The Eco-Justice Collaborative of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting issues this monthly bulletin in the hope that it will provide Friends with time-sensitive information and resources to help in their ongoing work for social and environmental justice. Please share as you think appropriate. If you have events or resources to share, please send them to Ruth Darlington at rdarlington49@gmail.com.
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Stephan Schwartz notes in his book, “The Eight Laws of Change: How to be an Agent of Personal and Social Transformation,” that he derived his laws from observing the work of one of the smallest groups of people, Quakers, bringing about change in the world. Each month we will print one of the laws for your consideration. You can see his talk on the subject on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJtoQ-dYY9c
Eighth Law. The individuals in the group, and the group collectively, must always act from the “beingness” of integrity.
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REQUEST FOR ACTION:
Sign the Letter in Support of PA Joining RGGI. The Eco Justice Collaborative’s Climate Action Network has launched! Our public education and advocacy efforts on the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) have grown rapidly and are beginning to reach Friends across the region. Given that PA is the 3rd largest emitter of CO2 in the nation, it is imperative for the Keystone State to rapidly and steadily reduce its greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs). RGGI provides a framework to convert this environmental pollution into clean energy, green jobs, and environmental justice. To learn more, please watch our recent webinar: https://youtu.be/I6Vy51n8wqo. At least a dozen Friends will be testifying in support of RGGI at the upcoming public hearings in early December. You can also make your voice heard on this critical issue by sending in written comments or by signing on to our Letter of Support: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf2884u6Sl6a2aqk0dkU4cLBTxc-8fEyCJpe6INMuTS7X84QQ/viewform?usp=sf_link. If you have any questions about carbon markets, RGGI, or would like a webinar for your own Meeting, please contact Liz Robison at lizrob2@gmail.com. RGGI is a crucial initiative well explained in this short film: Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NLHBxVZQ8nOoflYmhK8rh8zhH0iwaGz1/view?usp=sharing
DID YOU MISS OUR LAST ECO JUSTICE WEBINAR?
Green Investing Webinar. On Nov. 16th, the Eco Justice Collaborative hosted a webinar on Green Investing. Panelists, including Jeff Perkins from Friends Fiduciary Corporation, Peter Krasja from the National Investment Fund, and Ethan Birchard from Prentiss Smith and Company, addressed opportunities for both organizations and individuals to align their financial investments more closely to their concerns for climate and social justice. Here is the link to the recording:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1h8W7FeTjiHKW_65yud8_Wws6RQKkBsdN/view
RESOURCES:
“Around the halls: What should the Biden administration prioritize in its climate policy.” Samantha Gross sought responses from her colleagues at the Brookings Institute. Read the results here:
https://www.brookings.edu/blog/planetpolicy/2020/11/23/around-the-halls-what-should-the-biden-administration-prioritize-in-its-climate-policy/?utm_campaign=Foreign%20Policy&utm_medium=email&utm_content=101885433&utm_source=hs_email
All We Can Save. Women and girls are too often missing from the conversation, though they are vital agents of change working for the health of the planet. Hear their voices in these provocative and inspiring essays edited by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Katharine K. Wilkinson. Published by One World, the book is available at various online booksellers.
Planetary Health: Protecting Nature to Protect Ourselves. This book by Samuel Myers and Howard Frumkin shows how the emerging interdisciplinary field of planetary health seeks to understand the effects of climate change, biodiversity loss and other threats to the ecosystems we rely on are affecting our health and what we can do about it. Published by Island Press, the book is available at various online bookstores.
QEW Mini Grants. Quaker Earthcare Witness (QEW) is a network of Quakers seeking to live in right relationship with Earth and in unity with nature. The QEW MiniGrants Committee provides small matching grants to help fund Friends’ projects that put this principle into practice. We are looking for projects to support, especially those that help with providing food, or involve youth, or help with challenging racial/ethnic barriers.
We are set up so that we can only fund through Quaker Meetings, Churches, Camps, Schools, (etc.) If your Quaker organization is doing a project that meets our criteria, we invite you to apply. If you are an individual Quaker, involved with a project that meets our criteria, perhaps your Meeting could adopt the project. This would enable us to fund you. Our maximum matching grant is $500.
More details are on our application form. Go to https://www.quakerearthcare.org and click on Apply for a MiniGrant. To see the application itself, scroll to the bottom of the page and click again as indicated.
Subscribe to PYM Peace and Social Justice News Early in 2021, our newsletter will be distributed from Philadelphia Yearly Meeting through the Peace and Social Justice Network. If you haven’t already subscribed, please go to the following link, enter your email, name and monthly meeting or organization. Below that click on the Peace and Social Justice Network. https://go.pym.org/l/791983/2019-08-27/gmg
To subscribe to the Eco-Justice Newsletter, contact Patricia Finley at finleyp2932@gmail.com or Ruth Darlington at rdarlington49@gmail.com.
Eco Justice Collaborative website: https://www.pym.org/eco-justice-collaborative/
