Climate Education Class, Sunday May 22, 2022, 9 a.m. - 10:15 a.m.

 

The WildEarth Climate Action team invites you to join us  for Sunday morning’s adult education!  

How Nature Rebounds With a Little Help From Friends

This month’s class features selected shorts from the Sustainable Human collection. These beautiful videos with intriguing titles such as “How Whales Change Climate,” and “How Wolves Change Rivers” illustrate how ecosystems can rebound with help from unlikely allies:  predators, keystone species, and fire; often helping offset climate change in the process.  Join us this Sunday, which also happens to be the International Day for Biological Diversity 2022,  to sample several of these fascinating videos. Our classes always include plenty of time  for discussion.

  Sunday, May 22 ,  9 to 10:15 am
Zoom link:       https://zoom.us/j/91569611060?pwd=RGYyNVgxWHpsL2hDbzBVS2dMZlJ0UT09
Meeting ID: 915 6961 1060 Passcode: 004291

 

Climate-focused topic for "Ideas Worth Contemplating," Sunday morning August 9th.

"Ideas Worth Contemplating" is an adult religious education program at Wildflower Church.  The series uses inspiring and thought-provoking TED Talks to generate discussion about important topics to help broaden our understanding of the world and deepen relationships among participants.  The video portion is brief, allowing ample time for participants to discuss the ideas. It meets:

1st and 3rd Sundays, 9 - 10 a.m., on ZOOM 

The climate team has begun partnering with this program (fairly regularly) on 3rd Sundays to present a climate-focused TED talk, and as is customary, the greater portion of the time is for discussion. The next one is:

AUGUST 9th (3rd Sunday), 9 - 10 a.m., on ZOOM 
TOPIC:    “Climate Justice Can’t Happen Without Racial Justice.” 
                 Here is the link to the TED talk, if you would like to watch ahead of time. 

  For deeper-divers, here are a couple companion articles:
                  a)    Unequal Impact: The Deep Links Between Racism and Climate Change      https://e360.yale.edu/features/unequal-impact-the-deep-links-between-inequality-and-climate-change
                  b)    Op-Ed: American Environmentalism’s Racist Roots Have Shaped Global Thinking About Conservation  https://today.uconn.edu/2020/09/op-ed-american-environmentalisms-racist-roots-shaped-global-thinking-conservation/#

   The ZOOM link for Ideas Worth Contemplating may be found in the Weekly Newsletter of Wildflower Church, or you may request it from wildearth@wildflowerchurch.org 

June 20th Climate Education - The Fayette Coal Plant - Danny Fetonte

 Climate Education classes will resume meeting on most 3rd Sundays.  This Sunday, the topic will be the Fayette Coal Power Plant, presented by Danny Fetonte of the climate organization 350-Austin.

SUNDAY,  JUNE 20TH   --  9 am - 10:15 am

ZOOM LINK:

https://zoom.us/j/97826544113?pwd=SVVPM2NaNm5vaXJtZmN3ZjgrU3l3UT09
Phone connection: 346-248-7799; Meeting ID: 978 2654 4113; Passcode: 932628

Save the date: Field Trip to visit Treaty Oak, May 29 (rain date, 6/12).

 

THIS SATURDAY, 5/29 – 8:30 a.m.   TREATY OAK CEREMONY AND BREAKFAST POTLUCK.  (Rain date, Sat. June 12)

Despite a chance of light rain, it is cool and beautiful--perfect weather if you are a tree. We will go ahead.  Consider bringing umbrella or rainjacket.  For more information, call or text  Susan, 512-810-0236.   
      If anyone can bring tarps (as well as blankets) that will help us keep blankets from getting soggy.  

      The WildEarth Climate Action Team invites you and friends to join us for this spiritually and physically nourishing event! We will gather at  8:30 a.m. at Treaty Oak Square, 507 Baylor Street, which is downtown just west of Lamar S. between 5^th and 6^th street. Enter this little park from Baylor Street (there are a number of metered City parking spaces on Baylor Street).

We are inspired to visit Treaty Oak because of its unique and important history in this region, as one of our 500+ year old neighbors. The Treaty Oak is a Texas live oak tree in Austin, Texas, United States, and the last surviving member of the Council Oaks, a grove of 14 trees that served as a sacred meeting place for Comanche and Tonkawa tribes prior to European settlement of the area. (Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_Oak_(Austin,_Texas) 

   We begin at 8:30 a.m.  with a ritual led by Sheila Ray (thank you Sheila!), and eat and socialize afterwards. Families welcome. There is one small picnic table, and a limited grassy area but big enough for kids to play around. 

