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ResolutionsLCWR Global Concerns Committee

Volume 18, Number 2 April 2009

To Action

LCWR8808 Cameron StreetSilver Spring, MD 20910301-588-4955fax: 301-587-4575mlucey@lcwr.org

Elise D. Garca, OP Mary Hurley, HM Suzanne Moynihan, SSNDSisters of Earth Members

www.lcwr.org

EXPERIENCE

Resolutions to Action is an occasional publica-tion of the Global Concerns Committee of the

Leadership Conference of Women Religious(LCWR). Members of the committee are:Jacquelyn Doepker, OSF; Janet Lehmann,

SC; Miriam Mitchell, SHSp;Andrea Nenzel,CSJP; Susan Schorsten, HM; Kathleen Storms,SSND; and Marie Lucey, OSF, staff. Pleaseaddress correspondence to:

Earths Call: Reduce Our Footprint

Sia Anaysis

Elise Garcia, OP writes, Likeother informed people, I have

been aware of global warmingfor some time. Seeing An Inconve-nient Truth in 2006 raised my level ofconcern. But the matter moved to the

backburner, again, as the unconscio-

nable war in Iraq, the horrors of Dar-fur, and other pressing issues grabbedmy attention. It wasnt until 2007, amonth after I made first professionas an Adrian Dominican Sister, thatI awakened to the magnitude of theproblem.

An article I read laid out the car-bon math, showing why there isonly a small window of time leftin which to cap and reduce carbonemissions. It explained why failure

to act now means condemning usto a transformed world, increas-ingly uninhabitable not in some fardistant future, but within the lifetimeof most people reading this article.Those chilling words sent me seek-ing verification! It came, decisively, atthe end of 2007 from the chairman ofthe UN Intergovernmental Panel onClimate Change (IPCC). Releasing thepanels final report on climate change,

following a 20-year study involving 2,500scientists from 130 nations, he said: Iftheres no action before 2012 thats toolate. What we do in the next two to threeyears will determine our future. This isthe defining moment.

The experience of awakening to thisterrifying reality came after enteringreligious life. Did that make a difference,I wondered? Yes. It gave me a path tofollow and hope. At the heart of ourlives as religious are two orientationsessential to cultivate globally, if we areto avert catastrophe. One is toward thecommon good; the other is away fromunbridled consumption. Individually andcollectively, our lives can pattern ways ofsustaining life on an imperiled Earth.

Climate change is essentially ir-

reversible! This is the soberingconclusion in a 2009 scientific study

led by the National Oceanic and Atmo-spheric Administration (NOAA).

Climate change is caused primarilyby global warming resulting from anover-concentration of greenhouse gases

being released into the atmosphere. Themost abundant of these is carbon dioxide(CO2) coming primarily from the burning

of fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas,and coal. It persists in the atmospherefor hundreds of years, much longerthan other gases. In 1850 atmosphericCO2 was roughly 280 parts per mil-lion (ppm), a level that had not beenexceeded in the previous 800,000 years.Scientists believe that the maximumsafe level is 350 ppm; today it is 385ppm and, at the present rate of fossilfuel use, is predicted to reach 450 to 600ppm by mid-century.

If this peak is allowed, NOAA pre-dicts persistent decreases in dry-sea-son rainfall comparable to the 1930sNorth American Dust Bowl. The IPCCpredicts that expanded deserts wouldseverely compromise food security

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8/9/2019 April 2009 Resolutions to Action Leadership Conference of Women Religious

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in Africa; by 2020, 250 million peoplewould not have easy access to water.

Jim Hansen of NASA Goddard Institutefor Space Studies, one of the worldsleading climatologists, testified to Con-gress in 2008 about the consequencesof continued business as usual: melt-ing icecaps and rising sea levels willleave parts of the world uninhabitable,including the east coast of the UnitedStates; hundreds of millions of peoplewould become refugees.

In addressing the challenges of climatechange, one popular concept is ecolog-ical footprint, which compares humandemand with Earths ecological capac-ity. Today, North American consump-tion exceeds Earths sustainability by

30%. Our ecological footprint averages3, meaning it would take three moreEarths for everyone to live like NorthAmericans.

