OMNI CLIMATE MEMO MONDAYS, #127, MAY 15, 2023

 

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 an intersectional 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.