religion

To Block a Pipeline Nuns Built a Chapel

- Adam Clare

Standing Rock #DAPL

For me, religion usually doesn’t come to mind when thinking about how to stop pipelines. Luckily the idea to use religious places came to the mind of some nuns. In order to stop a pipeline project going through sensitive land a group of nuns built a chapel! The power of christ compelled them.

All of the Adorers’ communities, including this one in Pennsylvania’s rural Lancaster County, agree to conduct their business transactions in keeping with the principles of ecological justice the sisters drafted in 2005, known as their “land ethic.” The nuns have joined in protesting hydroelectric power in Brazil and worked with Guatemalans opposed to gold mining.

So when a surveyor for Williams came by to tell the nuns that he was checking out their land for the company’s Atlantic Sunrise pipeline that will eventually cut across 183 miles of Pennsylvania, the nuns turned to their land ethic, and they told the surveyor that they couldn’t even discuss it.

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Idea for Christians: Carbon Fast for Lent

- Adam Clare

If you’re a christian who observes lent then consider going green for 40 days.

Repentance, reflection and self-discipline are supposed to be observed during Lent, which symbolizes the 40 days Jesus spent in the desert and resisted Satan’s temptations, as described in the Bible.

A green Lent could mean “thinking about the environment and doing things to save it for yourself and those who come after us,” said White-Hassler, whose church possesses the mind-set year-round. Since the summer, Grace Episcopal has been undergoing eco-friendly renovations and is considering solar panels.

The practice of a carbon fast for Lent has been talked about in Christian circles since at least 2008, when the Church of England suggested shrinking one’s carbon footprint and provided a list of 40 green actions, one for each day of Lent. (“Day one, Ash Wednesday: Remove one lightbulb and live without it for the next 40 days.”)

The call was part of a global effort with Tearfund, a Christian relief agency, to help drought-ridden, impoverished communities that already suffer from the effects of climate change.

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Church: God Cares About the Environment

- Adam Clare

The Church of England has deemed it good religious policy to protect the environment. I hope those SUV driving religious people are reading this post. I digress. The Church is calling their environment-protecting campaign “Shrinking the Footprint,” a noble cause indeed.

“The current climate change situation is such that it will be a long walk – simply to restore the world’s balance we need to cut carbon emissions worldwide by 60% of current levels by 2050. Not only is this a daunting goal but its end lies at least two generations in the future. The results of our actions will only be felt by our children and grandchildren. For individuals and institutions alike, taking action (however simple and obvious that action may seem) and sustaining it will require considerable effort.”

You too can lower the impact you have on the environment, check out My Foot Print and Carbon Footprint.

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