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​February 27, 2020

Creation Justice Ministries applauds the historic Environmental Justice for All Act put forward today by US House of Representatives Natural Resources Committee Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Rep. A. Donald McEachin (D-Va.). 

We know that we are entrusted by God with care for creation and love of neighbor.  The transformative change envisioned by this bill is a crucial step forward as a nation to better embody and live out both principles.  We especially affirm the following aspects of the Environmental Justice for All Act:

• The bill creates a Federal Energy Transition Economic Development Assistance Fund – paid for through new fees on oil, gas and coal companies – to support communities and workers as they transition away from greenhouse gas-dependent economies.
• The bill requires federal agencies to consider cumulative health impacts under the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act in making permitting decisions and ensures that permits will not be issued if projects cannot demonstrate a reasonable certainty of no harm to human health.
  
  
• The bill strengthens the Civil Rights Act to permit private citizens and organizations facing discrimination to seek legal remedies.
• ​The bill provides $75 million in annual grants for research and program development to reduce health disparities and improve public health in environmental justice communities.

Because environmental justice requires attention to process as well as outcomes, we also affirm the one-year stakeholder process leading up to the release of the bill, which reflects the intersectional grassroots collaboration that is core to our mission.

Creation Justice Ministries affirms the dignity of all God’s children, and therefore we lift up our moral imperative to seek environmental justice for people of every race, economic status, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation or religious affiliation.  

Creation Justice Ministries represents the creation care policies of 38 Christian traditions, including Baptist, mainline Protestant, Historically Black, Peace, and Orthodox communions. Learn more at www.creationjustice.org

Contact: Shantha Ready Alonso, Executive Director 202-618-2501 (mobile)

Good evening, members of the Council on Environmental Quality. 

My name is Bishop Carroll Baltimore. I am Vice President of Creation Justice Ministries representing the policies of more than two dozen Christian denominations that join together to protect, restore, and rightly share God's creation. Through our membership, we serve approximately 100,000 churches and 35 million people.

We have grave moral concerns regarding potential changes to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

Proposed revisions to NEPA are inconsistent with NEPA’s central purposes. Among those purposes are three that people of faith hold with special regard:

1. Government should be a trustee of the earth and its natural resources for the benefit of future generations
   
2. We must consider impacts on low-income, minority, and rural communities
   
3. Projects should encourage meaningful participation in government decisions by communities affected
   

These purposes of NEPA mirror Christian community values embodied in Jesus’ Great Commandment: to love the Lord God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and to love your neighbor as yourself.

By loving our Creator God, we show respect for what God has made. We are entrusted with the care of creation for our short lifetimes, and to ensure the gifts of God’s creation can sustain life for our children and generations to come. NEPA helps our society evaluate how development will impact God’s creation.

The NEPA process gives us, on a societal level, an opportunity to “love your neighbor as yourself.” It requires project planners to listen to those who could be most impacted by a proposed project, including the most vulnerable. If a project will hurt neighbors by making it hard for them to breathe, drink safe water, grow food, catch fish, or freely practice their religious faith, it is our shared moral responsibility to show love for our neighbors by preventing harm from a project.

As Christian communities, we often find ourselves on the front lines of response to emergencies. We rally resources with compassion to respond to devastating circumstances. Some of the most devastating emergencies in our recent ministry are related to short-circuiting or undermining of the NEPA process.

April 20, 2020 will mark 10 years since the devastating Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster. BP and other oil companies developing offshore drilling sites in the Gulf of Mexico were exempt from standard NEPA planning processes. In its wake, we ministered to fisherman families not only seeking new ways to support themselves, but also devastated by the loss of identity after generations of family business out in the midst of God’s magnificent marine creation in the Gulf. Now, in addition to the Trump Administration’s proposals to expand offshore drilling, this proposal to weaken NEPA means offshore drilling can proceed with little to no review. It would limit the information the government has to evaluate the impact on endangered marine mammals, coral reefs, and coastal ecosystem protection and restoration. Ten years later, have we learned nothing from the suffering from Deepwater Horizon?