Please RSVP on this Google Form https://forms.gle/gqHnC4Rn1ZruyMvBA that Aly Tharp created to help us plan.  

Some important things that are on the form: 

- Bringing blankets and/or chairs is suggested. Let us know on the form if you need us to bring chairs for you.
- Let us know if you will potluck with us or bring your own food.
- If potlucking, what you plan to bring. 

FIELD TRIP! Saturday, February 6 | TREE PLANTING! Sunday, Feb. 7

SAT. FEB. 6, 9:30 am -- FIELD TRIP: The WildEarth Climate Action Team invites anyone to join us on a field trip to Boggy Creek Farm. We'll go on a  owner-guided tour of this 5-acre sustainable organic farm, then visit their farm stand to shop if desired. To car-caravan with us, meet at Wildflower's parking lot at 9:30 a.m.  Wildflower Church's address is 1314 E. Oltorf, Austin TX.

Or, meet us in front of the farm stand  at 10 a.m. They're open 8 am to 1 pm if you want to go earlier.
 - Address: 3414 Lyons Road (a few blocks east of N. Pleasant Valley Rd.)
 - Rain date: February 13. HOWEVER, the weather looks fine on the 6th, cool but dry.

Masks required. We will caravan but not carpool; please ride only with members of your household or "pod".

SUN. FEB. 7, 2:00 pm -- TREE PLANTING:       Also, the team has partnered with Faith for tree-planting on our campus. Volunteers are wanted to help dig holes and plant two trees next Sunday  at 2 pm.  

To join either of these events, contact Susan Lippman or  wildearth@wildflowerchurch.org 

October 9 Climate Education: "Kiss the Ground" discussion

 “Kiss the Ground” is a new documentary that began streaming on Netflix on September 22.

  The regenerative-agriculture movement of farmers and ranchers is excited about the release of this movie. The documentary will show how regenerating the world’s soils can completely and rapidly stabilize Earth’s climate, restore lost ecosystems, and create abundant food supplies.  

Please watch  Kiss the Ground on Netflix anytime before our meeting time at 7:30 on September 22, then we'll gather to discuss our thoughts and reactions.   (And also discuss what the team would like to do next.)

Time: Oct 9, 2020, 7:30 - 9 PM
ZOOM Link: 

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2635700913?pwd=dFpYV0xvbzhtTi8yYlhaRUdUZVQ3QT09

Phone connection:  1 346 248 7799 
Meeting ID: 263 570 0913   Passcode: 202500

Climate Education on Sept. 25th: Animal Agriculture and Climate Change.

  Animal Agriculture and Climate Change:
   On September 25th, Climate Team member Rebecca Allen presented about animal agriculture’s contribution and solution to global warming, diversity loss, nitrogen imbalance and climate change.  

Here are references that supported our discussion. (To visit these links, please copy, then paste into your browser.)

-A video about wildlife populations. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OYE8_TsteA&vl=en

-Here is an article in Nature Eat less meat: UN climate-change report calls for change to human diet https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02409-7

-Short video of James Hansen stating what the single best thing we can do to help stop climate change. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfbxeAFk8mY

-James Hansen explains:  Faustian bargain and global dimming:
http://www.climatecodered.org/2012/03/faustian-bargain-revisited-study-finds.html
      -Here is a newer article on much the same topic, also on Climate Code Red website, dated 2018:  http://www.climatecodered.org/2018/02/quantifying-our-faustian-bargain-with.html

Climate Education: Friday, Sept. 11

 

TOPIC:  Deep Adaptation.      Friday, 9/11/2020  7:30-9 pm

   At this meeting we  examined Dr. Jem Bendells's thesis that near-term civilizational collapse is unavoidable. His paper, "Deep Adaptation: A Map for Navigating Climate Tragedy," has been read over 450,000 times and has engendered something of a movement. In other classes we have explored  the short time frame remaining for climate action, but the paper argues that collapse is inevitable.   Also, see the first reference (below) for strong counterarguments to "doomism" and Bendell's paper in particular.

 For the class, we watched parts of this video, a presentation on Deep Adaptation by two members of Scientists' Warning. Although the first part lays out very serious and dire climate threats, it doesn't actually argue that collapse is inevitable. The second part addresses the deeper economic roots of our status-quo pathway.
1)  0-16:30 minutes:  Sketches out civilization's prospects (Stuart Scott)
 ---  We will skip the middle (Alison Green) 
2)  27:00 to 39:53:  Examines the roles of "money" and "economy" in the systems that create this crisis. 

