“Climate-Aware” Therapy and Churches

Interesting article… I’d add that religious orgs and churches have a meaningful role to play in helping people address climate anxieties and just being aware of ecological choices (corporate and individual)…

What ‘climate-aware’ therapists recommend if global warming is affecting your mental health | Connecticut Public:

Other collective actions like community gardening, protesting, starting your own climate-aware group or spending more time in nature can help, according to Belanger, who’s seen patients have success with joining and leading climate cafes – online or in-person spaces where people gather to share their feelings on climate change.

“You don’t have to be a therapist to do that. It’s about holding space and that has been very helpful to them,” Belanger said.

Apple Watch Greenwashing

“Greenwashing” is one of those terms that has bubbled up to the mainstream over the last few years and will only intensify as the broader global culture(s) become more attuned to the ecological realities we face in the decade ahead. Whether you’re one of the richest corporations to ever exist in human history or a church or mom-and-pop store or school, it would be wise to realize the measure the risks of claiming the high ground in environmental ethics (while also realizing the upsides and benefits of actually being moral and ethical in approaching those topics)…

Apple Watch not a ‘CO2-neutral product,’ German court finds | Reuters:

Apple based its claim of carbon neutrality on a project it operates in Paraguay to offset emissions by planting eucalyptus trees on leased land.

The eucalyptus plantations have been criticised by ecologists, who claim that such monocultures harm biodiversity and require high water usage, earning them the nickname ‘green deserts.’

Beyond Technocracy: Embracing an Ecological Metaphysics of Communion

Republican Budget Bill Aims to End I.R.A. Clean Energy Boom – The New York Times:

Over the past three years, companies have made plans to invest more than $843 billion across the United States in projects aimed at reducing planet-warming emissions, driven by lucrative tax credits for clean energy provided by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.

But only about $321 billion of that money has actually been spent, with many projects still on the drawing board, according to data made public on Tuesday by the Clean Investment Monitor, a joint project of the Rhodium Group and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Now, much of the rest, about $522 billion, will depend on action playing out on Capitol Hill. Starting on Tuesday, Republicans in Congress will begin a contentious debate over proposals to roll back tax credits for low-carbon energy as they search for ways to pay for a roughly $4 trillion tax cut package favored by President Trump.

Recent political debates, such as those surrounding the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), highlight a troubling reliance on technocratic solutions to address the climate crisis. While investments in clean energy are essential, they are insufficient without a deeper transformation in our collective consciousness and ethical frameworks.

The IRA represents a substantial federal investment in clean energy, aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote the development of renewable energy sources. However, as political dynamics shift, the stability and longevity of such initiatives come into question.

For instance, recent legislative proposals have sought to roll back key provisions of the IRA, including clean energy tax credits. These political maneuvers highlight the fragility of technocratic solutions that rely on shifting political will.

Addressing the climate crisis requires more than policy changes; it demands a fundamental shift in how we perceive our relationship with the natural world. Philosophers like Catherine Pickstock and William Desmond advocate for a return to liturgical language and metaphysical frameworks that emphasize communion and participation with the environment.

Pickstock argues that true language is inherently liturgical, fostering a participatory relationship with reality. Desmond’s concept of the “metaxological” emphasizes the importance of the “between”—the relational space that enables genuine connection and ethical engagement with others, including the non-human world.

By embracing liturgical practices and ecological ethics, we can cultivate a sense of reverence and responsibility toward the environment. This approach moves beyond viewing nature as a resource to be managed and instead recognizes it as a sacred community to which we belong.

Such a transformation encourages practices that are sustainable not only environmentally but also spiritually and culturally. It fosters communities that are attuned to the rhythms of nature and committed to the well-being of all life forms.

While technocratic solutions like the IRA play a role in mitigating climate change, they are insufficient on their own. Lasting change arises from a profound transformation in consciousness, one that reestablishes our connection to the natural world through liturgy, language, and ethical living. Only by addressing the metaphysical and psychological roots of our ecological crisis can we hope to create a sustainable and harmonious future.

Coffee and Ecology

Important thread here on Reddit regarding Western coffee consumption from areas such as Vietnam (a major source of coffee beans for the United States now) as well as our ecological intentions…

Our coffee addiction is sucking the earth dry. : r/collapse:

My guess is that coffee prices will keep increasing because of climate change disruptions in weather patterns. That would mean more and more, deeper and deeper wells. Until there’s truly nothing left in the ground.

