Unitarian
Universalist Resources
and Statements from
other Denominations
- Beyond
Science:Ethical/Religious Dimensions of Global Warming
(pdf) Are UUs prepared to address the ethical quandaries
that global warming has set before us?
What will our role be in influencing the choices that have to be made?
How can we insure that the choices made will honor the worth and
dignity of the individual? And how can we protect the rights of
the individual while practicing a global form of justice and equity? By
what means do we broaden the concept of justice to encompass not only
human rights, but also the intrinsic value of plants and animals in the
all-inclusive web of life? This is a presentation at the
2006 UUA General
Assembly that Lisa Herschberger helped arrange with UU Ministry for
Earth. Don Brown is
a UU and was also invited to speak last year at UMN.
- UU
Ministry for Earth (formerly the Seventh Principle Project) is
an
affiliate organization of the Unitarian Universalist Association.
Their mission is to facilitate and support the work of Unitarian
Universalists by affirming and promoting the Seventh Principle of the
UUA, "Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we
are a part." Our members believe that the Earth is in peril from human
activities, and for us as people of faith, this is a moral and
spiritual crisis of utmost importance. They sponsor the
congregation based Green Sanctuary Program.
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Minnesota
Resources
- Minnesota
Environmental Partnership (MEP)
is
a network of more than 80 non-profit environmental and
conservation
organizations. "Our mission is to strengthen the effectiveness and
build
the power of our members to achieve the highest quality natural
environment for Minnesotans." You can search for
groups by issue addressed or by name, get information about what
you can do, and signup for email updates.
- Ecoshock
- 24/7 Environmental Awareness Network A mix of
environment news, interviews, and music. James
Hansen: Climate Deadline (mp3)- Top NASA scientist in a
candid interview.
- MINNESOTA SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES NETWORK (MnSCN)
NEWSLETTER is a free electronic newsletter that is sent out
every other week by staff from the Minnesota Office of Environmental
Assistance's (OEA) Sustainable Communities Team - Register Here
- THE
SECOND MINNESOTA REPORT CARD ON ENVIRONMENTAL LITERACY
documents the results of the second statewide survey concerning
environmental literacy of adults in Minnesota.
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Educational
Resources
- Minnesota
Energy Challenge
The goal of the Minnesota Energy Challenge is to empower Minnesotans to
take simple steps to reduce their energy use and Minnesota’s CO2
emissions.
- Environmental
Literacy Scope and Sequence is a good resource to assist
groups doing environmental education.
- The
GreenPrint
offers guidance to individuals, organizations, and agencies that
deliver or support environmental education in Minnesota.
- SEEK
is Minnesota educators' online directory of environmental education
(EE) resources.
- The OEA EDUCATION
CLEARINGHOUSE is part of the OEA's Environmental Education program,
set up to help educate Minnesotans about environmental issues. The
Clearinghouse contains a wealth of hands-on resources.
- NATURAL
WONDERS was written especially for environmental
educators and naturalists who are interested in learning more about how
and why young children think and act. The guidelines offered will help
educators design developmentally appropriate programs and activities.
- HogBusters
Training Camp - An "energy hog" program for kids
where they tour a
home and find where energy is lost and when they find "energy hogs"
they have to play a game to defeat them. Pretty cool.
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Other
Resources
- A Call
to Action
(pdf): Ten major U.S. businesses and four national environmental
organizations
issued a joint report calling on the federal government to quickly pass
strong national legislation to cut global warming pollution.
- On January 28, 2007 Dale Lewellyn, a Green Sanctuary
committee member, gave an excellent Sunday service on Keep
the Earth Spinning (pdf). If you missed the talk, you can
get a copy by clicking on the link.
- Five
Reasons Corn Ethanol Won't Save the Planet And a discussion
of the alternative biofuels that University of Minnesota researchers
believe just might.
- From Lisa Herschberger: I highly recommend this
recent MPR
interview about climate change with Peter Ciborowski of MPCA
. It helps put the magnitude of what we need to do to address the
global
warming problem in perspective. This interview was preceded by
a Dan
Olson story regarding our
personal choices that affect climate change.
- Here is another MPR link about the changes
to Minnesota’s forests. This is just one illustration
of why environmental scientists and ecologists are so concerned about
the extensive impacts of the unnatural rate of climate
change.
- Realclimate.org.
Frustrated
by Web sites claiming to debunk global warming, several scientists this
month launched their own blog on the evidence that humans are heating
up
the planet. They hope to counter industry-supported
sites where so-called experts "have a habit of seriously misquoting,
distorting,
and outright manipulating data," says co-organizer Gavin Schmidt of
NASA
(speaking in a personal capacity).
- Visit TOXMAP,
a new site from the National Library of Medicine that lets you chart
values
from the Environmental Protection Agency's Toxics Release Inventory.
The
annual report tallies U.S. emissions of some 650 hazardous chemicals
into
the air, water, and soil. Using TOXMAP, you can pinpoint pollution
sources
or map up to 15 years of data to identify emission trends.
- Scoop
Independent News - I found this helpful to understand
the past
temperature variation and to put the estimated changes in context.
- A weekly
newsletter
from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency
and Renewable Energy (EERE).
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