more likely would we be to love the things around us if we saw them in their wholeness? Their wholeness not just as individuals, but as the sum of relationships known and unknown? Would we then really want to destroy mountains, pollute oceans, kill off species, ravage forests, kill members of our own species?

Or would we seek to live respecting other beings in their fullness? Would we try, like children pretending to be cormorants, to love the Universe as much as God does?

Life After People

By Kyoko Tsuzuki, Intern

Picking classes for Spring Quarter was a challenging process. I had two classes already, but I needed one more. As I scrolled through my options, I came across “Religion and Ecology.” It sounded interesting, so I signed up. Being a sophomore psychology major, I was not completely interested in religion or ecology, especially since I am not a huge fan of the outdoors. I am in Professor Cynthia Moe-Lobeda’s Religion and Ecology class. Professor Moe-Lobeda is a passionate woman devoted to religion and the environment. I trudged through the readings and half-heartedly sat through the lectures. I was still trying to figure out how religion and ecology could possibly be connected.

One day, my professor told me that everything in the environment is connected. At first, I was completely confused by this comment. However, after she explained it further, I understood the observation as everything in nature is reliant on something else in the environment. For instance, the plants rely on the animals and the animals rely on the plants. In order for a functional existence and habitat, one needs the other. Another addition that I picked up on during this discussion was that humans disrupted this efficient give-and-take relationship. Human beings use the environment freely and at their own will. This often comes at the expense of God's creation.

After reflecting on this sobering conclusion for several days, I saw an advertisement for a television series on the History Channel, called “Life After People.” It sounded interesting. I sat myself in front of the television for two hours to watch this program. It started out with some startling images of famous buildings overgrown with foliage and shrubbery and animals running freely on green plains.

“Life After People” gave me some hope amidst all the destruction and gloom. Perhaps humans are not completely destructive. If I learned one thing it is that humans have an important role on this planet. We are here to care for the planet and all creation. Many of our current lifestyle choices deeply impact the health of the planet, ourselves, and future generations. People need to be conscious of how they are living and try to reduce their "footprint" on the earth. This is the ultimate call of our generation.

Ubuntu

By Chris Olson, Outreach Coordinator

Each Lutheran Volunteer Corps house is given a name by the first group of volunteers who are placed there. The new group gets to choose the name and they often choose a word from another language with deep, cultural meaning or an influential social justice, environmental, or spiritual leader whose ideals they want to live out in their shared community. When I first received my acceptance letter to LVC, I hoped I would be placed in a brand new house so I would have the opportunity to help pick the name. I have to admit I was a little disappointed when I learned that I would living in a house that had already been established but, not only that, a house with a name that I didn't even know what it meant. Ubuntu. What?

Throughout the year, my appreciation for the concept of Ubuntu has grown to the point of seeking to embody it in everything I do. It's a traditional African philosophy which recognizes how we are inextricably bound in each other’s humanity and translates as "I am because you are". I cannot be fully myself unless you are fully yourself. Our humanity is linked and in living lives of compassion we must care for one another as we would want others to care for us. The idea struck me when I first moved into our little community, but recently it embedded itself in my mind when I was exploring the Global Oneness Project website and found a video that fully explained Ubuntu from the view of those who live it out every day as part of their culture. Please take a second to check out this clip (its worth it!)



On Saturday, May 9th, Earth Ministry is sponsoring a free Global Oneness Project event titled The New Narrative: Local Voices for a Global Future at MOHAI (Museum of History and Industry). The event will include short films from the Global Oneness Project, interactive cafe-style conversations, guest speaker Orland Bishop, and a Q&A with filmmaker Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee. For more information visit Earth Ministry's homepage.

Vote Earth for Earth Hour on 3.28.09

Unlike any election in history, this is not about what country you're from, but instead, what planet you're from.

2007 - Earth Hour began in Sydney, Australia when 2.2 million homes and businesses switched off their lights for one hour.

2008 - The message had grown into a global sustainability movement, with 50 million people switching off their lights. Global landmarks like the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Rome's Colosseum, the Sydney Opera House and the Coca Cola billboard in Times Square all stood in darkness.

2009 - Earth Hour is being taken to the next level, with the goal of 1 billion people switching off their lights as a part of a global vote. Vote EARTH by turning your lights off for one hour on March 28th. Vote Earth is a global call to stand up and take control over the future of our planet. Over 74 countries and territories have pledged their support and at Earth Ministry we are joining them.

Vote Earth

The World Wildlife Fund is urging the world to VOTE EARTH and reach the target of 1 billion votes, which will be presented to the world leaders at the Global Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in 2009. This meeting will determine official government policies to take action against global warming, which will replace the Kyoto Protocol. It is a chance for the people of the world to make their voices hear.

To learn more about what thousands of people around the world are doing this Saturday check out Earth Hour.

To hear how governing bodies around the world are asking their citizens to participate check out statements from UN sites around the world.

Global climate change threatens the environmental and human health all over the world. At Earth Ministry we work to inspire and mobilize the Christian community to play a leadership role in building a just and sustainable future. Voting for the earth is just one way that we can do this. Join us on March 28th and Vote Earth!

Practice Resurrection

By LeeAnne Beres

These are the last words of Wendell Berry’s famous poem, Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front, a poem that never fails to stir my soul. Berry challenges us to “every day do something that won't compute” – to embrace with joy all that makes us truly human, truly children of God. Resurrection is the great gift and hope of being Christian, and to practice it daily takes courage, faith, and most of all, practice.