Deterioration of the Human and Remembering Pope Francis

I’ve been watching some coverage of Pope Francis’ passing this morning and I keep asking out loud, “Why isn’t anyone talking about Laudato Si??”

This feels like such a dark day, just a few hours after we Christians celebrated Easter. I pray that we all have the power to speak up about the importance of integral ecologies and the ecology of the cross in the coming days/weeks/months/years as technocratic oligarchic capitalistic interests will surely challenge the concept Francis championed…

I’m thankful for Bill McKibben to pointing out this aspect of Francis’ legacy…

Pope Francis and the Sun – by Bill McKibben:

The ecological problems we face are not, in their origin, technological, says Francis. Instead, “a certain way of understanding human life and activity has gone awry, to the serious detriment of the world around us.” He is no Luddite (“who can deny the beauty of an aircraft or a skyscraper?”) but he insists that we have succumbed to a “technocratic paradigm,” which leads us to believe that “every increase in power means ‘an increase of “progress” itself’…as if reality, goodness and truth automatically flow from technological and economic power as such.” This paradigm “exalts the concept of a subject who, using logical and rational procedures, progressively approaches and gains control over an external object.” Men and women, he writes, have from the start

“intervened in nature, but for a long time this meant being in tune with and respecting the possibilities offered by the things themselves. It was a matter of receiving what nature itself allowed, as if from its own hand.”

In our world, however, “human beings and material objects no longer extend a friendly hand to one another; the relationship has become confrontational.” With the great power that technology has afforded us, it’s become

“easy to accept the idea of infinite or unlimited growth, which proves so attractive to economists, financiers and experts in technology. It is based on the lie that there is an infinite supply of the earth’s goods, and this leads to the planet being squeezed dry beyond every limit.”

The deterioration of the environment, he says, is just one sign of this “reductionism which affects every aspect of human and social life.”

The Honeybee Issue

The collapse of honeybee populations in the US (even though they were introduced to the continent by Europeans) is a startling development and a cautionary tale for us to wise up about our personal and corporate choices…

US honeybee deaths hit record high as scientists scramble to find main cause | US news | The Guardian:

“Something real bad is going on this year,” said McArt. “We have been seeing high losses year after year but if anything it is getting worse, which is troubling. Some places are having devastating losses and there was a shortfall in pollination in some almond orchards this year. Whether these impacts will cascade to other crops remains to be seen, it’s certainly possible.”

“We need so much less than we take and we owe so much more than we give.”

I often get asked why I always use squirrels as my mascot and avatar as a teacher. Here’s a good reason why. Andrea Gibson’s work is so important and needed in times like these. Worth your four minutes to watch (and re-watch)…

California Monarch Numbers Plunging

I’m speaking a bit on this situation with monarchs at a conference at UC Santa Barbara this Spring. There’s no mystery as to why the insect is seeing such diminished numbers (a 95% drop since the 1980s in California), but there is a mystery as to why we continue to allow pesticides to harm pollinating species (as well as humans). 

Insect species numbers are known to ebb and flow, but this sort of trend line is not good.

California monarch butterfly numbers plunge; wildfire wipes out Topanga habitat – Los Angeles Times:

“We know pesticides are a key driver of monarch and other pollinator declines. Yet there are glaring gaps in the EPA’s oversight of pesticides: the vast majority of pesticides have never been tested for their impacts on butterflies,” said Rosemary Malfi, director of conservation policy at the Xerces Society, in a statement. “How can we protect these essential species if we’re missing the basic information needed to make better decisions?”

Let’s Preach About This…

Amen and amen… this should be the focus point of way more sermons every Sunday morning in our united states. Reminds me of the great Thomas Berry:

rapid transition, deep transformation – by John Seng:

In the westernized world, especially in the domain of policy and politics, we are trained to demand timely, quantitative solutions. We’re going to have to grow to operate outside of that narrow lens on life. We need to evolve as a species, to embrace our role as one of many life forms, and find joy in a lifestyle that is compatible with the basic properties of our beloved planet. Only when we learn to honor and appreciate our relationships with all of the living world will we be able to transition to ways of life that protect us from extinction. Unlike purely technological fixes, which can be imposed through the hammers of policy and finance, a shift in the direction of right relationship with our planet needs to happen outside of the halls of power, within our own hearts and minds.