We need your help to take action to protect the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts. We ask that you take action in these three ways. Please see details/resources within this document for more information. 

1. Write an op-ed or letter to the editor
2. Sign and share our petition
3. Contact your member of Congress

Write an Op-Ed or Letter to the Editor
One of the best ways to ensure that the spotlight on saving the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts is to express to your local and regional media that you care. Please consider writing a letter to the editor or an op-ed about what the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts mean to you and why it’s important to protect them. We've included what local and regional media has said about the decision. We also encourage you to check out this resource for writing an op-ed.  To see how some faith leaders have spoken out on the decision made by President  Trump, check out our press release. 
See national news clips on this issue on our national toolkit page. If you have additional questions, please contact info@creationjustice.org

Rhode Island News Coverage
Point Judith Fishermen Optimistic as Restrictions Lifted (6.13.20)

Sign and Share Our Petition
Build momentum! Sign our petition for the faith community on why the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts are so important. And once you’ve signed, share it with others on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram - wherever you show up in your community! Link to share petition: https://creationjustice.salsalabs.org/canyonsandseamounts

Contact Your Member of Congress
Call or set up a virtual visit with your members of Congress to tell them why protecting God's marine creation matters to you and your community, and that the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument needs strong conservation protections. Call the Capitol switchboard at: (202) 224-3121.

Here's a script you can use when making these calls/emails: 
Hello I'm ______ (name) with ________ (faith community affiliation) in ___ (city). I would like to leave an urgent message for the Member's communications staff. On World Environment Day, President Trump rolled back vital protections for the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument. Faith communities worked hard to win this historic and vital biodiverse, climate resilience sanctuary for God's marine creation. I am appalled. I respectfully request a forceful public statement rebuking the President's actions. If you would like to follow up with me for next action steps on this issue, my contact information is __________. Thank you.

Joint Statement by Senators Whitehouse and Reed (6.5.20)
Cicilline Slams Trump Decision to Remove National Enironmental Protections for National Marine Monument off New England Shore (6.5.20)
Langaven Statement on President Trump's Decision (6.5.20)

We need your help to take action to protect the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts. We ask that you take action in these three ways. Please see details/resources within this document for more information. 

1. Write an op-ed or letter to the editor
2. Sign and share our petition
3. Contact your member of Congress

Write an Op-Ed or Letter to the Editor
One of the best ways to ensure that the spotlight on saving the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts is to express to your local and regional media that you care. Please consider writing a letter to the editor or an op-ed about what the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts mean to you and why it’s important to protect them. We've included what local and regional media has said about the decision. We also encourage you to check out this resource for influencing the media. To see how some faith leaders have spoken out on the decision made by President  Trump, check out our press release. 
See national news clips on this issue on our national toolkit page. If you have additional questions, please contact info@creationjustice.org

So far, we have not found any New Hampshire-specific media coverage. Please help change this!


Sign and Share Our Petition
Build momentum! Sign our petition for the faith community on why the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts are so important. And once you’ve signed, share it with others on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram - wherever you show up in your community!

Link to share petition: https://creationjustice.salsalabs.org/canyonsandseamounts

Contact Your Member of Congress
Call, snail mail or email your members of Congress to tell them why protecting God's marine creation matters to you and your community, and that the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument needs strong conservation protections. Call the Capitol switchboard at: (202) 224-3121 or check out this website to find your representative's websites!

Here's a script you can use when making these calls/emails: 
Hello I'm ______ (name) with ________ (faith community affiliation) in ___ (city). I would like to leave an urgent message for the Member's communications staff. On World Environment Day, President Trump rolled back vital protections for the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument. Faith communities worked hard to win this historic and vital biodiverse, climate resilience sanctuary for God's marine creation. I am appalled. I respectfully request a forceful public statement rebuking the President's actions. If you would like to follow up with me for next action steps on this issue, my contact information is __________. Thank you.