Video:  Scientists' Warning at Foresight Group, EU Commission, Jan. 19, 2019 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMbeYJgH_6g&list=WL&index=61&t=795s  

References: 

1.  I recommend this article, "The Faulty Science, Doomism, and Flawed Conclusions of Deep Adaptation." for its cogent pushback on the Deep Adaptation's premises.  In this article, you can get a very good idea of what is in Jem Bendell's 36-page paper, together with a strong critique of its scientific assumptions. While not contesting that the climate situation is critical and could result in societal collapse, it argues against its inevitablity, and points out many harms of the "doomism" argument. 
     Although the paper,  is 21 pages, this link,  on my Google drive, is highlighted for your speed-reading convenience:  
      Click here.    Or to see the article as originally published in Vice, go here

2. This article is about the academic paper but is not the academic paper itself. The subject of both is not just the science, but the argument that civilizational collapse is unavoidable. 
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/vbwpdb/the-climate-change-paper-so-depressing-its-sending-people-to-therapy%20 (2-27-19)  “The Climate Change Paper So Depressing It's Sending People to Therapy:  On average, three people read an academic paper. At least 100,000 have read this—and a lot of them haven't taken it very well.”   

3.  This is the link to the webpage gateway paper,  Deep Adaptation: A Map for Navigating Climate Tragedy , and here  is the link to the 36-page PDF. 

Climate Education: One Last Chance

 

The topic of the WildEarth Climate Action Team's last climate education class was:

One Last Chance: The Defining Year for the Planet. 

Friday, August 14, 7:30 - 9:00 p.m. 

We considered some of these key articles from the July 20-27 special TIME Magazine issue on climate. (Links below). 

TIME MAGAZINE ARTICLES: 

     (1) “2020 Is Our Last, Best Chance to Save the Climate.” https://time.com/5864692/climate-change-defining-moment/  -this is a long essay, the central one of the issue.

     (2)  “Why the Larger Climate Movement Is Finally Embracing the Fight Against Environmental Racism”    https://time.com/5864704/environmental-racism-climate-change/
           -this is one of several shorter articles tying antiracism with climate change.

I was not able to access more of the TIME articles on the internet.  But these 2 short- to moderate-length articles also speak to the short time frame ahead of us:
(1)  https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-48964736  “Climate change: 12 years to save the planet? Make that 18 months”
(2)   https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jun/18/world-has-six-months-to-avert-climate-crisis-says-energy-expert
   “Governments are planning to spend $9tn (£7.2tn) globally in the next few months on rescuing their economies from the coronavirus crisis, the IEA has calculated. The stimulus packages created this year will determine the shape of the global economy for the next three years, according to Birol, and within that time emissions must start to fall sharply and permanently, or climate targets will be out of reach.”

and then there’s this:
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/vbwpdb/the-climate-change-paper-so-depressing-its-sending-people-to-therapy  (2-27-19)  “The Climate Change Paper So Depressing It's Sending People to Therapy:  On average, three people read an academic paper. At least 100,000 have read this—and a lot of them haven't taken it very well.”   This article above is about the academic paper but is not the academic paper itself. The subject of both is not just the science, but the argument that civilizational collapse is unavoidable. 

Climate Education:

For the WildEarth Climate Action Team's last virtual climate education class (actually more of a study group), on Friday, July 31, 7:30 - 9:00 p.m., our topic was: 

Connecting the Dots: Racism, Colonialism,  Growth-addicted Economics, and Climate Chaos 

Last time we took a close look at the shared roots of racism and climate chaos.  This time we tried to wrap the subject together with our previous weeks'  investigations.

      Since April, we've been exploring what's been called "the dismal science": economics.  But it's not so dismal when we look at that newly-emerging alternate field of economics known as, De-Growth Economics, or Post-Growth Economics, Ecological Economics, or Steady-State Economics. These terms refer to a field that is tackling head-on the question of the ecological and climate crisis that threatens the future of humankind if our economic systems continue on their mindless growth-dependent path, and asks what kind of economics is compatible with, or even required by, a sustainable, viable planet with an improving, equitable quality of life for people?