Carbon footprint, a subset of ecologi-cal footprint, measures the cumulativeimpact of a person or organization onEarths resources by examining suchthings as their energy use in transporta-tion, household electricity, food, clothes,and personal products. The calculationreveals how many Earths ones life-

style is consuming and, by implication,what we are taking from the poor of theworld.

Reducing ones carbon footprint callsnot only individuals to examine andreduce consumer habits; it also chal-lenges institutional decision-makersincluding governments and churchesto pursue energy policies that reducecarbon emissions. A further strategyto be pursued, both individually andinstitutionally, after doing everything

possible to reduce carbon footprints,is to supplement (not substitute) theseendeavors by purchasing carbon offsetsor carbon credits from companies whoinvest that money in projects to reducecarbon dioxide emissions.

Reports on climate change, dire as theyare, call women religious and all peopleof faith, to hope and action to atransformative change of direction that

makes the human presence mutuallyenhancing for ALL within the sacredEarth community.

We stand at a critical moment in Earthshistory, a time when humanitymust choose its future

Preamble to The Earth Charter

The planet cannot support its humanpresence unless there is a reciprocal human

support for the life systems of the planet. Thomas Berry

[W]e invite Catholics and men and womenof good will in every walk of life

to consider with us the moral issues

raised by the environmental crisis US Catholic Bishops

The problems looming on the horizon areimmense and time is short.

Pope Benedict XVI

What is most required at this momentis moral vision and leadership.

Resources of human character and spiritlove of life, far-sightedness, solidarity

are needed to awakena sufficient sense of urgency and resolve.

National Religious Partnershipfor the Environment

Assisted by the religious authoritiesof our day, and as reflective womenreligious, we realize that the questionsremain: Are we willing to expand ournotion of morality to include an evalu-ation of our effect on all other livingsystems? Can we live on this planet ina mutually enhancing way by alter-ing personal and communal lifestyles?Through prayer and contemplation, arewe willing to let our present view ofourselves as independent and separate

be transformed into the realization thatwe are indeed one, integrally united toeverything that is? Can we truly livewho we essentially are?

On a regular basis, thousands ofAmericans begin exercise pro-grams and sound eating habits

to lose weight. What if we expanded

this health-conscious determination toinclude our individual and collectivecarbon footprint?

First, weigh in. Measure your owncarbon footprint.

www.nature.org/initiatives/cli-matechange/calculatorwww.carbonfootprint.com/calcula-tor.aspxwww.safeclimate.net/calculator

Next, start an exercise plan.

Exercise your pen: write lettersto editors and congresspersons,create nature poems, send creativegreen ideas to favorite periodi-calsExercise your voice: help enactstrong legislation to cap and reducecarbon emissions and promoteKyoto-like international agree-mentsExercise your imagination: Whatif Where could What doyou think about?

Exercise your senses by becomingimmersed in natures beautyExercise your mind by readingabout positive ecological move-mentsExercise your wallet with clean en-ergy investments (see, e.g., www.nativeenergy.com)

Then, reduce the size of your carbonfootprint.

Only run dishwasher when theresa full load. Reduce footprint 100lbs. per year.Use a clothesline instead of a dryer.Reduce footprint 700 lbs a year.Put thermostat down 2 degrees inwinter and air conditioning up 2degrees in summer. Reduce foot-print by 2000 lbs a year.Avoid heavily packaged products.Reduce footprint by 1200 lbs a year.Eat less meat. Reduce all the wayaround!

http://www.nature.org/initiatives/climatechange/calculatorhttp://www.nature.org/initiatives/climatechange/calculatorhttp://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspxhttp://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspxhttp://www.safeclimate.net/calculatorhttp://www.nativeenergy.com/http://www.nativeenergy.com/http://www.nativeenergy.com/http://www.nativeenergy.com/http://www.nativeenergy.com/http://www.safeclimate.net/calculatorhttp://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspxhttp://www.nature.org/initiatives/climatechange/calculator