Refugia Newsletter #28: midterms and climate, faith at COP 27, repentance, frogs, and empty pots
Refugia News
What does it say about me that I love November--the bare trees, the cloudy skies, the chill of imminent winter? Is it my melancholic temperament? My love of cozying up with a book and hot tea? Here in Michigan, we seem to have missed the austerity of November and jumped right from glorious autumn to ... winter wonderland. As I write, we are still expecting another half-foot of snow in the next 24 hours. It will likely all melt in the next couple weeks, but for now, I'm enjoying the heavily frosted trees.
Speaking of cozy reading, I'm excited that Refugia Faith will be a featured book for three online events early next year, including with the good people at Climate Witness Project, Evangelical Environmental Network, and the BTS Center. I'll share more as details become available (the last newsletter featured a link to the CWP event). Meanwhile, tomorrow marks the release of the last episode of the Refugia Podcast season, a summary episode in which I reflect along with my colleague and friend, biologist Dave Koetje, on the major themes of the season.
This Week in Climate News
Well, two weeks ago, we were biting our nails over the US midterm elections. From a climate-action point of view alone, I can't tell you how relieved I am about the results. Here in Michigan, we re-elected a Democratic governor, Gretchen Whitmer (remember "that woman"?), as well as a Democratic Attorney General and Secretary of State. Michigan also achieved the "trifecta": Democratic leadership in the governor's office as well as the state house and senate. Not only that! My district, District 3, elected Democrat Hillary Scholten, the first-ever woman to represent this district.
All of this is good news for democracy--as the Republican opponents in these races were Trump-endorsed election deniers. The results were also good news for climate, as Michigan Democrats are committed to making Michigan a leader in the transition to renewable energy. In fact, the purported "red wave" may have been drowned, at least in part, by a "green wave." An article in E&E News Greenwire quotes Nick Abraham, state communications director for the League of Conservation Voters:
“It’s really like a green wave that we’re seeing across the country.... We’re seeing [that] the folks that ran on climate absolutely won.”
Two factors helped lead to climate wins in Michigan. One, for sure, is the redistricting achieved through many years of on-the-ground organizing. Other, heavily gerrymandered states are now looking to Michigan as an example of how fair re-districting can be done. The second factor: the youth vote. Young people turned out across the country, and young people care about climate.
An article in Inside Climate News reported:
"Exit polling suggests that young voters aged 18 to 29, many of whom likely factored climate change among their top concerns, stood in the breach of a Republican red wave that never materialized. Nationally, about one in eight voters was between 18 and 29, and two-thirds of them voted for the Democrats, according to an NBC News exit poll." (emphasis added)
Michigan Radio reported that, nationwide, "the 2022 election had the second highest voter turnout among voters under 30 in at least the past three decades," second only to 2018. (emphasis added)
Climate seems to be increasing in importance as an influencer in voting behavior across demographics, at least among Democrats. In recent polls, 87% of Democrats cited climate change as one of the most important issues they considered when voting. However, the young are leading the way.
Deeper Dive
COP 27 officially concluded yesterday. Over the next few weeks, we'll no doubt read analyses about what was and was not accomplished. Here are a few stories I've been following.
There were a record number of fossil fuels reps present: 636 in all, a 25% increase over last year's meeting. Interesting to see where they're from, but no surprise: a huge number from the UAE, Russia, and other countries with huge interest in profiting from oil and gas.
President Biden showed up to reassert the US's leadership in global efforts to combat climate change. He touted the Inflation Reduction Act, pledged to meet US emissions reduction goals for 2030, promised increased aid to help poorer countries transition to clean energy, and described other US accomplishments. Observers note he did not promise loss and damages reparations.
This article by Brad Plumer, David Gelles, and Lisa Friedman in the New York Times is worth a read. It outlines the wavering of some in the determination to limit global average temperature rise to 1.5° Celsius over pre-industrial levels. As readers of this newsletter know, we have already reached 1.1 degrees. Some countries, notably China, are reluctant to promise less than 2°--but the difference, in terms of impacts, is huge.
This year, I've been trying to follow the activities of faith-based groups at COP a little more closely. There's a lot going on, and it's hard to keep track of it all. Here is the main website where all events are listed. You can click on dates and see--just out of curiosity--a list of activities, which include gatherings, prayer opportunities, speeches, workshops, and so on.
I've also been reading the newsletter provided by the Christian Climate Observers group, which includes my own denomination's Climate Witness Project along with numerous other partners. Here is their website.
In conjunction with COP 27, the Elijah Interfaith Institute has developed a "Climate Repentance" resource including the "10 Spiritual Principles for Climate Repentance." They're worth reading through, especially to see how they harmonize themes and principles from the world's religions.
Here's a small excerpt from #10:
"The life of attentive, intelligent love is embodied in compassion: in openness to the pain and vulnerability of the world. Care for the other is expressed in love and compassion as fundamental spiritual principles. These are to be applied to other humans, human communities, and other parts of creation."
On November 13, an interfaith "repentance ceremony" was held in London, where former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams spoke.
Refugia Sighting
So much about politics! Let's talk about frogs and coral. Switzerland has figured out how to bring back endangered amphibians just by strategically digging ponds. According to this piece by Rowenna Hoskin for the BBC,
"State authorities, non-profit organizations, private landowners and hundreds of volunteers worked for 20 years to build 422 ponds in five regions in Aargau." The results were wonderfully successful: "Of the eight endangered species, 52% increased their regional populations and 32% were stabilised."
Meanwhile, out in the Pacific, coral reefs devastated by El Niño have come back in ways that astonished the people who study them. In this photo essay by Enric Sala in National Geographic, Sala describes revisiting a devastated reef and finding that "The reefs were back with exuberance, but they were changed."
A complex convergence of factors led to a particular species of coral re-colonizing the dead reef, a great demonstration of how nature can sometimes create remarkable refugia:
"The corals that were resistant to the phenomenal 2015-16 El Niño provided the reefs’ resilience. The southern Line Islands lie in one of the hottest hot spots of warming in the Pacific Ocean, so the corals here apparently have adapted to heat."
Scientists brought endangered species back from the brink by simply building more ponds.
The Wayback Machine
As we look to the beginning of Advent next week, I thought of this piece from 2017. I always struggle with observing Advent well because December is so full of grading and academic work for me. This essay attempts to turn that disadvantage to advantage and considers religious observances as an "act of defiance."
Thank you!
Thanks for reading! I keep these newsletters quickly scannable, with opportunities for deeper reading as you are able. I also tend to emphasize the connections between faith communities and climate action.
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