Below are a selection of more resources than you probably have time for, but it the subject has grabbed you, enjoy.  Two sources are highlighted in yellow; these were our  main sources for our discussion.          (1)  the  13-minute video "The Economics of Enough, (below), makes an excellent overview of our several-week's study of Post-Growth Economics.  
    (2)   The Jason Hickle blogpost is not long, but insightfully bridges the issue of how the historical period of colonialism is baked into today's global capitalism, with measurable disparate racial impacts, also on a global scale.    Jason Hickel, 10-16-2019, Apartheid in the Global Governance System

 6-13-2014 TEDX talk.    The Economics of Enough  13 minutes       Is economic growth always a good thing? Why are people in countries like the US and UK not happier or working fewer hours when GDP has tripled since 1950? Dan O'Neill's thought-provoking talk exposes the pitfalls of economic growth and hints at alternative ways to measure progress. Dan O'Neill is a lecturer in ecological economics at the University of Leeds, and the chief economist at the Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy (CASSE). His work focuses on the changes that would be needed to achieve a prosperous non-growing economy, and alternative ways of measuring progress besides GDP. He is co-author (with Rob Dietz) of Enough Is Enough: Building a Sustainable Economy in a World of Finite Resources, an international best-seller which has recently been made into a short film. 

 Here are additional resources (optional):

10-7-2017   Want to Avert the Apocalypse? Take Lessons from Costa Rica.  Jason Hickel.

Chasing economic growth gains us nothing but global warming. We should follow the lead of tiny Costa Rica, where life expectancy is soaring.   here .)

 11-7-2018  TED talk. 5 transformational policies for a prosperous and sustainable world. Johan Rockström.    (Link here.)

 5-9-2019 Joseph Steiglitz. How Did Costa Rica Get It So Right?  
The country is a beacon of Enlightenment – a world leader in democratic, sustainable, and inclusive economic growth, writes Joseph Stiglitz   

5-24-2020 5 reasons Costa Rica is winning plaudits for fighting COVID-19.  (Link, here .)

 12-5-2017  Globalisation: time to look at historic mistakes to plot the future. Joseph Stiglitz 
(Link, here .) 

2019? http://happyplanetindex.org/   Costa Rica #1. Mexico #2.  U.S. #108 of 140.

5-12-2020 Forbes. Covid shortages: Supply Chains Must Become Less Efficient. 
       This one just relates to one of our previous themes about a more local economy.  Covid-19 is causing a shift to more local suppliers, for a more resilient supply chain, even though profit margins become smaller.  (Link,  here .)

The Deep, Shared Roots of Climate Chaos and Racism

The WildEarth Climate Action team  presented a climate education class on Thursday, July 9.  

The topic was:  The Deep, Shared Roots of Climate Chaos and Racism

If you missed it but would like to explore the resources, here are  links to three articles that really struck me from among many connecting climate change with the current movement for Black lives.  If short of time, you can go to this Google Doc folder  (here), for copies with highlighted sections for your information-absorbing convenience.

These are the original links:
(1) https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/racism-killing-planet   Racism is Killing the Planet.   A quote:  I really believe in my heart of hearts—after a lifetime of thinking and talking about these issues—that we will never survive the climate crisis without ending white supremacy. Here’s why: You can’t have climate change without sacrifice zones, and you can’t have sacrifice zones without disposable people, and you can't have disposable people without racism.
(2)  Unequal Impact: The Deep Links Between Racism and Climate Change .  Interview, Yale Environment 360.
(3)  Invisible Climate Wars, Part II: Climate Destruction As Racial Domination    Climate Defense Project.

Perhaps next time we meet, we'll return to the topic of degrowth economics once again to summarize and to  look at how these insights on systemic racism fit into the hopeful future that these alternative economic theories may help create.

Climate Education class of June 20: Measuring What Counts ... Beyond GDP

At this meeting we discussed the ideas in the book, Measuring What Counts:  The Global Movement for Well-Being -The Movement for New Metrics, Beyond GDP. (Gross Domestic Product) By Joseph Stiglitz,Jean-Paul Fitouzzi, & Martine Durand

If you missed it but want to delve into the ideas, here are some resources about the new metrics, researched by one of our members.

VIDEOS, PDFs, and WEBSITES for Measuring What Counts.

  If time is short, focus on the highlighted sources. The Climate Team's interest was sparked by a video on Doughnut Economics.  The book offers several different ways of looking at metrics which are more inclusive of measures around climate change or moving away from GDP as an indicator/motivator of growth regardless of impact. 

     The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) hosted a 5 year program (2013-2018) on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress.  This effort was after the global economic crisis of 2008 and recognition of the inadequacy of GDP to represent impacts on climate, inequality and democracy.

 These links cover five different metric models:  Doughnut Economics; Reduced Globalization -Going Local; Happiness; Genuine Progress Indicator; and, Well-being (OECD).