Tweet by Senator Shaheen (5.6.20)

We need your help to take action to protect the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts. We ask that you take action in these three ways. Please see details/resources within this document for more information. 

1. Write an op-ed or letter to the editor
2. Sign and share our petition
3. Contact your member of Congress

Write an Op-Ed or Letter to the Editor
One of the best ways to ensure that the spotlight on saving the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts is to express to your local and regional media that you care. Please consider writing a letter to the editor or an op-ed about what the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts mean to you and why it’s important to protect them. We've included what local and regional media has said about the decision. We also encourage you to check out this resource for writing an op-ed.
To see how some faith leaders have spoken out on the decision made by President  Trump, check out our press release. 
See national news clips on this issue on our national toolkit page. Please see the following resources for helping to craft and pitch an op-ed. If you have additional questions, please contact info@creationjustice.org

Massachusetts Media Response:
In Another Step to Remove Environmental Regulations, Trump Moves to Allow Fishing in New England Conservation Area By: David Abel, Globe Staff
“Why the New England Aquarium is Fighting Back Against the Trump Administration” By Nik DeCosta Kilpa, Boston.com staff
“Trump gutted protections for the Atlantic’s only marine monument — now what?” Op Ed By Miriam Goldstien in the Boston Globe
Statement on Trump Administration’s rollback of protections for Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument New England Aquarium

Sign and Share Our Petition
Build momentum! Sign our petition for the faith community on why the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts are so important. And once you’ve signed, share it with others on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram wherever you show up in your community!

If you’re a faith leader, consider adding the petition to your newsletter or website. To see how other faith leaders have spoken out on the decision made by President  Trump, check out our press release. 

Link to share petition: https://creationjustice.salsalabs.org/canyonsandseamounts

Contact Your Member of Congress
Call, snail mail or email your members of Congress to tell them why protecting God's marine creation matters to you and your community, and that the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument needs strong conservation protections. Call the Capitol switchboard at: (202) 224-3121 or check out this website to find your representative's websites!

Here's a script you can use when making these calls/emails: 
Hello I'm ______ (name) with ________ (faith community affiliation) in ___ (city). I would like to leave a message. On World Environment Day, President Trump rolled back vital protections for the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument. Faith communities worked hard to win this historic and vital biodiverse, climate resilience sanctuary for God's marine creation. I am appalled. I respectfully request you do what you can to uphold and strengthen national monument conservation protections, including this important marine monument. If you would like to follow up with me for next action steps on this issue, my contact information is __________. Thank you.
​

 (6.5.20
We need your help to take action to protect the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts. We ask that you take action in these three ways. Please see details/resources within this document for more information. 

1. Write an op-ed or letter to the editor
2. Sign and share our petition
3. Contact your member of Congress

Write an Op-Ed or Letter to the Editor
One of the best ways to ensure that the spotlight on saving the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts is to express to your local and regional media that you care. Please consider writing a letter to the editor or an op-ed about what the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts mean to you and why it’s important to protect them. We've included the statements made so far from congressional members as a great starting point to respond to, as well as what local and regional media has said about the decision. We also encourage you to check out this resource for writing an op-ed. To see how other faith leaders have spoken out on the decision made by President  Trump, check out our press release. If you have additional questions, please contact info@creationjustice.org

Maine Media Response:
“Trump Didn’t Save Maine’s Fishing Industry” Editorial Board of The Bangor Daily News (6.5.20)
In Maine. Trump rescinds protections on marine national monument off Cape Cod  News Center Maine (6.5.20)
Trump Opens Atlantic Marine Monument To Fishing During Maine Roundtable Maine Public Radio (6.5.20)
Trump opens marine monument to fishermen, promises trade relief Portland Press Herald (6.5.20)
Opinion: Trump Rights a Wrong by Opening Monument to Commercial Fishing Portland Press Herald (6.10.20)
Suit Claims Trump's Decision to Open Up Seamounts Unlawful Maine Public Radio (6.17.20)
Environmental Groups Sue Trump (6.17.20)

