>Today is Environment Sunday – because it’s the Sunday nearest World Environment Day (June 5th). I don’t hear much about Environment Sunday even though
“To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth”
is one of the Five Marks of Mission. Friend Barbara sent me a video of a 12 year old Canadian girl pleading to adults to do something about the environment. It’s a powerful and well-spoken plea.
In the House of Lords recently, friend and Bishop, Peter Forster gave waht was a cautionary take on environmental concern. Speaking against the tide “as a scientist in a previous incarnation” he said there was no consensus among climate scientists that “carbon dioxide levels are the key determinant” and that “Climate science is a notoriously imprecise area, because the phenomena under investigation are so large.That makes precision difficult to achieve.”
Friends of the Earth has condemned +Peter’s comments but is he not simply saying that we jump to conclusions and all we are working on is hypotheses.
However, whether we are with +Peter, or with Friends of the Earth (and how many of us know enough to take sides?) – our personal courses of action need to be the same (and we need to co-ordinate our efforts in local communities) – which is to reduce the wastefulness of earth’s resouces on the basis that consumption and waste do have an environmental impact and those most likely to suffer are the world’s poorest people.
Here we are hoping to develop a local action group and have invited friends from a neighbouring village to tell us about their success in becoming the first carbon neutral small community. That meeting is on June 24th at Tarvin Methodist Church.
Grits and Grains 