Climate Change: "The Fierce Urgency of Now"

Linda B. Rimer, Environmental Stewardship Committee Chair

The environmental stewardship article for this May issue of Cross Roads was originally supposed to be about shade-grown coffee and why we, as good stewards of the Earth, should be buying it. But when Time magazine published a special report on April 3, 2006, devoted to global warming, with the title: "Be worried; be very worried," the committee knew we had to write about this subject again.

The Environmental Stewardship Committee talked with you about climate change back in 2004 in the November and December Cross Roads. Our articles described first the acknowledged reality that the climate is, in fact, changing; and second, that this change is occurring because of human actions (primarily the burning of fossil fuels and land use practices such as deforestation). The third part was about what we as individuals can do to address climate change, a situation that many are calling the greatest environmental challenge of the 21^st Century.

Two years ago this month, our Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold, along with 30 national religious leaders and prominent scientists, sent a letter to the Congress of the United States pleading for action to address global climate change. Noting in the letter that the United States, which represents 4% of the world's population, contributes 25% of the greenhouse gas emissions, these leaders wrote: "When discernable human influence is determined to be a cause of destruction, we are dealing with moral and ethical concerns . . . for many, these are shaped by religious convictions."

That was May 2004. Two years have passed. The concentration of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere is greater, temperatures are rising, droughts are becoming more widespread, storms are growing in intensity and frequency, some animal and plant species are being forced closer to extinction, and scientists are identifying feedback loops that may serve to speed up the entire process.

A good example of a feedback loop is polar ice. As the climate warms, more ice melts. We know that polar ice reflects 90% of the sunlight that strikes it back into space, along with much of the energy. But when that ice melts, the opposite occurs - ocean water absorbs 90% of the energy it receives, which leads to more and faster melting. Another feedback example comes from permafrost in Alaska, Canada, and Siberia. As permafrost melts, it releases huge quantities of carbon dioxide and methane, a far more potent green house gas than carbon dioxide - which then leads to more and faster warming.

Reflecting on our increasing knowledge of global warming and climate change brings to mind a phrase from Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous "I have a dream" speech, when he referred to the "fierce urgency of now". This phrase has been used frequently of late by our own Bill Ross, Chapel of the Cross parishioner and Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources. While Dr. King was speaking of the need to address racial segregation, Secretary Ross has used the term to call attention to the failing health of most of the natural systems of our planet and the need to act immediately.Quoting Jeffrey Kluger, one of the Time authors in the April 3 issue: "no one can say exactly what it looks like when a planet takes ill, but it probably looks a lot like Earth".

So what are we to do - as citizens of the United States, as members of a community and a family, as environmental stewards? We have lost precious time.

Examples of actions that we can take to protect our climate include:

• Choose an efficient vehicle (http://www.fueleconomy.gov)
• Drive less - when possible, choose alternatives to driving such as public transit, biking, walking, carpooling; bundle your errands together so you will make fewer trips
• Buy energy-efficient appliances. They may cost a bit more up front but you will save money on your electric bill and help protect your climate. Look for the Energy Star label (http://www.energystar.gov/)
• Replace your light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs
• Turn off lights, televisions, videos, stereos, and computers when not in use
• Weatherize your home or apartment
• Invest in renewable energy e.g., NC GreenPower http://www.ncgreenpower.org/
• Plant a tree
• Let your voice be heard! Join our Bishop in a collective plea to our Governor, state legislators and Congress to address climate change; use your vote.

We are called to nurture, sustain, and care for creation the way God nurtures, sustains, and cares for us. (Genesis 2:15) We each need to feel and act on the "fierce urgency of now."

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© 2006 The Chapel of the Cross