We have also witnessed the devastation of Native American burial grounds and sacred sites as a result of an ignored or undermined NEPA process. As Christians, we stand with people of all spiritual traditions to defend their religious freedom. Right now, the wall construction area on the US-Mexico border is a virtually lawless zone where NEPA requirements are waived. As a result, the Tohono O’Odham Tribe burial grounds are being bulldozed this month. Chairman of the Tohono O’Odham Ned Norris said, “There is no difference between what they have done here and imagine someone coming with a bulldozer through Arlington National Cemetery.” Additional sites sacred to the tribe are under immediate threat as construction continues. Some religious leader delegations have gone to the border to witness this tragedy, and call on Congress to intervene. This feels like a repetition of just a few years ago, when the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe watched with horror as their sacred burial grounds were bulldozed to make way for the Dakota Access Pipeline. Faith communities organized to send camp supplies such as firewood, and provide peaceful public support. Just when we thought the NEPA worked to prevent any further damage from proceeding to the river they depend on for bodily and spiritual sustenance, the Trump Administration overrode the result. We were deeply troubled by the expedited review process to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and its opening for leasing. The coastal plain of the Refuge, which is the site of the Gwich’in creation story, and is what they call “the sacred place where life begins.”

If we are to follow Jesus’ Great Commandment, we need structures in place to respect what God has made and to show our neighbors love. Any proposed NEPA changes should enhance our ability as a society to live in the spirit of Jesus’ Great Commandment, not undermine, expedite, or exempt anyone from it.

Creation Justice Ministries will soon release our 2020 Earth Day Sunday materials, with a theme inspired by Dr. King's words: The Fierce Urgency of Now. These words are becoming a rallying cry for those of us who engage in the struggle to protect, restore, and rightly share God's creation. ​

While the context into which Dr. King spoke these words was different, core challenges he articulated stand the test of time and ground our work today: We must confront the evil giant triplets of racism, militarism, and extreme materialism. In Dr. King's spirit, we support rapidly moving from being a thing-oriented society to a people-oriented society, and awakening our communities to the reality that all life is inter-related in an inescapable network of mutuality, a single garment of destiny. 
Like Dr. King, we work for justice by counteracting systems of greed and racism. We are fostering deep, committed ecumenical as well as inter-religious relationships rooted in prayer-with-action. 

JOIN #CREATIONJUSTICE MONTHLY GIVING PROGRAM
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In a spirit of urgency, we know now is the time to scale up our ministry efforts. Steady financial support is a key way to do this. 
With the new-found strength of 50 additional #CreationJustice Monthly Giving partners, we can increase predictable core staff time to develop our Monthly Action Center, the monthly #CreationCare bulletin insert, and support for special times of year such as Lent, Earth Day Sunday, Endangered Species Day, and the Season of Creation. We will also have more predictable time set aside to engage with Creation Justice community members and volunteers, who are best equipped to multiply our shared impact. 
Please prayerfully consider whether you are called to expand the Creation Justice community's capacity by becoming one of the 50 new #CreationJustice Monthly Giving partners. 

In a special way today, let us lift up our 2020 Earth Day Sunday theme quote from Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King: 
“We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there 'is' such a thing as being too late. This is no time for apathy or complacency. This is a time for vigorous and positive action.”

After the holiday season you will likely have leftovers from Christmas dinner, parties, and family get-togethers. A great way to be a steward to the Earth is to consume your food.  Did you know that Americans throw away 25% of the food they buy? Not only is this a waste of money but it is also harmful to the environment. Producing food takes land, water, and heavy machinery. By eating your leftovers you are not only saving money but also preventing energy waste from food production. Not to mention you are keeping them from taking up space in a landfill. ​

Each month, the Creation Justice Ministries team will update www.creationjustice.org/action with a new set of timely events, advocacy opportunities, and education resources. Set a reminder to check this website monthly, and take the actions that are possible for you and your community.

Cut five minutes off your shower to save water. According to a study done by Harvard the average american shower uses 2.5 gallons per minute. You will save 12.5 gallons of water if you shorten by just 5 minutes. Or, consider turning the water off while you lather up and only turn it on to rinse. ​

Our ecological crisis is a spiritual crisis. We are facing systems of greed and racism that require a moral response. Give to faith-based organizations that devote time and resources to caring for God's creation. Consider becoming a monthly recurring donor, to help the organization build a strong, predictable grassroots funding base for their work. If you don't yet contribute to Creation Justice Ministries, consider joining the #CreationJustice Monthly Giving program.

World Water Day is this week! Support various campaigns and check out the water resources provided by Creation Justice Ministries. 

This year is the 50th anniversary of Earth Day! Make use of the Earth Day Sunday resource developed annually by Creation Justice Ministries. This year's theme is "The Fierce Urgency of Now" and is all about how to live faithfully in urgent times. Our 2020 resource will be available soon at www.creationjustice.org/urgency, and past years can be found through www.earthdaysunday.org. We also encourage communities to use materials from Faith Climate Action Week April 17-26, 2020.

Did you know one in five species is threatened or endangered? There are many things everyday people can do to save God's creation from extinction. Check out www.creationjustice.org/endangered to find materials to raise awareness in your faith community.

We recommend titles by members of the Creation Justice community, including:

• 50 Ways to Help Save the Earth: How You and Your Congregation Can Make a Difference by Rev. Rebecca Barnes of Presbyterian Church (USA), who is also our board president.
  
• Creation as Sacrament: Reflections on Ecology and Spirituality by Fr. John Chryssavgis of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
  
• Rooted and Rising: Voices of Courage in a Time of Climate Crisis by Rev. Dr. Margaret Bullitt-Jonas of the Episcopal Church and Rev. Dr. Leah Schade of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
  
• Climate Church, Climate World: How People of Faith Must Work for Change by Rev. Jim Antal of the United Church of Christ
  

Check out this guide to learn how to compost at your home, or go here to see if your neighborhood has a curbside compost pickup option.

With the holidays coming, new electronics are likely to be under the tree. Make room for the new by safely recycling the old. Too much on your plate? See if an event like this already exists in your community and attend! ​

Avoid flushing medicines and other dangerous chemicals in the toilet or washing them down the sink. Instead, find your local med disposal location and take them there. This will help keep water clean and drug-free for other people drink and animals and plants to live in and consume. ​

Between now and Christmas day, a generous donor will match all donations up to $1,000. Since we put out my special Christmas appeal on Monday, 20 members of the Creation Justice community responded to this need, getting us to $870 out of the $1,000 Christmas mini-campaign goal. Our team live updated this blog as we make progress to hitting the goal, with our most recent update on Christmas eve at 3:00pm ET.  Update: By 1am on Christmas morning, we exceeded our goal! We reached $1,425. THANK YOU!
Thanks for being active in the Creation Justice community, and Merry Christmas! ~Annika Harley, Policy & Outreach Associate, Creation Justice Ministries

I'm blessed to be celebrating Christmas this year with my family in Wisconsin. I have enjoyed sharing with my home community, including my Mennonite church, about my ministry in Washington, DC with Creation Justice Ministries. This work allows me to share my sense of urgency with you. 

As I look ahead to 2020, I can't help but think about the United Nations climate change report that warns a catastrophic climate change tipping point is only 10 years away. It can be stopped if we take action now!

I am a member of the generation most adversely affected by the climate crisis. We are the loudest and most strongly committed to making big changes to protect God's Earth. Through Creation Justice Ministries, I have a platform to organize fellow young people convicted by their faith to defend God's Earth. I have the privilege of standing with children, youth, and fellow young adults from many walks of life.

I encourage you to contribute to Creation Justice Ministries today to help uplift the voices of young people as we plead for a future. Next year, our Earth Day Sunday theme will be The Fierce Urgency of Now. I will be leading our Faithful Climate Action youth program, recruiting participants in the Justice for Each Generation sermon campaign, and getting college students involved in environmental leadership training. 

To make all these things happen, we have to meet our fundraising goals. We still have over $7,000 to raise before year-end. By taking advantage of the full $1,000 match by Christmas, we can get to our goal faster. 