To practice resurrection is a challenge, and to be successful we have to work at it over and over again. Like learning to ride a bike, play the piano, or sort out our recycling, garbage, and compost, we need to consciously choose to put time and effort into living into the promise of a risen Lord. This is why we need church – we need a faith community to support and nurture us as we try, fail, pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and try again. The process and path is as important as the goal. So my friends, thank you for being part of the Earth Ministry community. Together we will continue to practice resurrection, and plant sequoias.

Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front
by Wendell Berry

…So, friends, every day do something that won't compute.

Love the Lord. Love the world. Work for nothing.

Take all that you have and be poor.

Love someone who does not deserve it.

Denounce the government and embrace the flag.

Hope to live in that free republic for which it stands.

Give your approval to all you cannot understand.

Praise ignorance,

for what man has not encountered he has not destroyed.

Ask the questions that have no answers.

Invest in the millennium.

Plant sequoias.

Say that your main crop is the forest that you did not plant,

that you will not live to harvest.

Say that the leaves are harvested when they have rotted into the mold.

Call that profit. Prophesy such returns.

Put your faith in the two inches of humus that will build under the trees

every thousand years.

Listen to carrion--put your ear close,

and hear the faint chattering of the songs that are to come.

Expect the end of the world.

Laugh. Laughter is immeasurable.

Be joyful though you have considered all the facts.

So long as women do not go cheap for power,

please women more than men.

Ask yourself: Will this satisfy a woman satisfied to bear a child?

Will this disturb the sleep of a woman near to giving birth?

Go with your love to the fields.

Lie easy in the shade. Rest your head in her lap.

Swear allegiance to what is nighest your thoughts.

As soon as the generals and politicos can predict the motions

of your mind, lose it.

Leave it as a sign to mark the false trail, the way you didn't go.

Be like the fox who makes more tracks than necessary,

some in the wrong direction.

Practice resurrection.

Lessons from my Grandfather

Some of my earliest childhood memories revolve around time spent with my grandparents. With each tight hug from Grandpa Al, I was reminded of the countless conversations and visits I had with him. Last week, I had the honor of remembering those stories with friends and family as we celebrated the life of my grandfather.

I returned to my home in Minnesota last week for my grandfather’s funeral. During the prayer service, I listened to numerous stories that gave testimony to this man of great character. Grandpa Al loved to talk about anything, but in particular he loved talking about farming, his time spent serving in Panama during World War II, and the years he working for a farmer’s cooperative. These conversations which tended to bore me a bit while I was younger, I found to be instrumental when forming the values I still hold today.

As the son of Norwegian farmers, Al loved to talk with my dad about his farming business. It was through these conversations I learned the passion one must have for the earth to be a good farmer. My grandfather would talk about growing much of their own food and explain the careful art of growing crops. His love of the outdoors influenced me to spend as many waking hours outside or to eat every lunch I could with my dad in the wheel-well of a John Deere tractor.

The stories he would tell of his time in the service or working for the co-op always held a theme of caring for your neighbor. Every story ended with, “Well, all you need to do is treat people with respect and serve those around you.” It seems like an obvious statement, but one that many of us often forget. As a man baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran tradition, and long-time member of Zion Lutheran Church, he had lived with this mentality his whole life. Today, I know serving those around me includes all of creation. With energy conservation, I am doing my part to fight climate change to protect my neighbors across the world. In buying organically grown foods, I am protecting wildlife from dangerous chemicals.

Even though I’m sure my grandfather would not have considered himself an environmentalist, it is with these lessons on farming, faith, and fellowship with one another that has led me to my current work. With the passing of one generation, I sat with my father last week to discuss the farm bill, organic farming, genetically modified crops, and being a servant to the land and our neighbor.

Even though my family jokes that I am the Seattle hippie who will work for tofu, it’s this same family that has taught me the life lessons to lead me where I am now. Tusen tak, Bestefar.

Why We Do This Work

This past Saturday I attended the birthday party of my dear friend Ellie, who just turned two. That’s right, two years old – she’s a big girl now and we had a party to celebrate! Lots of friends and family attended, and there were tons of kids running around in the sunshine that deigned to make an appearance during this otherwise dreary spring.

There was home-made macaroni and cheese, cake and ice cream, and more love to go around than any toddler knew what to do with. Ellie was surrounded by people who care about her and want the very best for her future. Parents, grandparents, friends and neighbors, all enveloping her in a protective and loving network that will support her for years to come. It reminded me of another party I went to last month, for my three-year-old goddaughter, Hannah.

At Hannah’s birthday party, it was also all about the food (pizza and ice cream…I’m going to have to go on a diet), and also all about the love – for Hannah, her baby sister, and all the kids who came to wind themselves up on sugar until they collapsed in a sticky heap. There’s just something about the wide-eyed innocence of a small child to break your heart open and want to shield him or her from all the problems of the world.

Unfortunately, many of the problems of the world today are due to our making. Climate change, destruction of habitat, food shortages, and other environmental ills can be laid directly at our generation’s doorstep. It’s time to ask ourselves the hard questions. What kind of Earth will we leave for Ellie and Hannah’s generation? I have four nieces – Vanessa, Stephanie, Danielle (who also just had a birthday!) and Camila – what environmental legacy will they inherit? My godson Angus will be 15 in June…what will the world be like for him when he’s my age?

When I look into their faces I know in my heart why I do this work. Why I strive to help Christians and other spiritual people make the connection between faith and our call to protect the Earth for future generations. Why it matters so very much what we do today, tomorrow and next week. Because the choices we make now will affect these kids’ future, and the future of children around the world.

In the next few days, make or renew your pledge to leave the world a better place for those coming after you. Hug a child you love. And remember why we do this work.