Love and Climate Change

The effects of climate change are all around us:   permanent Arctic sea ice is melting ; killer droughts decimate Africa; spring comes earlier everywhere ;  BC pine forests have been ravaged by pine beetles and thousands of jobs will be lost in our forest industry;   the rivers of the Mekong Delta get saltier and saltier..... and yet we do so little I think we do - nothing.  Particularly in Canada we procrastinate.    

Climate change is caused by the burning of fossil fuels.  We could phase out fossil fuels if we had the will.....

A paper published in Energy Policy in 2011 concluded  that " barriers to 100 % conversion to wind, water and solar worldwide  are primarily social and political, not technological or even economic.  "  

I repeat   "   Barriers are social and political ....."

We could have, in the twenty years since the Rio summit, replaced fossils fuels with alternate sources of energy.     (In fact,  - there's an alternative energy grid in Germany composed of solar, wind, hdyro, and biofuel - and it provides its customers with energy day and night.  ) 

And yet we do very little - so little that sometimes I despair and think we do nothing. We cannot translate our love of  future generations - our own children - our own grandchildren - into collective action right now.

 We lack empathy for those who suffer the effects of climate change in Bangladesh - or Vietnam - or Sudan - or the Arctic.   I  have a friend who said   " what do I care what happens to Africans or Pakis because of climate change? " 

I was astonished, befuddled,   consternated, dumfounded, flabbergasted, and speechless that he didn't understand that we are all connected.  That everything is interconnected -  that every action we take affects the world  and everyone in the world.

This is true at a physical level.    To use a really cheering example,  radioactive fallout doesn't stop at national borders   - witness Chernobyl.   Sheep farmers in Cumbria (in England) couldn't sell their lambs  due to the radiocesium contamination in the years after Chernobyl.     A few farms continue to be affected to this day.   

But interconnectedness isn't merely   physical.   It is true on an economic level  - just think of the worries that Greece will dump everyone back into recession with a default on their bonds - and  also true on  a  spiritual level .

The Dalai Lama states  that, by  neglecting others  " we ignore the reality of our situation"  

and ignore the " the interdependent nature of reality." 

Curiously,  denying climate change  is more distressing  and disempowering than acknowledging it.    It takes a lot of energy to repress truth...  ... or a lot of drink and drugs.

But - perhaps oddly - stating that climate change is real and that we live with an unprecedented disaster looming over us - is empowering. 

And healing.  Telling the truth  - with loving kindness - shifts the Zeitgeist .

So.  The truth.

 We -   we humans -  exist in a time of ecological holocaust -  created by ourselves.  I don't think any words exist for the level of pain I feel -  or the level of pain others feel. -when think of htis truth. 

 I weep due to this pain .  Often.     It  is nearly unbearable. 

 But- oddly -  this pain  is good - in a way - it reminds me that I am a part of Gaia -   it reminds me that I love this beautiful blue green world   -  and that I exist to give voice to her. 

A tree  once told me - yes, I said a tree told me - that, If we learn to love ourselves, other people, and Gaia, we will save ourselves.   Gaia is a part of us - we are a part of her -we need her.  

When we are healed of self hatred, we will be healed of world hatred. 

What to do ?  Love - more, more fully, more openly, more encompassingly...

This seems to be an appropriate time to meditate on increasing love in the world. 

Please make yourself and let the tension drain from your body.   Read the following out loud - gently. 

May I be happy.

May I be well.

May I be free of suffering.

May I love myself - all of myself - with my whole heart.

May I accept myself.

May all  living beings be well, may all living beings be happy.
May all living beings be free of suffering.

May I love all living beings  - with my whole heart.

May we all  love all living beings with our whole hearts.

May we accept all living beings as ourselves - not separate from us.

May this earth - this beautiful blue pearl -  Gaia-  be well.  May she be happy.

May she be free of suffering.

May I love this earth - this Gaia   - with my whole heart.

May we all love  Gaia with our whole hearts.

May we accept Gaia as  ourselves - not separate from us.

May all sentient beings be well .

May all sentient beings dwell in spacious equanimity -

May all beings dwell in love -  inseparable from Gaia.

Take a moment to return to yourself. 

When our values change - we will change our systems.
Martin Luther King said that

I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality.

 I say  when we love ourselves, we will be able to love the world, and to create a velvet climate revolution.

