Gas Tax Distractions

Original post by Jason, May 1, 2008

"Oil is nearing $120/barrel, food prices are going up, ice sheets six times the size of Manhattan are falling off of Antarctica, and election season is in full swing. Now, more than ever, our politicians will respond to big problems with short term pandering. Case in point: increased demand for gasoline will make summer gas prices go up, and instead of telling us to drive less, 2/3 of the presidential candidates promise us two weekends of artificially low prices: (video).

Obviously this is a bad idea. and there are plenty of people backing that up. But to be honest, it's more of a symptom than anything else. Our leaders are responding to desperation with false hope at a time when we need some straight talk: 'Gas prices are high because global demand is high, because the entire world is replicating the unsustainable American way of life. To free ourselves from dependence on mostly and unpredictably priced commodities, we're going to need society-wide commitment to a long-term strategy that will wean us from our addiction to fossil fuels.'"

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Counting the Omer and Lent: New Eco-Spiritual Customs

"There has been a resurgence of interest in Sefirat HaOmer of late, as people are striving to reconnect with agricultural, natural cycles. While the Omer focuses on the maturation of the barley crop in Israel (as Liore taught a few posts ago), many of us have added a local focus as well. I live in Philadelphia and the Omer brackets a period of phenomenal greening and flowering as every dogwood and azalea struts its stuff. I love the progression of each flower and plant in a beautifully synchronized symphony of color, shape, fragrance and inflorescence."

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The Dream Reborn

"Reflections on the Dream Reborn"

Original post by Van Jones on April 11th, 2008

"This year, I was proud to help launch a new, national organization, Green For All. Our advocacy organization is committed to building an inclusive, green economy, strong enough to lift millions of people out of poverty.

Green For All wanted to do something special on April 4, 2008 - to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

So we did something unusual. We brought more than 1,000 people to Memphis, the Southern city where he was assassinated.

And then and there: we declared the Dream ... REBORN."
To continue reading click here.

Video - Going Green - The Renewal Project

Video - Cleaning Up School Buses in Texas

Video - Climate of Hope

Catholics and Southern Baptists Getting Greener

From the wires:

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Thou shall not pollute the Earth. Thou shall beware genetic manipulation. Modern times bring with them modern sins. So the Vatican has told the faithful that they should be aware of "new" sins such as causing environmental blight. The guidance came at the weekend when Archbishop Gianfranco Girotti, the Vatican's number two man in the sometimes murky area of sins and penance, spoke of modern evils.

Hat tip to Doug Hunt (Tennessee IPL), from the AP:

Signaling a significant departure from the Southern Baptist Convention’s official stance on global warming, 44 Southern Baptist leaders have decided to back a declaration calling for more action on climate change, saying its previous position on the issue was “too timid.”

[snip]

Yet its current president, the Rev. Frank Page, signed the initiative, “A Southern Baptist Declaration on the Environment and Climate Change.” Two past presidents of the convention, the Rev. Jack Graham and the Rev. James Merritt, also signed.

“We believe our current denominational engagement with these issues has often been too timid, failing to produce a unified moral voice,” the church leaders wrote in their new declaration.

A 2007 resolution passed by the convention hewed to a more skeptical view of global warming.

In contrast, the new declaration, which will be released Monday, states, “Our cautious response to these issues in the face of mounting evidence may be seen by the world as uncaring, reckless and ill-informed.”