OMNI CLIMATE MEMO MONDAYS, #127,
MAY 15, 2023
Pope
Francis. Laudato Si’, Praise Be To You
FCNL. Solving Complex Converging Problems.
Art
Hobson. The Car Culture Is One of Those
Problems.
17,000
Aukland Youth Strike. “High Tide. Don’t
Hide.”
RESISTANCE TO CLIMATE CHANGE
The Letter: A Message for our Earth
The Letter: A Message for our Earth is a 2022 documentary film presented by
YouTube Originals, telling the story of the Laudato Si' encyclical by Pope Francis. The film was produced by Oscar-winning Off
the Fence Productions and directed by Nicolas Brown, in partnership with the
Laudato Si' Movement. Wikipedia. Initial release: October 4, 2022
Laudato Si’ = Praise
Be to You
Laudato si' is the second encyclical of Pope
Francis. The encyclical has the subtitle "on care for our common home". In it, the pope critiques consumerism and
irresponsible development, laments environmental degradation and global
warming, and calls all people of the world to take "swift and unified
global action." Wikipedia
Facing Reality: Complex Converging Problems Shouldn’t Be
Siloed
“To Solve Our Most Urgent Challenges, We Must Address the
Intersection of Conflict, Climate Change, and Migration.” By Marcia Orellana, Jus Tavcar, and Nuria
Raul. FCNL, April 6, 2023.
Climate change, conflict, and migration are three of the most urgent and critical challenges
facing the world today. Rising temperatures and frequent climate disasters have
led to unprecedented internal and international migration flows. Estimates
suggest that more than 30 million migrants will travel across the U.S. border in
the next 30 years due to climate displacement.
Climate-driven resource scarcity and increased
displacement have exacerbated violence and regional
tensions globally. The Institute of Economics and
Peace’s 2022 Global Peace Index Report found that global
peacefulness has deteriorated for eleven consecutive years, driven mainly
by ongoing conflicts around the
world. Communities living in conflict
zones are often unequipped to adapt to climate
shocks. This, in turn, forces yet more people
to flee their homes.
These challenges
impact and often worsen each other in obvious ways. The need for governments to
address the nexus of climate, migration,
and conflict is clear. Yet too often, these three issues are siloed from
one another. Policies intended to mitigate climate change do not acknowledge
the issue of climate-displaced persons or are not conflict-sensitive. To be effective, policymakers must instead
lead with anintersectional
approach. To read all go to: https://www.fcnl.org/updates/2023-04/solve-our-most-urgent-challenges-we-must-address-intersection-conflict-climate
END THE DESTRUCTIVE REIGN OF COMBUSTION
ENGINE AND CARS
Art
Hobson. Automobile culture destroys cities: Support the transit tax. NWADG, 9 May 2023. ahobson@uark.edu
Among many good books about city
planning, How Cities Work by
journalist and urban designer Alex Marshall is tops. He writes in his introduction that "the
structure of a human settlement rests on a three-legged stool of politics,
economics, and transportation."
Like virtually every other stateside analysis of cities, the book slams
America's automobile culture. Noting
that "How we get around determines how we live," Marshall chronicles
how cars and highways have hollowed out our great cities while facilitating the
disconnected cultural wastelands Americans are pleased to call "the
suburbs."
Although
Northwest Arkansas sold out long ago to car-centric growth, there have been
recent signs of intelligent life in these parts. https://www.nwarpc.org/transit/connect-northwest-arkansas/.
Art carries forward a tradition of intelligent life that’s been around
awhile. Here’s a 13-year-old book that
seems even more relevant today than it was in 2015: Street
Smart by Samuel Schwartz. The combustion engine and the development of
suburbs after WWII were giant policy mistakes and a crime of corporate and
government collusion. The US should have
built densely packed cities served by mass transit and walking, biking, and
rollerblades! [And we should start a
global crash program to build those cities now.] Negatively reviewed by The Wall Street Journal (9-22-15).
--Dick
PACIFIC
ISLANDERS VS. CLIMATE CHANGE AND DROWNING ISLANDS
17,000 young
people in Auckland, responding to the rising ocean and inspired by Greta
Thunberg, organized a large school strike: “We Demand Climate Justice”, Zero
Carbon, End of Pacific Genocide. PBS, Pacific
Heartbeat, “High Tide, Don’t Hide,” 5-8-23.