“If we can get rid of enough people,” the El Paso terrorist wrote in his grotesque manifesto, “then our way of life can be more sustainable.” His bigoted rampage left little doubt who he meant by “we” and “our way of life.” The eco-fascism of the far-right couches its racist intent as concern for the Read more
It’s good, it’s wise and it sounds so nice: “Season of Creation” – a time for us to stop taking the wonderful God-given gift of creation for granted. A time to wake up and smell the flowers! The Season of Creation is an annual month long ecumenical celebration of prayer and action to protect creation. Read more
Thirty years ago, Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople put September 1 on the Orthodox calendar as the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. Last month, Pope Francis did the same for the Catholic Church and on Sunday marked the occasion by issuing a new message on climate change. Moving beyond his 2015 encyclical Read more
An eco-option for excess churches could be to repurpose them for ecological uses. Small congregations could cluster together instead of being dispersed over a number of buildings, says Dr Kevin Hargaden of Dublin’s Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice. “The buildings that don’t get used, I think can get repurposed. Again, that’s an opportunity for Read more
A study by the IFO think tank in Munich found that electric vehicles in Germany emit 11 – 28 percent more carbon dioxide than their diesel counterparts. The study considered the production of batteries as well as the German electricity mix in making this determination. Germany spent thousands of euros on electric car subsidies per Read more
In an effort to expand the Vatican’s green environmental stance, the city state has decided not to sell any single-use plastic items after its current supplies run out. Single-use plastic include bags, water bottles, cutlery, straws and balloons. The top five single-use plastic items polluting Europe are cigarette butts, bottles and caps, food packaging, cotton Read more
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently announced his government will seek to ban many single-use plastic starting in 2021. Although the final list of banned items is still undetermined, it will likely include plastic bags, takeaway containers, cutlery and straws. To further justify the ban, Environment Minister Catherine McKenna cited images of marine wildlife being injured Read more
Tēnei te mihi ki a koe a Pāpā Werahiko, te kaihautū o te waka o te Hahi Katorika,kei te mihi, kei te mihi, kei te mihi. Greetings to you Pope Francis leader of the Catholic Church. I write to you in light of a call from the global campaign organisation Avaaz, Letters for life on Read more
Thames-Coromandel Mayor Sandra Goudie does not want to sign the Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) Climate Change Declaration. On Wednesday she told RNZ the declaration was “politically charged”. But Dave Cull, president of LGNZ, says the declaration is purely aspirational and no one is being pressured into signing up. “It’s not a binding contract; there Read more
Environmentalists have taken aim at the targets systematically, seeking to eliminate or rein in big sources of ocean pollution — first plastic bags, then eating utensils and, most recently, drinking straws. More than a dozen coastal cities prohibited plastic straws this year. Many more are pondering bans, along with the states of California and Hawaii. Read more