If you prefer to donate by check, you can mail a check made out to "Creation Justice Ministries" to:
Creation Justice Ministries
110 Maryland Ave. NE #203
Washington, DC 20002

To see more information about donation options, go to: www.creationjustice.org/donate

Religious communities of the Arizona Faith Network and Creation Justice Ministries applaud Senator Sinema’s introduction of the Grand Canyon Centennial Protection Act (S. 3127). It serves as a companion bill to the Grand Canyon Centennial Protection Act (HR 1373) introduced by Arizona-3 Congressman and House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Raul Grijalva. The House version was passed by the House of Representatives on October 30, 2019 with bi-partisan support. The legislation is necessary due to threats of new uranium mining in the area.  

Arizona Faith Network Executive Director Rev. Katie Sexton said of the legislation, "One of God's greatest creations - The Grand Canyon - has been under threat from uranium mining that would pollute the air, water, and land, as well as risk the health and livelihoods of people throughout the region. Senator Sinema's bill would protect this sacred land and renew our ability to commune with God's creation as God intended. I thank her for her work and commitment to protect the Grand Canyon."

Creation Justice Ministries Executive Director Shantha Ready Alonso noted, “Senator Sinema and Chairman Grijalva have now both demonstrated they are responding to the holy call to responsibly steward God’s creation in the Grand Canyon, thereby defending all living beings who depend on it for bodily and spiritual sustenance. It is my hope and prayer that every member of Congress also understands this call to protect the profound cultural, historical, sacred, and natural heritage that is at stake, and act accordingly.”

Grand Canyon Centennial Protection Act passed by the House protects 1,006,545 acres of federal lands in Arizona from toxic mining, including any future land acquired by the Federal government.  Previous mining activities have already contaminated the watershed, poisoning drinking water for nearby Native communities. Abandoned mine site clean-up has already cost taxpayers millions of dollars.

For more information, please contact:
Rev. Katie Sexton, Arizona Faith Network (602) 468-3818 katie.sexton@azfaithnetwork.org
Shantha Ready Alonso, Creation Justice Ministries (202) 618-2501 shantha@creationjustice.org

The theme of the third week of Advent is hope. Hope for the coming Christ Child, but also the restoration of all of Creation. While hope for the future requires patience, we cannot wallow in apathy, despair, or inaction. We must live in hope and vigorously work towards a world where we live justly with all of Creation. This Advent, I invite you to invest in Creation Justice Ministries; invest in the long-term work which builds capacity for urgent action now... and onwards.

Once or twice a year, I run a trail ultra-marathon. This is typically between a 6- and 12-hour endeavor. Though I commute by bike daily, this is the single most immersed I am in nature. Whether deep in a muddy trail before dawn, a strange downpour of slush (also before dawn), winding through a meadow of wildflowers, or eating a quesadilla while running through the beautiful fall light, the immediacy and intensity of such a run is an important reminder of human finitude and God’s good work. It is also a lesson in hope. There is urgency— “just need to make it to the next aid station,” but also patience. I can’t make it go much more quickly, but there are immediate and necessary steps to take right now.

​This coming year’s Earth Day resource is themed "The Fierce Urgency of Now.” Recent studies highlight that the degradation of God’s good earth is even more urgent then previously thought. This urgency requires that we invest in the work of Creation Justice Ministries. Through such investing in the long-term work, we build capacity for urgent action now, and onwards.

In 2019, the Creation Justice community has grown in our understanding of the need for ocean-climate action. Scroll down to take a look at our year of ocean-climate action in pictures.

Few people realize God's ocean has been "taking the heat" of climate change, absorbing more than 90 percent of the excess carbon dioxide in our atmosphere annually.  As a result, God's ocean is now higher, warmer, more acidic, lower in oxygen, less "productive," less predictable, and contributing to more heat waves as well as extreme storms. Yet, God's marine creation is full of blessing and promise. Through proactively taking caring actions now, the natural capacity of God's marine creation to sustain life will make us all more resilient in the climate crisis.

The Creation Justice community has engaged in education and advocacy to protect God's marine creation.