What The Maine Delegation Has Said So Far:
Chellie Pingree: Representative, District  1
Link to official statement

June 5, 2020: “President Trump spent much of his roundtable saying he could fix trade policies that have hurt Maine fishermen with the stroke of a pen, but it is his failed trade policies that caused China to retaliate with a lobster tariff. The congressional delegation wrote to him last June to help our fishermen and he did nothing.”
“President Trump had four years to meet with Maine fishermen who have been devastated by his reckless trade and commerce policies, but did not. When Congress approved $300 million in COVID-19 relief money for the fishing industry, the Trump Administration dragged its feet to release that money. Forget the fact that the President doesn’t have explicit legal authority to unilaterally open up a national monument for commercial fishing, this will be tied up in the courts for years. This move will not provide economic benefits to the fishing industry at a time when markets have been lost, the global supply chain in shambles, and boats are tied up at the dock.”

Jared Golden: Representative, District 2
Link to statement
“While I’m glad to hear that the president will also hold a roundtable with representatives of Maine’s fishing industry while he’s in our state, I have to ask: where has he been for the past four years? Lobstermen have been raising the alarm with the White House for some time, and I have been asking for help from the Trump Administration since I came to Congress. Last July, I led the Maine delegation to formally request that the president intervene to block his own administration’s proposed regulations on the lobster fishery. Nearly a year later, we still haven’t received a response or seen any action against these harmful regulations. I genuinely hope the president commits the full power of the presidency to protecting Maine’s lobster industry, and I am ready to work with him — as I have been for some time now — if he will commit to taking action. This debate has been going on throughout his presidency. We are long past the time for roundtables — Maine lobstermen need action.” – Congressman Jared Golden (ME-02) (6.4.20)

Members of Maine’s congressional delegation panned the decision. U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, a Democrat from the 2nd Congressional District, said the policy change would mostly benefit fishermen in Massachusetts. (Bangor Daily news 6/5 article)

Angus King: Senator, Independent
“The President’s decision today to roll back the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument designation won’t improve the prospects for our fishermen a fraction as much as reconsidering the tariffs that have wiped out years of time, toil, and energy invested by our seafood industry in developing new markets around the globe. To make matters worse, while other agricultural producers, who are suffering similar losses as a result of these trade wars, receive significant support – financial and otherwise – Maine’s seafood industry has largely been left to weather this storm alone. If the President truly wants to take action to help Maine lobstermen, I’d urge him to start with those tariffs.” 
Maine Senator Angus King (6.5.20 in News Center Maine)

Susan Collins: Senator, Republican
“I have worked closely with Maine fishermen, lobstermen, and industry leaders on the most pressing issues they face, which include addressing trade barriers with China and the E.U., ensuring the impending right whale regulations are based on sound data and do not impose an unfair burden on Maine’s lobstermen and women, and providing direct financial relief to help offset the economic harm caused by COVID-19. The federal government should direct its focus to resolving these challenges rather than reopening the debate over this national marine monument.” ~ Maine Senator Susan Collins (6.8.20 in Bloomberg Law)


Sign and Share Our Petition
Build momentum! Sign our petition for the faith community on why the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts are so important. And once you’ve signed, share it with others on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram - wherever you show up in your community! If you’re a faith leader, consider adding the petition to your newsletter or website.

Link to share petition: https://creationjustice.salsalabs.org/canyonsandseamounts

Contact Your Member of Congress
Call your members of Congress to tell them why protecting God's marine creation matters to you and your community, and that the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument needs strong conservation protections. Call the Capitol switchboard at: (202) 224-3121 or check out this website to find your representative's websites!