Climate Change Bad and Getting Worse

Al Jazeera and the UK Gaurdian seem to be the only media outlets that talk about climate change. Al Jazeera points out that it is bad and getting worse:

So far human greenhouse gas emissions have raised the temperature of the planet by one degree Celsius.

http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2011/06/2011622132049568952.html
The Al Jazeera article goes on to list impacts felt RIGHT NOW - including high food price - floods -wildfires - loss of biodiversity - and  acidifying oceans. Meanwhile, the UK Guardian has created a huge FAQ on climate change in the hopes of educating people.  Find it at  http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/series/the-ultimate-climate-change-faq

Media in Canada don't seem to pay attention to climate change - and  Canada's politicians do nothing.  The Conservatives  do nothing - and are reviled for it - but the Liberals signed the Kyoto Accord and then did dick-all as well.   Why?   Well , Stephan Dion was soundly punished at the polls for presenting a green platform that took climate change seriously.  Therefore, presumably our politicains do nothing because we don't really want them to take action.  We  aren't  exactly rioting in the streets,are we?  ( Well, we're not rioting  because we're worried about the impacts of climate change.)

Denial ain't just a river in Egypt!   And arguing with people in denial ends up reinforcing their defenses - what's a poor activist to do?  Work through ready made communities - church groups - chambers of commerce -  etc and tailor your message to the group.

And work on yourself - meditate - and work on seeing everyone in the world as connected to everyone and everything - and as worthy of your love. Then, when you carry out your activism, you will do so with loving kindness  and compassion.  I think it's the only chance we've got.....

The Ethics of Climate Change

I am a Unitarian Universalist.   Recently , our minister preached  - yes, big surprise - that's what ministers do!  She explored  the subject of " neighbours."

Well, I believe that we are all connected - people, animals, insects, viruses, plants, fungi, stars - you get the idea.   So my answer to the question "Who is  my neighbour? "   is -  everyone and everything.  Therefore, it behooves me to look after my nieghbour - or not to actively harm them.   Therefore, I must  act to prevent  climate change as well as work to persuade others of the necessity of acting.

I'm not the only person who has arrived at this conclusion.

Climate change is changing our world. Not only is it changing our physical world, but also our intellectual, social, and moral worlds, in ways that we could not have imagined a  generation or two ago. The science of climate change, and the political impasses associated  with dealing with it, demonstrate that we are in a profoundly unsafe, interdependent, and uncertain world....[Therefore] be willing to take an ethical stand on climate change.  There is no place to hide form this....Regard economics as being about provisioning - that is, the way socities organize themselves to provide for the sustaining and flourishing of life. http://www.e3network.org/papers/Ethics_and_the_Economist_033111.pdf

So what do I do to live ethically and to prevent and mitigate climate change?

Little and big - in no particular order:

• I walk to work.  If you cannot do that, take transit.  Or car pool! If everyone drove to work with one aother person, you'd reduce vehicles on the road by one -half and greenhouse gas emissions accordingly.
• I shop at the local farmers' market and freeze and preserve food  for the winter.  Trucking and flying goods generates a lot of greenhouse gases.
• I am a vegetarian.  Eating meat raised in the agri biz is not only cruel to animals, and  destructive to the environment,  but the industry  generates almost 20 % of the world's greenhouse gas emissions.
• I buy fair trade food.  (OK - it's trucked in  -but at least shade grown coffee doesn't destroy the environment. And as soon as I find coffee that arrives om the Bluenose, I'll buy that.)
• We have cut our electrical bill to one- half its former total by turning off lights/ appliances/ clock radios  and installing CFLs.  We replaced our washer , dryer , and dishwasher with European models that use very little electricity or water.
• We(me and my partner)  turn our heat backto 15 C at night and up to 17 C during the daytime.  Walking around in a sweater isn't a hardship.  And snuggling is fun!
• We installed a solar hot water heater.   Lots of susnshine in the Interior of BC.
• We don't fly anywhere.
• I write letters to politicans and urge them to to take action on climate change ( and perahps salvage Canada's reputation in the process.)  
• We donate to climate action groups.
• We help organize climate change rallies and vigils - in fact, we volunteer a lot of time.  Not only do we work for a good cause, we enlarge our community of friends.  And have fun.
• I educate myself  on the issue and on the psychology of climate change denial.
• I meditate to grow my loving kindness and to generate more love in the world.

Anyone can do some of these things.  I / we didn't begin by doing all of them at once. Just begin! 

If you can only choose one, please choose creating more love in the world - for yourself as well as all others. After all, Gandhi said  "Be the change you want to see in the world."   I say once we learn to love the world and ourselves, we will not destroy it  - we will  create a velvet climate revolution.

PS The picture was taken at a candlelight vigil for the Copenhagen Conference - the action was suggested by the folks at
http://www.350.org/             Check the website out - lots of ideas for actions in the fall of 2011.