 Doughnut Economics

 Defined:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doughnut_(economic_model)

 Video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqJL-cM8gb4 - Kate Raworth (17 minutes)

 Article:    A Brief Digest on Donut Economics

 Going Local - more a movement than a metric

 Videos: 
     -- Short graphic explanation,  here,  associates ‘going local’ with happiness

     -- Economics of Happiness   - 20 mins
     -- Economics of Happiness, long version  - 1 hour+

       --  Website:  https://www.localfutures.org/degrowth-a-call-for-radical-abundance/

Genuine Progress Index

 Website:  http://www.sustainwellbeing.net/gpi.html

        Defining GPI:  http://wikiprogress.org/articles/initiatives/the-genuine-progress-index  

 Measuring Happiness - (different from the ‘local movement happiness)

 Defined:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Happiness_Report

    -- Video:  Happiest Countries in the World, Explained    UN/Gallup Poll related  - 6 mins

   --  World Happiness Report:  https://happiness-report.s3.amazonaws.com/2020/WHR20.pdf

 Well-Being  (OECD)

      -- Defined:  http://www.oecd.org/sdd/OECD-Better-Life-Initiative.pdf

      --   Joseph Stiglitz on  Problems with GDP as an Economic Barometer    8 mins

 Website:  http://www.oecd.org/statistics/measuring-well-being-and-progress.htm

 Report:  http://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/#/11111111111

Upcoming events with XRAustin; WCAT meeting on 6/20.

Here are some of the upcoming events that we shared with each other at Wednesday's (June 3) meeting, as well as some recommendations to watch or read.

 Saturday June 20^th, 7:30 pm,  we’ll continue exploring the topic of post-growth economics, focusing on the book Beyond the GDP: Measuring What Counts; and we’ll have a short meeting.  


Thursday, June 4, 7:30-9  [this event has passed--here is a recap.]  XR and some crossover members of  WCAT watched this video together, which presents powerful reasons why racial justice issues are inseparable from climate change.  The video is on Youtube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3U7PYZCObtk&list=PLtl05oPWV9aztV_PGQSBhxozpTq0462_F&index=2&t=3872s

"Getting it Together before it’s Too Late: Building Solidarity Across Race and Class" A live discussion with Roger Hallam, Adam Elliott-Cooper and Dr. Ian Haney Lopez (14 May 2020) . Ian Haney Lopez is an academic at the forefront of research into a new approach to radical politics. He argues that in order to order to build a mass movement we must recognise that racism is the main weapon in the class war the rich are winning - https://www.ianhaneylopez.com/

Michael Moore's film, Planet of the Humans - pro and con discussion

We had a great discussion this morning (June 3)  of Michael Moore's controversial film, Planet of the Humans.

If you missed it, and want to look into the issues on your own, here are some sources we used for background. Also, further below are two links to the movie.

    - 5-minute critical video from George Monboit, who writes for The Guardian: 
               https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__UJ09PZFoI

 - Two PRO and CON videos:
       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bop8x24G_o0  - Michael Moore and associates respond to criticism of new bombshell environmental film.
       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTYJCAxlOgs   -   Filmmaker Josh Fox responds to Michael Moore on bombshell climate film.

       -Movie review from the blog at Union of Concerned Scientists:
      https://blog.ucsusa.org/john-rogers/movie-review-michael-moores-planet-of-the-humans-traffics-in-myths-errors-and-dangerous-misdirection

    
Here are two links to the full movie:
    (1)      https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=planet+of+the+humans&docid=13819390115178&mid=EE549FD7AEF08C68D723EE549FD7AEF08C68D723&view=detail&FORM=VIRE
     (2)       https://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/michael-moore-presents-planet-of-the-humans/

In addition, here are links to two recommendations from Becky Allen during our discussion:

     - a documentary, Endgame 2050, available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8YomEOExkc .  For more information, see https://www.endgame2050.com/
     -the website, www.climatehealers.org

Climate Education: "United in Heart and Alternate Currencies"

We are continuing to explore the fascinating nexus of "post-growth economics" and climate change. 

Today we gathered on ZOOM and watched United in Heart and Alternate Currencies in the COVID-19 Era.  (Part of a summit presented by Vegan World.) 

To watch on your own, here’s the YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSzhpB-aiHg
         Dr. Sailish Rao interviewed Jean-Francois Noubel  and Arvin & Nandhini Paranjpe who are developing an app to help people moving forward with connecting environmental rewards of planting trees to currency. 

        Jean-François Noubel has worked in the field of collective intelligence, a new research discipline that explores how living systems work and the evolution of our species.