Category: Climate Change
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Fossil Fuels: The New “F” Word
COP 30 Ends with No Roadmap for a Phaseout of Fossil Fuels Also Posted In United Methodist Insight These days, “fossil fuels” seems to be as unspeakable as the other “f” word used to be, at least in official documents addressing climate change. COP 30 ended not only without the roadmap to a transition away…
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Competing Worldviews at COP 30
As representatives of many nations and members of civil society from around the world prepare to gather for COP30 in Belém, the competing worldviews of various participants are clearly in view. As a United Methodist, I’m grateful that representatives of the denomination will be there, informed by our common faith. The Community of All Creation…
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At this Time When the Earth Needs Us Most
This past year I have been updating Love in a Time of Climate Change: Honoring Creation, Establishing Justice, which was originally published in 2017. The revised version will be released on January 13. Here are a couple of excerpts from the new Preface: At this time in history, when the stability of life on Earth…
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COP 29: A Perilous Moment of Choice
Image by Laurie Bayen See the sign-on letter to world leaders below In 1992 I was part of the United Methodist delegation to Rio de Janeiro during the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, where George HW Bush signed the Framework Convention on Climate Change, the foundational climate treaty. At that conference, the nations…
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Vote Climate and Divest from Fossil Fuels
If you are a United Methodist, or if you care about climate finance, you might be interested in my work with Fossil Free UMC, which is working to move the United Methodist Church to divest from fossil fuels. Since I am the Convener of the group, I frequently post to their blog. To follow what’s…
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Climate Action: From Local to Global
Note: This post is addressed to my neighbors who live here in Western Nevada County, California, but it’s relevant to all of you, dear friends, wherever you are. On Sunday, September 17, people concerned about climate change are invited to join a demonstration calling for climate action on the Broad Street Bridge in Nevada City…
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Resurrection and New Creation
“The new creation is not a different creation. It is the new creation of this deranged world. Eternal life is not a different life. It is the resurrection of this life into the life of God. . . . So the kingdom of God means that this world will be different and will be born…
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Care Enough to Weep
Last weekend I was on a silent retreat, sharing prayer spaces and meals with a few church friends and a larger group of Buddhists. On Saturday I walked the Stations of the Cross at the retreat center, knowing that the next day was Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week. Sometimes when I walk…
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Don’t Look Up
“You will indeed listen, but never understand, and you will indeed look, but never perceive. For this people’s heart has grown dull, and their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes; so that they might not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and understand with their heart, and…
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“Banking on Our Future” as Demythologized Exorcism
Ironic: Chase bank with the “C” obscured by tarp held by sand bags from recent extreme storms. “What will you do when the time runs out?” See more photos below. Note: This post is intended for those who aspire to following Jesus in the context of today’s interlocking network of institutional “powers and principalities” that…