We have been developing partnerships with the Blue Theology Mission Station in Monterrey, California, as well as aquariums and nonprofit peers who are engaged in an Ocean Protection Coalition. We are studying and teaching the results of the Heartwired to Love the Ocean study, which has identified what most motivates the public to care for God's ocean. We co-hosted faith-based ocean-climate leadership trainings in Sarasota, Florida, Newport News, Virginia, and Boston, Massachusetts.  We  interviewed pastors in the Creation Justice community about ways they understand the ocean as a source a spiritual strength. We have also engaged in advocacy visits with members of:
*the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis
* the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Science Oceans, Fisheries, and Weather
* the US House of Representatives Natural Resources Committee
* the Environmental Justice Task Force
* the Oceans Caucus, both in the US House and Senate

To cap off the year, some of our board members and other partners from the Creation Justice community are attending the United Nations 25th Conference of the Parties (COP) climate conference in Madrid, which has been nicknamed "the Blue COP," signifying this COP is focusing on the ocean.

Now, some members of Congress are starting to talk about a "Blue New Deal" that could accompany a Green New Deal.

As we look to 2020 and the way we think about how to approach the climate crisis, it is clear we have turned a corner. There is no thinking about the climate crisis without including God's marine creation as a place that needs healing and restoration, so it can be a source of resilience.

At Christmount Retreat Center near Asheville, North Carolina, 25 faith leaders from the Southeast gathered to learn, pray, and build community for the cause of climate justice.
A joint effort of Creation Justice Ministries and Interfaith Power and Light of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama, the retreat equipped faith community leaders to identify oil and gas infrastructure threats to their local communities, understand environmental justice principles, and speak effectively with the media. It was also an opportunity for prayer, meaning-making, and network building. Rev. Rob Morris, Director of Christmount Retreat Center, also rooted the gathering in a sense of place, and showed the group a concrete example of how his retreat center, which is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)  is using their property to protect and restore God's creation. Guests from The Wilderness Society also shared a new Oil and Gas Threat Map, a tool to empower the public to better understand the threats posed by oil and gas infrastructure on public lands.

The planning team for the retreat included:

• Rev. Michael Malcom and Kyle Crider, Alabama Interfaith Power and Light & United Church of Christ
  
• Rev. Susannah Tuttle, Rev. Sarah Ogletree, and Michelle Peeden of North Carolina Interfaith Power and Light
• Dean Adams of South Carolina Interfaith Power and Light
• Rev. Codi Norred of Georgia Interfaith Power and Light
• Shantha Ready Alonso of Creation Justice Ministries
• Susan Farrell and Alex Thompson of The Wilderness Society

Retreat participants included:
ALABAMA

• Rev. Clifton McMillan, pastor of Maranatha Adventist Church in Montgomery
  

FLORIDA

• Rev. Kim Pirazzini Wells, Pastor, Lakewood United Church of Christ in St. Petersburg
  
• Randi Talsma, Global Mission Fellow at Metropolitan Ministries in Miami, also a Creation Care Team Member for Florida United Methodist Conference
• Rev. Anthony Daniel, Pastor, Macedonia's African Methodist Episcopal Church in St. Augustine
  

GEORGIA

• Rev. Larry Hill, Pastor of Word of God Ministries in Atlanta
  
• Rev. Brad Biggerstaff, Assistant Pastor of Midway United Methodist Church in Alpharetta
  

NORTH CAROLINA

• Karlah Burton, Mission Coordinator for Social Action with United Methodist Women; Chairperson for the Committee on Church and Society at Saint Matthews United Methodist Church in Greensboro
  
• Rev. Scott Hardin-Neiri, Green Chalice Ministry, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Asheville
  
• Rev. Karen Richardson-Dunn, United Church or Christ, Asheville
  

SOUTH CAROLINA

• Rev. Dallas Alexis Conyers, Baptist pastor in Spartanburg
  

VIRGINIA

•  Jessie Lynn Kelly, Seventh Street Christian Church in Richmond
  
•  Dr. Michele Sorenson, Baylake United Methodist Church in Virginia Beach
•  Dr. Michael Lee Bentley, St. James Episcopal Church in Roanoake