The countdown is on for the Forward on Climate Rally! Don’t miss this opportunity to be apart of the largest climate rally in history.
If you are interested in going, there are four buses that have been reserved in Maryland to transport attendees.
Bus information can be found at the links below.
#ForwardOnClimate Maryland Buses
Frederick Bus
Annapolis Bus
Harford County Bus
Baltimore Bus
Our world is transitioning into the realm of the “new normal” of extreme storms. Ice is melting and sea levels are rising far more rapidly than originally predicted by scientists. As we continue down the slippery slope of non-renewable energy resources and impending climate change, why in the world does Santa still deliver coal to the kids who have been bad?
For a man who flies around the world in one night bringing joy to kids everywhere, you would think Santa would look out for future generations of children and cease punishing kids with coal. Perhaps those that were on the naughty list could receive something like fruit or episodes of public embarrassment from their parents?
With a world population of almost 7 billion people, that is a lot of naughty kids receiving coal every year. But instead of punishing those on the naughty list, Santa is punishing himself, and every other child on the planet, considering coal is one of the many non-renewable resources contributing to climate change.
Get it together Santa or instead of a sleigh you will need a flotation devise and some swimmies for your 9 reindeer.
Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director of Food & Water Watch, is now the author of the book Foodopoly: The Battle Over the Future of Food and Farming in America!
Foodopoly takes aim at the corporate control of our food system and the inability it creates for farmers to raise healthy crops and the limited choices it provides consumers.
With a significant ecological and carbon footprint, our current food system is grossly unsustainable. Transforming the food system is no small task and requires a real societal shift. If we begin shifting to local, sustainable food sources, we can minimize the destructive footprints associated with the current system’s structure, as well as, provide a platform and space where individual farmers can prosper outside of industrial contracts.
Below is a trailer for Foodopoly. Check it out and get involved!
http://towncreekfdn.org//www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFu6xiGWrW8&feature=player_embedded
“In a meticulously researched tour de force, Hauter, the executive director of Food & Water Watch, examines the pernicious effects of consolidation in every sector of the food industry.” Publishers Weekly
If you are interested in learning more about food system reform, check out some other great work being done!
http://towncreekfdn.org//www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBngiABc73Q
“If you really care about starting a movement, have the courage to follow and show others how to follow.” – Dan Sivers, TED 2010
Blue Water Baltimore is a nonprofit organization working to protect and restore Baltimore’s waterways. They do amazing work within Baltimore, but there is one facet of their outreach work that has always stuck out to me – their storm drain arts.
Baltimore is an urban watershed, with significant water quality issues due to the built environment and the amount of trash that occupies the streets. There is a disconnect among Baltimoreans between what they throw on their streets and into their storm drains and the quality of their local waterways. Blue Water Baltimore is able to begin to break this disconnect through their storm drain arts outreach work. They partner with other local groups, communities, schools, and artists to create fun works of art on area storm drains, serving as permanent reminders of the connection between storm drains and local water quality.
http://towncreekfdn.org//www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lXx_7Fqmko&feature=youtu.be
This is a great project that engages a diverse group throughout Baltimore to address not just an environmental issue, but a public health issue as well.
“The act of painting a storm drain has had a positive effect in every community we work with, given the multi-dimensional art and social change aspects of the projects. In the end, that’s the heart of the positive impact these stencils and art projects have. In any part of the city and in anyone’s life, the act of producing art is therapeutic and builds community when it can be done with neighbors and family. All of a sudden, a drain with rainbow crabs and oysters on it becomes a visible and tangible manifestation of the love that individuals and communities have for their neighborhoods. This love is the spark that will help our city become cleaner and more beautiful.” – Amy Dewan in a blog on her AmeriCorp experience with Blue Water Baltimore.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Environmental Grantmakers Association. Their annual fall retreat took place Sunday, September 30th-Wednesday, October 3rd at the Mohonk Mountain House in New Paltz, New York. The retreat was filled with the most welcoming group of people, stellar views, thought provoking talks, and endless inspiration.
The philanthropic community is filled with well-meaning individuals who want to make a difference in the world. But as William Cronin poignantly reminded the EGA community in Monday’s keynote, the Dawes Act (responsible for Native American Tribes losing 90 million acres of land) was created by a well meaning group of white men, at Mohonk, who wanted to make the Native Americans responsive to their land as farmers.
The Act, as well meaning as it may have been, destroyed tribal communities. As a newcomer in philanthropy, Cronin’s statement was a welcomed reminder and caution to the impact a funder can have and the need to ensure each voice has a seat at the table.
In addition to having all voices at the table, we have to be cognizant that campaign wins do not generally occur over night. If a win does not occur within the first year, the philanthropic community should work with the groups to help build a network or plan that will help it achieve the sought after success.
In a plenary talk given Tuesday morning, with Kumi Naidoo and Van Jones, Jones addressed that exact point of view. He used the Civil Rights movement and the efforts of Martin Luther King, Jr. to explain the importance of looking beyond failed deliverables. After MLK’s participation in the bus boycotts, it took years before the Civil Rights Act was finally passed. If you were a funder, after year after year of not delivering the success of the Civil Rights Act, would you have continued to fund the work. Some groups might not have.
As Van Jones thoughtfully pointed out, “when there is a quality of leadership, there should be a quality of commitment.” We must remember this as we work with new and old grantees on the systemic and transformational change we seek to achieve.
We also cannot observe the landscape at the 30k foot level and expect to achieve real systemic, transformational change, if we start from a defeatist point of view. How can you expect to really make a difference?