Here's a script you can use when making these calls/emails: 
Hello I'm ______ (name) with ________ (faith community affiliation) in ___ (city). I would like to leave a message. On World Environment Day, President Trump rolled back vital protections for the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument. Faith communities worked hard to win this historic and vital biodiverse, climate resilience sanctuary for God's marine creation. I am appalled. I respectfully request you do what you can to uphold and strengthen national monument conservation protections, including this important marine monument. If you would like to follow up with me for next action steps on this issue, my contact information is __________. Thank you.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:       Shantha Ready Alonso, Creation Justice Ministries 202-618-2501 (mobile)  shantha@creationjustice.org

Washington, DC --- Today, the US Senate passed the Great American Outdoors Act (S. 3422) with a strong bipartisan 73-25 vote. This bill, for the first time, will permanently and fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) with $900 million annually. The bill also will create a five-year fund to reduce the current $20 billion deferred maintenance backlog on federally managed public lands. Now, the US House of Representatives must pass the companion bill, so a final version can be signed into law.

Creation Justice Ministries Executive Director Shantha Ready Alonso commented on the passage of the bill, “Religious communities strongly support increasing peoples' access to parks. Faith communities know first-hand that in this time of a pandemic and profound reckonings with our country’s racism, we are all in desperate need of the physical and mental healing power of God's creation. The Land and Water Conservation Fund is particularly suited to provide much-needed access to safe, well-maintained parks in communities of color, and it is long past time to rectify disparities in access to outdoor recreation opportunities. I look forward to a near future when park planners can leverage these new resources to prioritize recreation spaces in under-served communities.” 

Religious communities know much is at stake for their local communities to benefit from public lands funding. In years leading up to the bill’s passage, religious communities have shown support, most recently with a letter from 50 Arizona clergy to Senators Kyrsten Synema and Martha McSally which stated, “Beloved places such as South Mountain Park, Cortez Park, Sahuaro Ranch Park, White Tank Mountain Regional Park, and Veterans Memorial Park have benefited from LWCF, and this must continue.” Organizer of this letter Rev. Katie Sexton of Arizona Faith Network said of the Senate Bill's passage, "As people of many faiths, we are grateful that our Senators recognize the sacredness of creation and have worked to protect it. In these anxious times, God's creation helps to heal our wounds. Today's vote brings us one step closer to ensuring God's creation continues to endure as a place of Sabbath, refuge, and joy for generations to come.”

Religious communities are responding pastorally and practically to economic distress from the pandemic, and also welcome the job opportunities that will come from this legislation. The bill will put tens of thousands of people back to work and deliver real, enduring benefits to our public lands and the US economy. Research on the impact of the LWCF shows that $1 spent generates $4 in economic value from natural resource goods and services alone. A just-released economic analysis shows that every $1 million invested in LWCF could support between 16.8 and 30.8 jobs. Alternative uses of the funds would create fewer jobs - for instance, the oil and gas industry would support half as many jobs per $1 million investment.

Ocean protection efforts are supported by 95% of Americans. The Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument was historic as the first national monument in the Atlantic Ocean, and the first marine monument designated for scientists to learn how to support climate resilience. Many scientists now agree that to prevent widespread misery and catastrophic biodiversity loss, we must provide strong conservation protections for the natural world, starting with at least 30 percent of marine and terrestrial natural world by 2030. Today’s decision was a setback on that goal. 

Creation Justice Ministries Executive Director Shantha Ready Alonso said of today’s decision, “It is deeply frustrating to see our community’s historic conservation victory that was the fruit of years of organizing efforts un-done in an announcement in which President Trump seems to barely understand the implications of his action. Unless we change course quickly and dramatically, our children will look back at our short-sighted squandering of God’s creation and ask us: ‘How dare you let this happen?’”

​
Creation Justice Ministries represents the creation care and environmental justice policies of 38 Christian communions, including Baptist conventions, mainline Protestants, Historically Black Churches, Peace Churches, and Orthodox communions. ​

Fire and smoke.
And desperation.
Hope and fear
and expectation.
 
