EARTHCARE NOTES—August 2021

PYM Friends Adopt the Climate Change Sprint Report at Annual Sessions 2021.  The Climate Change Sprint Report was accepted and approved at annual sessions on Saturday, July 31st.  The Yearly Meeting calls on each of us to be under the weight of climate change as a corporate witness.  Here is a link to the video that was used to present the sprint report at sessions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBCVQJ_AKcE. And here is a link to the full report: http://www.pym.org/sessions/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2021/07/Moving-Together-in-the-Face-of-Climate-Change.pdf.

For the next five months, these Earthcare Notes will focus on the five climate change action areas identified in the sprint report: Activism, Education, Finances, Carbon Footprint Reduction, and Mourning Loss and Instilling Hope. 

This month we will focus on the first area, Activism.  Without systemic change, including changes in government policies and regulations, we will not achieve the urgent transformations called for in the recent report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.  Advocacy and non-violent direct action can both be tools to bringing about these changes.  We also need to stop the financial support that is allowing the fossil fuel industry to continue to develop dangerous projects, such as tar sands mining and pipelines, at a time when we should be keeping fossil fuels in the ground.  Here are some suggested actions to get you started:

1. Join the PYM Climate Action Network (CAN). The Eco Justice Collaborative (EJC) and PYM are creating a rapid-response climate action network to notify members when urgent action is needed at the local, state, and federal levels. Join the CAN here to receive alerts: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeTOfyMitunRJO1nSHm6Fw8PbJ5BZlvZYGLBLixT2IToEkZFA/
2. Join FCNL in calling for bold climate action. FCNL writes, “Over the next few months, lawmakers will consider legislation that will be vital to our efforts to protect people and the planet” from the threat of climate change.  Your voice is crucial.  Tell your Senators and Representative to make sure this legislation becomes law.  Take action here:     https://fcnl.quorum.us/campaign/34603/?utm_source=fcnlaction%20.
3. According to the Rainforest Action Network, Bank of America, Citi, JP Morgan Chase, and Wells Fargo are major supporters of climate change, making loans that enable dangerous fossil fuel projects to go forward. If completed, Enbridge’s Line 3 Pipeline alone (according to Enbridge’s own environmental impact statement) will release 193 million tons of GHGs into the atmosphere every year!  Join the Stop the Money Pipeline campaign to tell banks to stop financing the Line 3 Pipeline and other fossil fuel projects now: https://www.stopline3.org/events/exposegreenwashing.

If you are free tomorrow, Friday, August 13th, join Friends from Medford Meeting’s Climate Change Group as we deliver a letter to the Wells Fargo bank branch in the Acme shopping center.  Contact Ruth Darlington if you would like to join us: rdarlington49@gmail.com.

1. There are several ways to keep abreast of climate change actions needed.  First, you can subscribe to the Eco Justice Collaborative (EJC) Climate Action Network (see item #1 above). Second, you can subscribe to the EJC newsletter here: https://go.pym.org/webmail/791983/257257842/f1393974ddafe3fc512c7e38fb0af717130df4fadef7bb5748c75db6452ed89e.  Third, you can subscribe to FCNL’s monthly environmental newsletter, Inside the Greenhouse.  Here is the link to the August 2021 issue, where you will find information about subscribing: https://fcnl.actionkit.com/mailings/view/18515?t=1&akid=18515%2E156778%2EHXzxUr. Inside the Movement’s weekly email and the League of Conservation Voters/New Jersey’s (LCV/NJ) Get Involved site are two more good sources of action updates: https://itm.earth/#make-it-happen and https://www.njlcv.org/get-involved.
2. Learn to be a more effective advocate for the planet and all life on earth.  Sign up for EarthDay.org’s workshop on influencing elected officials on August 18th: https://www.earthday.org/volunteer-for-the-earth-workshop-4/.   Or take the FCNL 30-minute lobby training on August 17th or August 31st. Register here: https://www.fcnl.org/events/learn-lobby-30-minutes-12.
3. The fossil fuel industry is hoping that plastic manufacturing will keep them alive amidst the ascendancy of renewable energy.  So, plastics pollution is a climate change concern as well as a concern for the health of our oceans. Here are two things you can do right now to address plastic pollution.  First support the Break Free From Plastics Pollution bill.  Go to the website of Beyond Plastic to urge your federal legislators to move the Break Free From Plastics Pollution bill forward: https://www.beyondplastics.org/bffppa. Here you can choose from among three different ways to contact your elected representatives: by email, by phone, or by scheduling a virtual meeting. Second, tell Whole Foods to eliminate single-use plastic packaging.  Take action here: https://pennenvironment.webaction.org/p/dia/action4/common/public/?action_KEY=40879&supporter_KEY=6134310&uid=49eb6ae6ad7dcc2a724e0b22cf9f3239&utm_source=salsa&utm_medium=email&tag=email_blast:93385&utm_campaign=AME3-FCNS:OCEAN:PLASTBAGBAN-0521&utm_content=EM9:01C:0HH-CCP. 

Hope to see you next month, when we will focus on Education: how to educate ourselves on the causes of and solutions to climate change, including more about how to be an effective advocate.