In the short amount of time I have spent within the environmental and philanthropic community, it seems to me, that the environmental community is almost too nice, which negatively influences how they are perceived by legislators and agency personnel. Just because our “friend” is in office, does not mean we should be afraid to make the large asks or hold them accountable for their actions. It gets us no where, beyond the community not being taken as seriously. This is not like having a friend in office, it is like having a child and there needs to be consequences. We cannot expect to make the real transformational changes necessary in the community if we shy away from the hard asks.
Environmentalism is commonsense. It should be a bipartisan issue and should be engaging a diverse group of individuals from various backgrounds.
On the third night of the retreat, Yoko Ono and Dr. Anthony Infraffea, moderated by David Fenton, spoke about fracking and the work of Artists Against Fracking.
When asked how to reach broader audiences with something as complicated as fracking, Yoko responded, without hesitation, “Truth is simple. We are the ones complicating it.”
http://towncreekfdn.org//www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wg2gAbb0NuE
After such a great conversation with Yoko Ono, we were joined by Natalie Merchant (also involved with Artists Against Fracking). EGA was shown a sneak peak of the documentary ‘Dear Governor Cuomo, New Yorkers Against Fracking in One Voice’ (featured above), followed by a moving performance by Natalie Merchant and her band.
When I thought such an amazing night could not get any better, I was witness to a legit hoedown of EGA members and Natalie Merchant herself. What a great way to celebrate, not only the great work of the environmental philanthropic community, but also EGA’s 25th anniversary!
And then Wednesday morning happened…
After such an amazing trip I sadly left the picturesque landscape surrounding Mohonk and attempted to head back to the good ole eastern shore of Maryland on Wednesday morning. Apparently, someone upstairs did not agree with this decision, as 10 minutes before reaching exit 7a on the New Jersey Turnpike traffic came to an absolute stop. This LOVELY food truck thought they would make the situation even better, by opening up and selling food, thus preventing cars from moving the little that they could. What was suppose to be a 5 hour trip, turned into a 10 hour drive. THANK GOODNESS for the companionship of my trusty iPod, a good cup of coffee, and the fabulous memories of my first EGA retreat.
THE END.
A few weeks ago I was privileged to meet Michele Levy, Director of the Crossroads Community Food Network and her team in action at the Crossroads Farmers market.
If you are ever in the Takoma Park/Langley Park area on a Wednesday afternoon I HIGHLY recommend stopping by the farmers market. It was an incredible experience to see first hand the impact this organization has within their community.
http://towncreekfdn.org//www.youtube.com/watch?v=bp-LaYUw4Wo&feature=youtu.be
Today, August 22nd, is Earth Overshoot Day. Over the last 8 months, there has been more demand on renewable resources and CO2 sequestration than the planet is able to provide over the coarse of a year.
In 1992 it occurred on October 21st.
In 2002 it occurred on October 3rd.
Over the last 20 years, Earth Overshoot Day has continued to arrive a few days earlier each year. With its arrival in August, and 4 months left in 2012, it is clear our demand and consumption of natural resources needs to change.
http://towncreekfdn.org//www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuGuTsExN4Q
In 2009, Paul Hawken delivered these words to the University of Portland’s graduating class of 2009.
“If you look at the science about what is happening on earth and aren’t pessimistic, you don’t understand the data. But if you meet the people who are working to restore this earth and the lives of the poor, and you aren’t optimistic, you haven’t got a pulse.”
Town Creek is privileged to work with amazing people who strive for environmental progress. Their work is inspiring, fascinating, and transformative. They provide a moment of optimism, in the face of disheartening data. To bring a moment of optimism to you, we will begin posting video interviews highlighting the work of those that are on the ground, working in their communities and regions to effect change.
Our first one is with Joe Uehlein, Executive Director of the Labor Network for Sustainability. Many thanks to Joe and his willingness to sit down with me!
http://towncreekfdn.org//www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fifeELF2WA&feature=youtu.be
A year ago this past May, wolves in the Northern Rockies lost their federal protections under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The wolves in this region were delisted as an ESA success story and were claimed to no longer require Federal oversight.
Though this might have been true a year ago, the federal decision to shift the power of wolf management over to the states has begun to undo the success that has been achieved.
And while I could go on about my opinions of this decision and the seemingly mismanagement of these wolf populations, it would not make a difference to those gunning down the wolves. Why? Because our value system is completely different.
Animals such as wolves are caught in the court of public opinion. They are falsely portrayed as savage and ruthless monsters, varmint. They are not easily anthropomorphized, and thus the public struggles to see them beyond what they have been told.
One of the first things I remember learning as a freshman Environmental Studies major was the role a person’s values play with respect to the environment and how this influences an animal’s portrayal. Naturally, animals you can anthropomorphize are favored over those you believe to be savaged, flee-invested pests. This only adds fuel to the fire in situations like wolf management, where the public may have a bias, feeling reducing populations is the key to their livestock and game dreams.
The court of public opinion, whether for better or worse, influences environmental issues. We must begin addressing the value system in order to create real, transformational, environmental change. The environment is a complex and delicately balanced, interrelated system. When we fail to step back and look at it from a 30,000 ft view, failing to connect how everything relates, we begin to initiate a domino-effect of disruption.
Those working on environmental issues already find value in the environment. It is those who do not naturally connect who could be enlightened by a value based approach. Yelling at someone and telling them they are wrong will only go so far, but if you can dig deep and get to the root of a person’s values, it could generate transformational environmental change.
The only question now is, how do we successfully do that?
I suspect until we figure it out, Aldo Leopold will continue to roll over in his grave until those in the Northern Rockies begin to find value in the role wolves play in the delicate balance of the ecological system.
“We reached the old wolf in time to watch a fierce green fire dying in her eyes. I realized then, and have known ever since, that there was something new to me in those eyes – something known only to her and to the mountain. I was young then, and full of trigger-itch; I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer, that no wolves would mean hunters’ paradise. But after seeing the green fire die, I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view.” – Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac