Faith-Based Climate Action 8/19/23

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Good news is a powerful motivator  for action, &  there‘s lots of good news  about climate mitigation, adaptation/resilience, and justice. .

Indigenous knowledge holders share thousands of observations on the changing Arctic in a new study

U.S. to restore more bison herds on tribal lands by tapping Indigenous knowledge 

Including Native knowledge in climate science 

WHO to host first global workshop on biodiversity, traditional knowledge, health and well-being

Maxeon is going to open a 3 GW solar factory in New Mexico 

First Solar, the US’s largest solar panel maker, to spend $1.1B on its 5th factory

Mission Possible: Northeast Ohio business designs solution to wind industry’s turbine blade problem 

Advanced transmission technologies help U.S. utilities update the power grid

Could Reuse Be the Future of Wine Packaging?

Microsoft Agrees To 14 Ton SAF Purchase With IAG

How This Luxury Hotel Brand Is Making On-Site Events More Sustainable

UK homes install ‘record number’ of solar panels and heat pumps 

In effort to cut costs, remote Alaskan village turns to renewable energy

35-MW Menengai geothermal power plant, Kenya starts grid supply

France’s FloWatt sets the course for tidal energy growth

There is no more important climate work than the influencing of legislation and policy, whether at the national, state, or local level. Climate Action Opportunities, refreshed weekly on Saturdays, provides three or four curated, quick opportunities to do just that.

To help assess the engagement of UUFC members and friends in faith-based climate action and to encourage such action, please anonymously  <Share> the number of the actions below you take this week. Optionally, you may  anonymously also share other recent climate action. 

The organizations whose calls to action we amplify, and the number from each organization, are listed <here>

Sat 19 Aug

Citizens’ Climate Lobby

Carbon price and dividend. Pricing carbon will drive energy innovation, giving every American community access to abundant, affordable clean energy at a predictable price. Email your members of Congress 

Citizens’ Climate Lobby

Protect and strengthen our forests, food and agricultural systems. The bipartisan Increased TSP Access Act (S.1400/H.R.3036) has been introduced in the Senate and the House with bipartisan support. The act will (a) help farmers, ranchers and forest-owners access critical conservation programs, (b) empower producers to put climate-smart programs into practice on their own land. Email your members of Congress

EarthJustice

Keep pollution out of Hawai‘i’s coral reefs. We have long fought alongside the communities of Maui. Right now, we have an opportunity to support Maui residents in their decades-long effort to uphold the Clean Water Act. Since the 1980s, Maui County’s Lahaina Wastewater Reclamation Facility has discharged millions of gallons of treated sewage into groundwater every day that reaches the coral reef off Kahekili Beach, an area traditionally called Hāʻenanui. In 2012, Earthjustice and our partners sued the county under the Clean Water Act to hold Maui County accountable for its pollution. Now we can finally do something about it. Message the Hawai’i State Dept. Of Health

Of Note This Week is a source for current climate-change information at the local, state, and national levels.  It is refreshed weekly on Saturday.

Politico

Article: Montana judge sides with youth in historic climate trial

The Conversation

Article: Indigenous knowledge is increasingly valued, but to fully respect it we need to decolonise science – here’s how

Yahoo!Finance

Article: Combining Genomic Insights and Traditional Indigenous Knowledge for the Conservation of Pacific Salmon

Save the Date is your calendar of upcoming climate-related events and activities.

Thu 7 Sep, 4:00 – 5:30 PM, online

Inflation Reduction Act Resources to Help You Electrify Your Home

Interfaith Power and Light Webinar. Jamal Lewis, Director of Policy Partnerships and Equitable Electrification for Rewiring America, joins us for a conversation on electrification, what it looks like, and what federal resources are available to help you do it. Learn more about the incentives that will be available to help make your home healthier and more efficient.  Register 

Good News

Climate-action Opportunities

Of Note

Save the Date

Between Us (August 2023)

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Church attendance in the US has been in decline for decades.  A recent article by Isabel Fattal notes that this “great dechurching” seems to be driven to a small extent by a long history of corruption and abuse within religious organizations, but even more by current American culture and priorities.  According to Jake Meador, editor-in-chief of the quarterly magazine “Mere Orthodoxy,” “contemporary America simply isn’t set up to promote mutuality, care or common life.”

Here at the Fellowship, in May we approved a new Covenant of Right Relations which aims at precisely those values – the nurturing of mutuality, care and common life – including specific needed skills and practices, such as engaging respectfully, listening deeply and clarifying misunderstandings. Now we need to make that covenant real and alive, between us, by practicing these skills with each other as often as we can.

Beginning in September, our theme for the year will be “Building a New Way.”  So much within the Fellowship which was lost during the pandemic still needs to be rebuilt, and we can’t re-build structures that are now outdated. We have to pay close attention to  the negative effects of current American culture and priorities, plus the long-standing obstacles of patriarchy, racism, sexism and so much more, and do better. Here, between us in this congregation, we aim for better ways of being together, so that all may feel safe and respected as we each pursue the journey of a religious life.

Have you had a chance to meet someone new here this summer? Have you practiced listening deeply to someone else’s story, or clarifying a misunderstanding? August is a great time to do so, as is every other month! I don’t remember who said, “Be the change you wish to see,” but it’s still worth trying. May we reach out to each other with compassion and love.

Daily Practice: A Weekly Reminder

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Daily spiritual practice is a way to stay alert to how things truly are, to find sources of wisdom and strength, to let go of what does not serve us, and more.  Here is a new iteration of my daily practice writings – a once-a-week reminder to maintain your own practice. I’ll begin with a new version of a piece I wrote a few summers ago – it still has much to consider:

“We were talking about loss as we walked this morning. About changes in how we work and what is needed now and what to do with feelings of inadequacy. Perhaps these are just small feelings compared to losses of life and housing and jobs, losses of connections to others and daily support from friends and family, losses of habitat and species and wilderness in the world. Nevertheless, they are feelings which shape how we move into the day, and how we face all the other losses and changes.

I have great hope for the future because of how much is changing right now.  And I know for certain that these changes include many, many losses.  This too is part of my daily practice;  to name some of the losses of life and beauty and things I thought I could depend on.  To acknowledge the sorrow and fear, and the challenge of finding new ways to live.  As I breathe in and out,  I let these feelings be present. Sadness and joy move in me and around me, while the breath is steady. Life is moving and changing and also breathing through me in every moment – therefore I am moving and changing. I give thanks for another day given.”  

Sending love to you all – Jill

Rummage Sale

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Our Pop-up Parking Lot Rummage Sale is Saturday, September 16, 2023 from 10:00 – 1:00. Look now through your garage, closets, and shelves to find things to sell. We are not having a recycled gifts room at the Holiday Fair, so this is your best opportunity to donate items you no longer need to benefit the Fellowship. Sellers price their own items, monitor their tables, send buyers to the UUFC checkout, and take home anything not sold at the end. Easy-peasy and a fun social event too! Seller/Vendor Registration Link

Volunteers are needed for this event: people to bring tables and chairs from the building and set them up beforehand and take them down at the end, and at least 2 cashiers. Volunteer Registration Link

Contact Bonnie Morihara, moriharb@ wou.edu
or Judy Westlake, judywestlake@ comcast.net.

Faith Based Climate Action 8/12/23

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hand holding a sign reading Climate Action Now at a protest

Good news is a powerful motivator  for action, &  there‘s lots of good news  about climate mitigation, adaptation/resilience, and justice.

Biden’s green energy law is turning out to be huge 

133 self-storage rooftops in 3 US states are about to power community solar

Year after Biden’s climate bill sees spike in renewable energy investment, industry says

Upper Mattaponi Indian Tribe acquires 855 acres of ancestral lands

Clean energy can fuel the future — and make the world healthier

Solar, wind provided majority of new US generating capacity in first half of 2023

Offshore floating solar on calm seas could provide unlimited energy

Heatwave energy shortages would have been ‘much worse’ without solar power, experts say

Supercapacitor cement could supercharge renewable energy storage

The potential for geologic hydrogen for next-generation energy

Rivian backs massive solar plant atop old coal mine in Kentucky

How a Former Oil Guy Is Using Fracking Tech to Boost Geothermal Energy

Geothermal technology breakthrough in Nevada could boost the nation’s use of renewable energy

Hello Climate Solutions Advocates!

Remember HB 2021, Oregon’s 100% Clean Energy bill, which with your help was passed by the Oregon legislature in 2021?   Among other things, HB 2021 ​created a $50 million fund, the Community Renewable Energy Grant Program, to support projects in Oregon communities that would bolster renewable energy and strengthen resilience in the event of an emergency. 

