2023 Sun Sept 3

We are embarking on the Season of Creation from Sept 1 – Oct. 4.

Prophet Amos cries out: “But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!” (Amos 5: 24) and so we are called to join the river of justice and peace, to take up climate and ecological justice, and to speak out with and for communities most impacted by climate injustice and the loss of biodiversity.

“A mighty river” is the symbol chosen to go with this theme, representing biodiversity at risk. The urgency grows and we must make visible peace with Earth and on Earth, at the same time that justice calls us to repentance and a change of attitude and actions. When we join the river of justice and peace together with others, it creates hope instead of despair.

We are invited to join the river of justice and peace on behalf of all creation and to converge our individual identities, of name, family or faith community, in this greater movement for justice, just like tributaries come together to form a mighty river.

Prophet Isaiah proclaims “Listen carefully, I am about to do a new thing, now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it? I will even put a road in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.” (Isaiah 43: 19)

Our individual actions during the Season of Creation are important. Celebrating creation, participating in cleanups, planting trees and reducing our carbon footprint are some of the immediate actions we can take.

As the people of God, we must work together on behalf of all Creation, as part of that mighty river of peace and justice.

May this 2023 Season of Creation renew our ecumenical unity, renewing and uniting us by our bond of Peace in one Spirit, in our call to care for our common home. And may this season of prayer and action be a time to Listen to the Voice of Creation, so that our lives in words and deeds proclaim good news for all the Earth.

Dr. William P. Brown of Columbia Theological seminary wrote the following about creation care. “The fundamental mandate for creation care comes from Genesis 2:15, where God places Adam in the garden to “till it and keep it…” Human “dominion” as intended in Genesis is best practiced in care for creation, in stewardship, which according to Genesis Noah fulfills best by implementing God’s first endangered species act.”

The biggest challenge is reducing, offsetting  51 billion tons per year of emissions to get to Net Zero by 2050.

1 Time is more important than technology  Early action pays dividends

 About three quarters of what we need to do to stop climate change are emissions cuts just in the 2020s and early 2030s. The actions we take early in the 2020s pay off the most handsomely  because they have so long to accumulate between now and the 2050s.  Those in the 2020’s are 76% of tota

2. Emergency Brakes are solutions we can adopt now but also have a fast response in the atmosphere. We don’t have to wait for new technologies or infrastructure

For example, stopping deforestation immediately, preventing trees from being burned everywhere in the world, as fast as we can, would have an immediate impact on climate change. Or cutting methane leaks, because methane is a very powerful greenhouse gas and warms the planet so much in the early days, that’s another kind of emergency brake solution. 30% of the leaking methane coming from natural gas wells happens from only 1% of the wells.  Shutting down those leaks can have a huge impact on methane emissions

3. The next wave of climate actions will take a  longer to unfold because it requires us to build whole new systems  for electricity, for buildings, transportation, industry and even our farms and agriculture. Basically, we’ve got to remodel everything in the world and it’s going to take years and billions of dollars

Take one example, electricity – Electricity is 27% of the 51 billion tons per year of emissions. Changing America’s entire electricity system to zero-carbon sources would raise average retail rates by between 1.3 and 1.7 cents per kilowatt-hour, roughly 15 percent more than what most people pay now. That $18 a month for the average home—pretty affordable for most people, though possibly not for low-income Americans, who already spend a tenth of their income on energy.

The main culprits are our demand for reliability, and the curse of intermittency  for renewables are solar or wind. Either we need to store excess electricity in batteries (prohibitively expensive), or we need to add other energy sources that use fossil fuels, such as natural gas plants that run only when you need them

What about nuclear power? Nuclear produces 20% of power for US  but expensive to build. Human error can cause accidents. Uranium, the fuel it uses, can be converted for use in weapons. The waste is dangerous and hard to store.

What can be done ? In 2008, Bill Gates founded TerraPower to develop the next generation of nuclear technology. His company is experimenting with  Natrium, a liquid sodium-cooled fast reactor (rather than water-cooled reactor) that is over 50% cheaper, safer, and even more environmentally friendly than current nuclear power.  However, it will not be ready until the 2030’s. Is that time enough

4. More action needed from the states. The Inflation Reduction Act is the most substantial federal action the US has ever taken to combat climate change, but it was not intended to solve every decarbonization challenge in one bill. A sustained stream of federal and state actions is the only way to close the US emissions gap. While there is more activity at all levels of government than ever, the ramp-up of policy action required in the years ahead will be a substantial lift above and beyond the unprecedented actions of late.

The bottom line – There have been some improvements in trends noted since the last Season of Creation. The increase in emissions has been reduced.  People and enterprises are taking this subject seriously. The need for reduction in emissions has been addressed by countries, companies and many levels of government

Our goal is a Net Zero position by 2050.  Net zero refers to the balance between the amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) that’s produced and the amount that’s removed from the atmosphere. We have a long way to go by 2050 to get to our goals where we are balanced – Net Zero.

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