News from the The Northeast Environmental Justice Center of the UCC.
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Environmental Justice News
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"He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?"
Micah 6:8 NRSV
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The 23rd Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP23)
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The 23rd Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP23) was held in Bonn, Germany, to assess global progress in dealing with climate change. This was the first COP since President Trump pulled the U.S. out of the Paris Accord.
The U.S. government, which is now the only country in the world that is not participating in the Paris Accord to combat climate change, took this opportunity to
defend clean coal
. The panel was disrupted by protesters from the
U.S. Peoples' Delegation
, which walked out and left the room half-empty.
One of the strategies discussed at length for reducing emissions included implementation of carbon trading and offset schemes.
It Takes Roots
is a multiracial coalition led by women and gender-oppressed people of color and Indigenous peoples on the frontline of racial, housing and climate justice in the US. They took a bold stance to reject and challenge these solutions by releasing the
“Carbon Pricing Report: A Critical Perspective for Community Resistance.
”
The
leadership of Indigenous groups
was formally acknowledged at the COP23 in a document that stated that countries “should, when taking action to address climate change, respect, promote and consider their respective obligations on the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities.”
Greenfaith
, an interfaith coalition for the environment, is hosting a conference call on Tuesday November 21st to offer their analysis of COP23 and to share about how people of different faiths can make a real impact.
Register to join the call!
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Climate Witness in MA
Many thanks to the folks - including Rev Jim Antal and Rev. Margaret Bullitt-Jonas - who showed up over the last six weeks to join a
stand-in at MA Governor Baker's office
. The action was led by a coalition including MACUCC, 350 Mass, Clean Water Action, UU Mass Action and more to encourage Governor Baker to lead on climate and ban new fossil fuel infrastructure.
Clean Energy in CT
Fracking Waste Ban
Congratulations to Stratford for becoming the 32nd municipality in Connecticut to ban toxic, radioactive fracking waste! Congratulations, and thank you to the town council, petitioners and
Jen Siskind
from Food & Water Watch for making it happen!
CTUCC Green Churches
Congratulations to the First Congregational Church, Deep River and to Mystic Congregational Church for successfully achieving Level 2 Green Church Awards! The
Green Church Award
is a recognition program of the CTUCC Environmental Ministry Team (EMT).
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... And one more thing: Breaking News
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Native American Heritage Month
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In honor of
Native American Heritage month
, I offer an opportunity to learn and reflect on the Thanksgiving Address, and an opportunity to act in support of water protectors.
The
Thanksgiving Address
is a Haudenosaunee (also known as the Iroquois Confederacy, or Six Nations, including Mohawk, Onandaga, Oneida, Cayuga, Seneca and Tuscarora) practice of gratitude for all relatives of creation. The Thanksgiving Address is considered a gift that is meant to be shared, and is shared at every religious or social gathering, or as a sunrise prayer. It is a beautiful expression of gratitude that honors the sacredness of Mother Earth and all of her inhabitants, an embrace of all of those inhabitants as family, and appreciation of the gift of our diversity:
"When one recites the Thanksgiving Address the Natural World is thanked, and in thanking each life-sustaining force, one becomes spiritually tied to each of the forces of the Natural and Spiritual World. The Thanksgiving Address teaches mutual respect, conservation, love, generosity, and the responsibility to understand that what is done to one part of the Web of Life, we do to ourselves."
An opportunity to act:
Chase Iron Eyes, an attorney, activist and member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, is one of many water protectors who helped to lead the peaceful opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline. Iron Eyes is facing trumped up rioting charges and faces six years in prison as a result of his role in the peaceful, prayerful resistance. Please stand in solidarity with all the water protectors facing similar charges for their participation in peaceful protests, and
call for the charges to be dropped.
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