Recently, the Oregon Department of Energy selected 39 recipients to receive a total of $12 million in round two from the Community Renewable Energy Grant Program funds.   A variety of renewable energy and resilience projects in counties across state were represented – solar, geothermal, biogas, and micro-hydro projects, as well as paired battery storage. 

One example of a funded project was to the Phoenix Talent School District, which will receive $1 million to install a ground-mounted solar installation with battery storage at Talent Middle School.  The installation will act as an operable microgrid in the event of a natural disaster or other emergency, ensuring the building – which will act as a local emergency shelter – retains critical backup power.  

At least half of the $50 million grant funds will be awarded for projects that serve environmental justice communities, including communities of color, lower-income communities, and rural communities.

Together our advocacy actions do make a difference — making life better for us all!

Deborah Clark, member UUFC Climate Action

There is no more important climate work than the influencing of legislation and policy, whether at the national, state, or local level. Climate Action Opportunities, refreshed weekly on Saturdays, provides three or four curated, quick opportunities to do just that.

To help assess the engagement of UUFC members and friends in faith-based climate action and to encourage such action, please anonymously  <Share> the number of the actions below you take this week. Optionally, you may  anonymously also share other recent climate action. 

The organizations whose calls to action we amplify, and the number from each organization, are listed <here>

Sat 12 Aug

EarthJustice

Restore the Endangered Species Act. The Biden administration just moved closer to undoing the Trump administration’s unprecedented damage to the regulations that interpret the Endangered Species Act. For 50 years, the Act’s served as the last line of defense for countless species and habitats. Today, it is our strongest tool for tackling the worsening biodiversity crisis, which is why the Biden administration must fix the rules that implement it.

Take Action

Native Organizers Alliance

Protect the Grand Canyon. The Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni Grand Canyon National Monument Act has been introduced in the U.S. House and Senate to protect the Grand Canyon region’s sacred and natural resources, manage hunting and grazing, and establish a 12-member tribal commission to ensure tribal co-stewardship. Despite a 20-year uranium mining moratorium, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected claims by Tribes and environmental groups attempting to stop Energy Fuels Nuclear Inc. from mining the Pinyon Plain Mine on this land. It’s critical we fight for the permanent protections granted by designating more than 1.1 million acres within the Grand Canyon as a new national monument. Send a message to your U.S. Senators & Representative 

Sierra Club

Stop Yazoo Pumps Project. Yet again, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has announced an unprecedented move to resurrect the destructive Yazoo Backwater Pumps in Mississippi’s South Delta by fast tracking efforts to approve the project. If allowed, the Yazoo Pumps project would drain and destroy up to 200,000 acres of wetlands, some of our nation’s richest habitat that supports over 450 species of birds, fish and wildlife. Even worse, the project would not protect communities and only benefit a small number of wealthy agricultural corporations. Communities plagued by flooding in the Mississippi Delta deserve smart safeguards that keep people and property out of harm’s way, such as elevating homes and roads, and compensating farmers to restore cropland to wetlands!  Submit your comment

American Prospect

Article: The Unholy Alliance Between ‘Certified’ Clean Natural Gas Producers and the Certifying Companies

Citizens Climate Lobby

Webpage: Why Put a Price on Carbon? Because it’s the single most powerful tool available to reduce America’s carbon pollution.

 Native News Online

Article: The Fight for Oak Flat: Indigenous voices in the green energy transition

Washington PostArticle: Is it cheaper to refuel your EV battery or gas tank? We did the math in all 50 states. Spoiler: In all 50 states, it’s cheaper for the everyday American to fill up with electrons — and much cheaper in some regions such as the Pacific Northwest, with low electricity rates and high gas prices.

Sun 13 Aug, 5:30 – 6:30 PM, Common Fields, 545 SW 3rd St

Finding Fish in the Willamette River: Do you wonder what is swimming below the surface as you fish or float the Willamette River? Learn about the native, invasive, rare, and cryptic species in the fish community, and what they tell us about the ecological health of a Corvallis water source. Presented by Dr. Brooke Penaluna, a Research Fisheries Biologist with the Forest Service. All day (11 am – 8 pm), enjoy tasty food and drink, and Common Fields will donate 10% of dine-in & takeout sales to support Willamette Riverkeeper.

