Global Sisters Report—Earth Day Column

Joan Brown, OSF

Joan Brown,osf Executive Director, NM Interfaith Power and Light

On Earth Day the sun seems to shine brighter. The songs of the finch, meadowlark and red winged black

bird ring more boldly upon the air. All creation seems to celebrate Earth Day. But, Earth Day this year

seems different. The joyful rays and songs are still there, however, they feel tempered. A

bittersweetness rests upon my heart.

 

April 22 is a monumental day for the world as leaders sign and affirm the UN Paris Climate Accord

agreed upon by 195 nations in December 2015. We celebrate the beauty of the Sacred Earth Community

with this signing. We also officially recognize that the Earth Community is suffering as climate change

escalates. After more than 25 years of trying to come to a resolution for action, we are finally agreeing

to act as one community of developed an d developing nations living or dying together on this small

planet spinning through space in a vast cosmos.

 

I am particularly aware of the signing of the Climate Accord in New York at the UN because I attended

the UN Conference of Parties (COP21) in Paris as a Franciscan’s International official observer inside

COP21. My body carries the memory of meeting with brothers and sisters from Central America, Africa,

Bangladesh and island nations. So many are suffering from drought, flooding, food insecurity and

ensuing violence related to climate change disruption.

 

Echoes of thunderous applause by the tens of thousands of people gathered in the halls of La Bourget as

the agreement was affirmed ring in my ears. Voices of brothers and sisters from the global south whose

lives depend upon stronger ambition by developed countries to keep temperatures below 2 degrees

Celsius or 3.6 degrees Farenheit also haunt my ears.

 

The beauty, melodies, joy and community that form our reality of life is only possible because we share

One Common Home. Now Our Common Home, like any home we share, begs our time and energy to

care for her and ourselves.

 

Actions to care for Our Common Home are sprouting mare rapidly in the light of Laudato Si and the

COP21 agreement. April 22 is the final day for public comments to the Bureau of Land Management

(BLM) in rule making to address methane pollution from existing and future oil and gas wells. Any day

now the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will unveil final rules addressing methane from oil and

gas production on any land in the United States. Methane waste from leaks, flaring and venting is a large

and extremely potent contributor to climate change in the short term.

 

This week New Mexico Interfaith Power and Light participated in a rally outside a Santa Fe hotel where

people gathered to bid for leases for oil and gas extraction. I was invited to speak from a religious

perspective on the requirement to act for climate and intergenerational justice. In the Denver area,

organizers are planning still another public event at a May oil and gas lease public auction. People of

faith are engaged in many actions and activities because the moral and ethical imperative to act is very

clear.

 

Many faith communities and organizations are calling and writing Senators and Congress people to

approve $750 million in the President’s budget for the Green Climate Fund to assist brothers and sisters

around the world who face climate change adaptation and mitigation. You can help gathering signatures

on postcards or make phone calls. Check out Interfaith Power and Light resources and actions for the

weeks around Earth Day at http://www.faithclimateactionweek.org/.

 

You can also join thousands who are praying on Earth Day. Lend your prayer at

http://www.faithclimateactionweek.org/. As we celebrate this amazing moment of life as part of Earth

on Earth Day, may our hearts also be turned to compassionate action, which I believe always plunges us

more deeply into the vast mystery of the Holy and the meaning of our call as part of the Sacred Earth

Community. May this prayer invite our hearts to act in new and bold ways.

 

We Hold the Earth We hold brothers and sisters

who suffer from storms and droughts

intensified by climate change.

We hold all species that suffer.

We hold world leaders delegated to make decisions for life.

We pray that the web of life may be mended through courageous

actions

to limit carbon emissions.

We pray for right actions for adaptation and mitigation

to help our already suffering earth community.

We pray that love and wisdom might inspire my actions

and our actions as communities. . .

so that we may, with integrity,

look into the eyes of brothers and sisters

and all beings and truthfully say,

we are doing our part to care for them and the future of the children.

May love transform us and our world with new steps toward life.

This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.