Wondering if you are like me and experiencing some “eco-grief,” an interesting label for climate disaster fatigue? The news seems to be mostly bad storms are unusually destructive; glaciers are disappearing; Congress struggles to pass a bill with climate action funding; and one questions whether those small steps we are taking will really have an impact. Plus, it seems those actions are often a bother and many are expensive! As a person of faith, am I going to let these waves of pessimism distract me, pull me down? What can I do to rejuvenate optimism or at least hold the pessimism at bay? For me, the counterpoint often starts by finding and reading some words from Pope Francis. His comments about environmental justice often get me off thinking about myself and focusing on others. The other day I was watching a news report about China’s use of coal. Even though they have invested billions in clean energy sources, they refuse to begin the scale back of coal use likely the single worst source of carbon emissions and the source of sickness for those living near plants energized by coal and those working in the mines bringing the coal to market. That got me thinking about what I can do about that. Indeed, I could avoid buying China sourced articles that likely are a product of manufacturing processes using coal sourced energy e.g., products with Chinese steel. More questions for exploration occurred to me what US manufacturers import Chinese steel for their fabrication processes? I don’t have to do this by myself so long as I am prepared to talk about this issue. I have been talking about this with family and friends for the past several days. Did you know that...? So, this is an aspect of caring for our planet that appeals to me. What issue has caught your attention lately? Will you start talking about it? Perhaps Lent is the perfect time to take up this practice.
See reference: The Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change https://www.ipcc.ch/assessmentreport/ar6/
“As COP26 gathers, faithbased environmentalists fight ‘ecogrief’,” https://www.ncronline.org/news/earthbeat/cop26gathersfaithbasedenvironmentalistsfightecogrief
See reference: The Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change https://www.ipcc.ch/assessmentreport/ar6/
“As COP26 gathers, faithbased environmentalists fight ‘ecogrief’,” https://www.ncronline.org/news/earthbeat/cop26gathersfaithbasedenvironmentalistsfightecogrief