Contact/Info: linktr.ee/500WomenScientists_Corvallis

Sponsor: 500 Women Scientists Corvallis

Thu 25 Aug 7:00 – 8:00 PM 

Share and Discuss:  Postponed

Thu 7 Sep, 4:00 – 5:30 PM, online

Inflation Reduction Act Resources to Help You Electrify Your Home Interfaith Power and Light Webinar. Jamal Lewis, Director of Policy Partnerships and Equitable Electrification for Rewiring America, joins us for a conversation on electrification, what it looks like, and what federal resources are available to help you do it. Learn more about the incentives that will be available to help make your home healthier and more efficient.  Register

Behind the Music: To everything there is a season

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A heartfelt farewell took place today as the Fellowship gathered to say bid adieu to some of our beloved trees which have graced the grounds for generations. The three solo piano works played were selected for their messages of gratitude, closure, and acceptance.

Today’s prelude was Ombra Mai Fu, a well-loved classic from Handel’s opera Serse. Serse, the king of Persia, sings this aria at the opera’s beginning to express his thanks and admiration for a plane tree and the shade it provides. Our feelings for the UUFC trees are mirrored in this aria’s lyrics:

Tender and beautiful fronds
of my beloved plane tree,
let Fate smile upon you.
May thunder, lightning, and storms
never disturb your dear peace,
nor may you by blowing winds be profaned.

Never was a shade
of any plant
dearer and more lovely,
or more sweet.

The anthem “Time to Say Goodbye” seemed appropriate for an offertory following the honoring of the trees. This powerful anthem, made famous by Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman, encourages us to embrace life’s inevitable changes with courage and grace. With tomorrow’s cutting of the trees, this work is also a gentle reminder that while farewells can be bittersweet, they also pave the way for new beginnings.

As the service drew to a close, we adjourned to the timeless tune of “Turn, Turn, Turn” by The Byrds. This adaptation of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 beautifully illustrates life’s ever-changing rhythms, urging us to find peace and acceptance in the ebb and flow of existence. The song’s poetic verses remind us that there is “a time to plant, a time to reap, a time to gain, a time to lose.” We have celebrated and said goodbye to the trees…let us now celebrate the new birth of plants, flowers, and trees that will begin their time with us.

~ Lauren Servias

Group Camping at Cascadia

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group camping at cascadia

Come and join in fun and fellowship while camping at Cascadia State Park. A group site has been reserved with a limit of 25 campers. Plans include group meals on Friday and Saturday evening, time for hiking, exploring, building community, and much more. Only tent camping is available at the site. Bring your own tent, personal gear, and food. Carpools are encouraged. Cascadia State Park is about 50 miles from Corvallis.
September 14th – 17th, (Thursday – Sunday)
Come out for all or part of the event. More information will be available with registration confirmation. 
Completion of registration form and payment of $15 per person (max $45 for family) is required. Space is limited.

Questions: contact Julie Halter or Nancy Gill
Payment by check to UUFC with “Cascadia Camping” in the memo line.
Click here to register: Registration Link

camping poster

Tuna Roast

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tuna roast

Join us on Labor Day – Monday, September 4th for the return of the Tuna Roast. This is a family friendly picnic gathering at the Lions Shelter in the SE corner of Avery Park. Come for games and visiting at 4:00 pm, food at 5:00 pm.

Grilled Fresh Tuna, potatoes and corn on the cob will be provided. Please bring a side dish or dessert to share. You are also encouraged to bring your own picnic plates, silverware and cups to reduce waste, along with lawn chairs. There will be games and activities for all ages! 

There will be no Sunday service on August 3 – the Tuna Roast therefore serves as a kind of in-gathering. Reverend Jill will lead us in song and words of intention around 5:00 pm.

Volunteers are needed in a variety of roles: help marinate and grill tuna, clean and cook corn on the cob, help with set up, pick-up truck(s) needed to haul tables and extra grill, assist with activities, help with tear down and clean up. 20-30 people will be needed to help make this event the best one ever! Set up begins at 3:00 pm.

Sign up to Volunteer

Email greet@uucorvallis.org with any questions.

This event is for UUFC members, friends and their loved ones. We welcome a small donation of $5 per person, although no one will be turned away.