Letter to my fag's family

Hi there:

You don’t know me – I’m your son’s fag hag. Oh – I forgot – you don’t know anything about being gay – or about gay culture. Well, you know Leslie is gay: he told you and the rest of his family ten years ago. Therefore, he is a fag – and since I’m a natal woman, I’m a hag. I love him and he loves me: together we’re fag and fag hag. Because I love him enormously, I have something I need to tell you. I want to tell you so badly I’m having my message published. It is going to shock and affront you but it may change your life.

Your religion is tantamount to child abuse. How do I arrive at that conclusion? Please read on and you will find my logic is inescapable.

Leslie is gay: you have known he is gay since he came out ten years ago. I know you think Leslie is an exceptional person. So do I: I love him because he is spiritual; ethical; compassionate; funny; loving; intelligent; street smart; and highly intuitive. Moreover, he possesses a wicked and bizarre sense of humour; has excellent healing skills; and is wildly attractive. But Leslie is wonderful because he is gay: not in spite of the fact that he is gay. (In many cultures, being gay was considered a spiritual gift. Refer to a copy of Cassell’s Encyclopedia of Queer Myth, Symbol, and Spirit to find information on those cultures.)

But your fundamentalist religion has no truck with the notion that being gay is a spiritual gift. On the contrary, your religion oppresses gay people. Church doctrine teaches that being gay is a sickness! As a very young teen, Leslie watched a church sponsored and created video that stated being gay was an evil disease and a sin against God! The video also stated that shock therapy was the only way to “cure” gayness! Can you imagine how your son felt hearing that what he knew himself to be from a very early age was sick and evil? How could you permit your child to listen to that doctrine? After all, it is equivalent to preaching to people of colour that their innate skin quality is inferior, wrong, sick, and evil. Gay people are born lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered: it isn’t a choice. No-one converts to gayness! (Can you tell me why would anyone choose to be vilified, hated, and possibly killed?) And please don’t justify exposing Leslie to these hate –filled doctrines by stating that you did not know years ago that Leslie was gay. You ignored the fact that up to 10 % of the population is gay and you ignored any signs of gayness he showed as a child. In fact, by supporting your church doctrines, you harmed his mental health and emotional well being. Isn’t that a good definition of child abuse?


No wonder he tried to commit suicide at the age of sixteen. LGBTQ youth are up to seven times more likely to attempt suicide than their hetero peers. ( Suicide Prevention Resource Center, Suicide Risk and Prevention for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth at http://www.sprc.org/. ) Youth whose family is not accepting of their sexual orientation are nine times more likely to commit suicide. (http://www.365gay.com/opinion/robbins-in-combating-gay-youth-suicide-acceptance-is-key/ ) You tell Leslie that you believe in the church. By accepting church doctrine to this day, you acquiesce in his oppression. Furthermore, by sending Leslie to church as a child, you participated in child abuse.

You cannot change the past. But couldn’t you change the present and the future? I know you love your Leslie: loving him, and knowing he is gayer than a picnic basket, how can you continue to support your church?

If you cannot leave your church, I want you to pressure the church to amend its policies on gay men and lesbians. Please don’t tell me that the church’s policies are unchangeable: the religion now accepts people of colour as members whereas it didn’t fifty years ago. Stop tithing ten per cent of your income to your church until they change their policies on the LGBT community. You are funding your son’s oppression with your donations!

If you want to support your son by leaving your present church, I recommend the Unitarian Universalist for its inclusion of and acceptance of diverse peoples. Their website is found at http://www.cuc.ca/ . You’ll find your local congregation at this site: the folks there will be friendly, funny, warm, and accepting.

If you want to support Leslie by learning about gay life and culture, please check out PFLAG: you’ll find very supportive and knowledgeable folks at their meetings. Just go to the “Parents and Families of Gays” website (http://www.pflagcanada.ca/en/index-e.asp) and you will find valuable information and the date and time of your local meeting. Read some books on being gay (not published by your church.) PFLAG has a list of books worth reading: click on Links to Rainbow Communities and then on Information, Studies, and Reference material. Get to know some lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered people on an individual basis: check out your local LGBT association for some breakfasts and coffee houses where you can meet us.

You’ll be well rewarded for your effort: my life is much richer since Leslie and I have been friends. Now that you’ve read my letter, you have a choice to make. You can make an effort to learn about gay culture and being gay. You may, of course, continue to let church doctrine rule your life. But, if you don’t care to make an effort to be truly supportive and understanding of your remarkably gifted son, you will lose him.