Meeting

Kindred Quaker Groups
Environmental Concerns Network

March 2006 ECN News
ECN Retreat from Carol Gray

Notes from the retreat:

As we opened, Roy explained what he hoped to accomplish for the day: Visioning. What we see as our goals? What is our Mission? What is our Vision for ourselves, our group (ECN)?

We shared our Personal Journeys and where we are now.

We talked about the early years of ECN; started about 7 years ago, to help Friends live more simply, with a sustainable life style. We talked about the Energy Survey, trying to use less paper for communications, starting the email list, the minute passed on Global warming and adopted by SAYMA. The Earth Charter~first workshop led 2 years ago by Susan Carlyle. Endorsed by SAYMA last Spring. Roy mentioned his proposed SAYMA workshop on the Green Movement.

The Visioning Process (short and long term goals) How can each of us work toward a greater vision in our lives? And how can ECN connect with those energy points?

Bill mentioned a book he is reading: The Hidden Connections: A Science for Sustainable Living by Fritjof Capra and an article by James Lovelock: The Earth is About to Catch Morbid Fever.

Kathy feels that there is too much separation of human beings from the natural world. She supports ECN's Early Morning Worship at SAYMA and wondered if we needed some Nature Appreciation Courses?

Daryl talked about his work with solar hot water technology and energy efficiency. His vision is for a world where people live in sustainable, local communities, working together, in relationship with the earth and their neighbors. He considers himself more of a designer, able to support others in this quest.

Roy feels that it is a mistake when disasters are written about to get people moving. He thinks back to the Garden...and strives to get back to a world where there are connections between us and God. He looks towards solution-based things, conservation, the house as metaphor...getting the holes plugged is the best cost for dollar solution to energy savings. He supports the move towards taxing people for polluting and waste, and over consumption rather than taxing their wages. We should rejoice in the abundance of the world. More solar energy falls on the earth everyday than we use in an entire year.

He mentioned that the inventor of Diesel fuel (1906) originally planned to use vegetable-based oil, not petroleum based.

Kathy spoke of her experience with the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy and the Clean Air Campaign. She suggested that we get a copy of the film Kilowatt Hours (Ours?) to show at Yearly Meeting...

Other Goals/Activities:

Taking a Principle of the Month from the Earth Charter and highlighting it in the Newsletter and in small poster format that can be displayed.
Printing out hard copies of the newsletter for our display table at SAYMA
SAYF Retreat at Common Ground
Recruit a person within every Meeting and Worship Group to be our ECN contact
Support QEW in its efforts to publish a Green Business Directory
Have an ECN link or page on the SAYMA website
Roy spoke further of his proposed workshop~Choosing Green, the Color of Spice~relating green aspects to every one of the Quaker Testimonies.

Daryl will be a keynote speaker on Community

Susan has arranged for another Green Tour of Warren Wilson's campus, plus an Organic Farmers' Market on Sunday.

Bill asked the question: If someone asks you what the purpose of ECN is, what would you say? Roy felt that he would say that it is to promote awareness, understanding and knowledge of environment and ecological concerns among Quakers. How does Roy's work relate to being a Quaker? He would say that if there is that of God in everyone, which makes us all equal, why would I take more than my share? We are all responsible to each other. If you are my brothers and sisters, why would I dump my waste on you or make war on you. We must treat each other with respect.

A few more suggestions for SAYMA: the "footprint" test at our display table...and working on a new napkin/bandana design to have by 2007.

Quote by Winston Churchill: "You can always count on the U.S. to do the right thing, after they've tried everything else."

David Ciscel expressed regrets for not being able to join us. I would have loved David's input. Chapter five of The Hidden Connections: A Science for Sustainable Living by Fritjof Capra discusses how the current structure of capitalism is at odds with sustainability. We could have been given a good explanation of the implications of this conflict and what, if anything, we can be doing to shift from the current economic model we live in.

From Susan Carlyle:

I wanted to let the retreat group know what has been done so far over the last three years with regard to the Earth Charter.

The following meetings were visited for workshops on the EC.:

Atlanta, Asheville, W. Knoxville, Celo, Swannanoa Valley.

Joyce Rouse did presentations with her meeting, Nashville.

Joan Williams worked with her meeting, Brevard.

Other meetings did their own work: Charleston, Foxfire, Columbia, Chattanooga.

Kristi Estes approached me last YM about coming to a Memphis/Oxford gathering, but this did not materialize.

I will be doing my third workshop at YM this year on the EC and how to use it, present it and teach it.

I presented a workshop for teens this Spring at a SAYF retreat and am hoping to do a teaching session on the EC with the YAF's- perhaps at YM this year.

I have about 100 copies of the Earth Charter which I will bring to YM this year.

Other thoughts:

Having a display at YM has been a wonderful way to educate folks about ECN and other issues. The napkins and CFL's worked well in years past I think I have 30 napkins left that I will bring as well). I think Alice Wald knows the whereabouts of our display signs. They disappeared after YM last year and I think she knows who will bring them this year. Can't remember.

One year, we gave prizes after the talent show like: 100% pcr paper, pcr seventh generation toilet paper.

The beautiful signs that Carol Grey made have been well received (outside the cafeteria and elsewhere).

Having the early morning worship under the care of ECN is another awareness opportunity. I can volunteer to do this again this year.

I've arranged to have the green walkabout on WWC's campus again this year in a workshop time.

I've arranged for the campus chief gardener at WWC to have a "farmers market" outside of the Gladfelter building on Sunday of YM from 10-1 so that folks can purchase local, organic veggies before they leave for home.

I dream of the day when the program for the young Friends will have activities that relate to the care of the earth.

That's it for now.

Susan

I was sorry that Bob McGahey couldn't join us. I would have liked to have gotten his perspective. Here is what he is offering as a workshop at the FCG Gathering this summer.

Robert McGahey

Build an ark to ferry a remnant of the earths’ creatures beyond our own destructive practices. We will examine these practices through the lenses of Old Testament prophets, experiential exercises, and self-reflection, including time outdoors. Particular attention will be paid to the experience of coming of age in a time of global eco-crisis.

Extended Description:

Expectations/Objectives: My objectives are to move from awareness in young people of the ways in which humans desecrate creation through apathy and despair to a ground of hope. That ground I find in biblical texts, waiting worship, and the theory and practice of deep ecology.

Topics include the voices of OT prophets supplemented by quotations from creation-centered church fathers and Christian mystics, Friends testimonies on earth-keeping, and the fundamentals of deep ecology. But the overall context is coming of age during global warming and a wave of species extinction. We are the flood; we can restore God’s garden.

First Day will involve introducing the week’s theme and expectations, sharing introductions, ending with a brief experiential exercise and ending worship. Generally each day we will interweave group exercises from Joanna Macy’s Coming Back to Life with study of Biblical passages, Friends testimonies, and mini-lectures on global warming, species extinction, and deep ecology, ending with waiting worship or worship sharing. One day we will take a mini-field trip into the forest for deeper immersion and a fuller group experiential exercise (the “Truth Mandala”, Macy and Brown, 101). We will take singing breaks as transitions. Participants will journal about their experience throughout the week, sharing where appropriate. We will end the week with a dance, a song, a prayer, and a personal plan for hopeful engagement with our planet’s distress.

Helpful advance reading: Joanna Macy, Coming Back to Life, first 4 chapters.

Bring a notebook and pen.

Detailed Description: I was pulled to Joanna Macy’s despair and empowerment work beginning with the Slippery Rock Gathering in the early 80’s. I took an intro workshop with her in fall 1999, then a ten-day intensive training in leading experiential sessions in deep ecology in fall 2000. I have attempted to integrate this work, which is grounded in personal spiritual practices, with Friends’ testimonies, culminating with leading a morning worship experience, “The Wisdom of Listening to the Earth,” in which I integrated Joanna’s teaching with waiting worship at the 2004 Parliament of World Religions in Barcelona.

Geeta Jyothi McGahey will also be doing a workshop at the Gathering. We could have used a session of this at our retreat as well.

Yoga Asanas strengthen, energize us. Pranayama (yogic breathing) and practice of concentration/meditation encourage mental, physical and spiritual well-being. We will do at least one and a half hours of practice daily and also discuss and reflect on the place of Diet, Silence, and Moderation / Discipline in our lives, learning about the various Yoga paths.

Why Nuclear is not an option.

Plan for New Nuclear Programme Approaches Meltdown after Report
by Michael Harrison, and Michael McCarthy

Tony Blair's backing for nuclear power suffered a blow yesterday when the Government's own advisory body on sustainable development came down firmly against the building of a new generation of reactors.

Sustainable development commission finds nuclear is not the option

Despite the Prime Minister's well-known support for the nuclear industry, the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) concluded that a new nuclear programme was not the answer to the twin challenges of climate change and security of supply. In a hard-hitting report, the 15-strong Commission identified five "major disadvantages" to nuclear power:

The lack of a long-term strategy for dealing with highly toxic nuclear waste
Uncertainty over the cost of new nuclear stations and the risk that taxpayers would be left to pick up the tab;
The danger that going down the nuclear route would lock the UK into a centralised system for distributing energy for the next 50 years;
The risk a new nuclear programme would undermine efforts to improve energy efficiency;
The threat of terrorist attacks and radiation exposure if other countries with lower safety standards also opt for nuclear.

Nuclear power generates 20 per cent of the UK's electricity but, by 2020, that will have shrunk to 7 per cent and, by 2035, the last of the current generation of stations will have closed, potentially leaving the UK highly dependent on imported gas.

But instead of sanctioning a new nuclear programme, the SDC urged Mr Blair to back a further expansion of renewable power, fresh measures to promote energy efficiency and the development of new technologies such as "carbon capture" to tackle the environmental threat posed by fossil-fuelled stations.

The commission's report comes just three months before the Government publishes the results of its latest energy review, which is widely expected to pave the wave for a new generation of nuclear stations.

Sir Jonathon Porritt, the chairman of the commission, said: "Instead of hurtling along to a pre-judged conclusion (which many fear the Government is intent on doing) we must look to the evidence. There's little point in denying that nuclear power has its benefits but, in our view, these are outweighed by serious disadvantages. The Government is going to have to stop looking for an easy fix to our climate change and energy crises - there simply isn't one."

The commission said that even if the UK's existing nuclear capacity was doubled, it would only lead to an 8 per cent reduction in carbon emissions from 1990 levels. By contrast, renewable energy sources such as wind, wave, solar and biomass, which are zero-carbon sources of energy, could supply 68-87 per cent of the country's electricity needs if fully exploited.

Sir Jonathon added that opting for the "big-bang fix" of a new nuclear programme would jeopardise public-sector support for renewable power. It would also undermine efforts to improve energy efficiency, which the report estimates could reduce UK energy demand by as much as 30 to 40 per cent and cut carbon emissions by 20 million tons a year - equivalent to the output of 27 power stations.

Sir Jonathon said, that among the commission's 15 members, eight had come down against nuclear power, five had concluded it was not yet time for a new programme and two had said there was "maybe" a case for more reactors. He also took a sideswipe at other well-known environmentalists such as James Lovelock who backs nuclear power. "No one person should be accorded that over-arching credibility in the face of the evidence before us," he said.

The environmental pressure groups Friends of the Earth welcomed the commission's findings. Its director, Tony Juniper, said: "Tony Blair and his Government must now seize the historic opportunity presented by the energy review to set the UK on course to becoming a world leader in developing a low-carbon, nuclear free economy."

The Energy minister, Malcolm Wicks, who is leading the review, gave a guarded reaction, saying: "As the commission itself finds, this is not a black and white issue. It does, however, agree that it is right we are assessing the potential contribution of new nuclear."

Philip Dewhurst, chairman of the Nuclear Industry Association, voiced his "disappointment" at the report's findings but said he was pleased that the commission had confirmed nuclear as a low carbon source of energy, recognised its improved safety record and only voted by 8-7 to rule out new reactors.

Meanwhile, London's Mayor Ken Livingstone unveiled plans to revolutionise the capital's energy supply system to fight climate change. London is to spend many millions of pounds "decentralising" its electricity supplies - switching from giant power stations to much smaller units, generating power locally - by joining forces with the energy multi-national EDF to develop local electricity generating sites and networks across the capital. The commission's report warns that this is just the kind of development that would be compromised if the UK went down the nuclear route.

The five key objections

Waste

No long-term solutions for the disposal of nuclear waste, such as the spent fuel from atomic power stations, are yet available, let alone acceptable to the public, the report says. Nuclear waste is dangerous, hard to manage, and long-lasting in its effects. For example, the half-life of plutonium is 24,000 years. The pressure group Friends of the Earth once produced a poster showing a Roman centurion with the caption: "If the Romans had had nuclear power, we'd still be guarding their waste."

Cost

The economics of building new nuclear power stations are highly uncertain, the report says. It adds there is little, if any, justification for public subsidy, but if costs escalate there's a clear risk that the taxpayer will have to pick up the tab. The capital costs of building stations are colossal and can swing wildly with project overruns and increases in interest rates. And do you factor in the enormous costs of decommissioning the stations at the end of their lives, or not?

Inflexibility

A new generation of big nuclear power stations would lock the UK into a wasteful, centralised electricity distribution system for the next 50 years. What is needed is the much less wasteful micro-generation (small local power stations) and local distribution networks. Micro-generation is an idea whose time has come: only yesterday, the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, said the capital would seek to combat climate change and cut CO2 emissions with a massive switch to generating power locally.

Security

If the UK brings forward a new nuclear power programme, we cannot deny other countries the same technology. With lower safety standards, they run higher risks of accidents, radiation exposure, proliferation and terrorist attacks. The security risks of any given nuclear power programme are hard to quantify, but no one would deny that they exist - for example in the movement of reactor-grade fuel or spent fuel, which might be seized by terrorists for potential use in a "dirty bomb".

Efficiency

A new nuclear power programme would send out a signal that a major technological fix is all that is required, says the report, and hurt efforts to encourage energy efficiency. This has largely been the approach of the Bush administration to climate change. Environmentalists would contend that this is a dangerous delusion, and that technical fixes such as nuclear power do nothing about the long-term problem. Only changing the energy system profoundly will make a real difference.

"If you really want to do something for freedom and justice, then it is best if we do this without rage or hostility. With inner tranquility and an honest readiness, we can work hard for thirty, forty years"

—The Dalai Lama XV

Geeta Jyothi McGahey

Go online to get your own "Earth Day in a Box" for faith based communities.

http://www.earthday.net/resources/2006materials/EarthDay-in-a-Box.pdf

Peace & Love
Roy

Finding New Members

Please get an announcement put in your meeting's announcement sheet about Ecological Concerns Network and encourage others to contact me about being put on the newsletter email list

Meeting Contacts

Who is the ECN or contact for the environment in your Monthly Meeting or Worship Group? We are trying to have at least one such person so as we have information that needs to be dispersed throughout the SAYMA community we know who to be in touch with. Please let me know if you are or who is the contact that could forward information to other members of your meeting or get things posted with your announcements.

Peace & Love
Roy