A mighty wind from heaven.
Like the deepest sighs of God.
 
A different language spoken.
An older world-view broken.
 
Crowds.
Bewilderment.
Amazement.
Astounded and perplexed.
 
Mocking.
Confusion
The meaning unclear.
What will happen next?
 
But then—they stood up.
They stood up and addressed the crowds.
 
Listen to the message!
 
Women.
Men.
Daughters and sons.
 
Visions.
Dreams.
And prophesy.
 
Listen to the message!
 
Blood and fire and billows of smoke.
What, then, shall we do? they cry.
What, then, shall we do? 
 
The speaker calls out in reply,
“Repent!  Turn around!
O Change your wicked ways!
Judgment and fire are speaking truth.
Turn around now and be saved.
 
Listen to the message!
 
My body will dwell in hope.
Because my soul is not abandoned.
I will sit at the right hand of the Lord,
with the enemies of life underfoot.


Listen to the message!


Come, Holy Spirit, Come!
And set all people free!

Here we are on the threshold of Faith Climate Action Week and the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day, and the world has been turned upside down by the novel coronavirus.

Some argue that this is not the time to ask people to think about climate justice, but as a Christian, I believe that this apocalyptic (revelatory!) moment is a Kairos moment, a time for us to help people connect the dots on many levels.

First, there are clear links between the pandemic and climate crises.

• The threat of increasing, and increasingly devastating, pandemics has been predicted for years, as habitat loss and climate change bring humans into contact with wild animals driven from their homes and tropical diseases as they move north.
  
• Deaths from COVID-19 are greater in places people are regularly exposed to more air pollution. Six million people globally die from air pollution alone annually, yet that pandemic has remained almost invisible and unreported.
  
• Both crises impact the most vulnerable first and worst – racial and religious minorities, refugees, the impoverished and our other-than-human kin.
  
• Decades of attacks on scientific data have driven climate denial and created a suspicion of science that led many to deny the seriousness of the pandemic until their situations turned desperate.
• Then there’s the problematic human tendency not to understand the fact of exponential growth of both pandemic disease and climate change, and the need to act before things get bad, lest we pay the price in lives and livelihoods.

The difference between a pandemic outbreak and climate change is the speed with which they are unfolding. The climate catastrophe has already had devastating effects on vulnerable human populations and our other-than-human neighbors, but many of us who have had the benefit of various kinds of privilege have remained unscathed. The novel coronavirus has torn away the veil of privilege and given many of us a direct experience of how billions of people in the world live every day with the stresses of food, housing, health, education, and job insecurity.

These are all matters of justice and of faith. As we emerge from the pandemic, faith communities have a special responsibility to remember its lessons and to apply them to the slower, but inexorably unfolding, climate crisis.

Here’s the good news. Climate activists have been calling for years for a World War II-scale response to climate change in order to prevent catastrophe, but that response has been dismissed as impossible. Yet when faced with a pandemic, the U.S. alone came up with over two trillion dollars almost overnight. If that is possible, then it is also possible to address climate change, even to make a clean energy transition central to restructuring an economy that includes everyone without destroying God’s creation. Some version of a Green New Deal, one that includes racial, gender, economic and creation justice is possible.The #JustRecovery movement can succeed.

For a people who proclaim the Easter reality of resurrection and the profound love of God for the world, those are possibilities we need to proclaim prophetically and join the Spirit to bring to birth. The 50th Anniversary of Earth Day is a good time to begin.

FAITH CLIMATE ACTION WEEK AND EARTH DAY OPPORTUNITIES

Visit Creation Justice Ministries’ April Action Center.
Tips and tools to make a difference for God's creation this Earth Month include:
● 2020 Earth Sunday toolkit: "The Fierce Urgency of Now"
● April 2020 "Care for Creation" bulletin insert
● Link to Virtual Earth Day worship at The National Cathedral, Sunday, April 19, at 2:00pm ET
● Ecumenical Advocacy Days virtual advocacy opportunity for legislation in Congress April 27 at 1:00pm ET
● Action Alert: Support the 30x30 Resolution to Save Nature

Interfaith Power and Light’s Faith Climate Action Week 2020: “Love Made Visible”
● Get a free kit from Interfaith Power and Light that includes a ritual for planting a tree on the grounds of your congregation as part of its “For the Love of Trees” campaign, and other resources. Download it here.
● Join IPL's Love Made Visible Climate March online! Out of our love and care for our neighbors, and to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus, IPL invites you to share your climate march sign on social media during Faith Climate Action Week April 17-26 to continue bringing awareness to the climate crisis.
● The feature film for this year’s Faith Climate Action Week – The Human Element – is being offered for free online by Earth Vision Institute during Faith Climate Action Week to all Interfaith Power & Light congregations, organizations and individuals.Sign up here to receive the link to view on April 17, good through April 26.

Earth Day, Wednesday, April 22
● Earth Day Sound the Call - An invitation from the Jewish community to interfaith partners for an online blowing of the shofar, shofar app, or other instrument on Earth Day. Find out more at https://bit.ly/2WQpN2R.
● Join the global Earth Day prayer at noon here .
● Attend the webinar for faith communities, The Earth Is the Lord’s at 1:00 with the Rev. Dr.Benjamin Chavis Jr., who coined the term “environmental racism.” The webinar will focus on the role of faith communities in resisting those powers that seek to rule and desecrate what is not theirs ucc.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_9UN745tnROynNLCuDpasbQ
● April 22-24, Earth Day Live. Young people and adults will come together for a three-day livestream event focused on climate action: Earth Day Live. With training sessions, performances, and appearances from scientists, celebrities, politicians, and youth activists, this 72-hour livestream and online mobilization will engage people across the country and around the world in collective action to protect their communities and the climate. RSVP for Earth DayLive .
● Find more digital Earth Day actions and events at https://www.earthday.org/earth-day-2020/ ,@earthdaynetwork, where every hour there will be a new way for you to demand action and drive change. Then sign up to continue taking action at EARTHRISE earthday.org/earthrise/

This blog post was submitted by Pam Harris, one of our long-standing monthly giving partners. Pam is the founder and owner of Run River Enterprises. She is a strong supporter of faith-based outdoor ministries.

Firstly, Creation Justice Ministries does its work as a common act of faith.  While for some, environmental action is primarily a practical or ethical matter, for the Creation Justice community, saving the earth is clearly an act of faith.​Being a part of work that brings together expressions of faith is especially important; we cannot remain separated in our efforts if we truly want to make a difference.

Secondly, Creation Justice Ministries understands that the work of justice is integrated. It's not a choice between saving the planet or saving people, it is one inseparable act of justice.

Finally, the resources Creation Justice Ministries produces are both practical and inspiring. They help make it more possible for me to integrate my environmental action with my daily life and faith. The materials that are developed and shared are always of the highest quality.

I support Creation Justice Ministries because they do a great job at keeping the work of creation justice before the Church and people of faith as an essential act of the faith.

The primary reason I am a monthly donor is that it enables me to give more to Creation Justice Ministries than I would be able to give all at once.  Simply put, giving monthly helps me be more generous.

I also understand how helpful it is to an organization to receive support throughout the year.  Even in modest amounts, having a steady level of gifts makes it possible for the staff to focus on the mission the Creation Justice community seeks to accomplish.
​
Fifty years ago, I was in Junior High school when the very first Earth Day was observed. I was so excited to be part of that effort. I arranged to get a refrigerator box and sat with it in the parking lot behind my school to collect recyclables. No one came to put anything in my box, but it was the beginning of a commitment for me that has lasted my whole life. I am so grateful that Creation Justice Ministries is a part of that journey now, helping me to make a difference through my gifts.

In Hope,
​Pam Harris, Creation Justice Partner