Other Climate Leaders
 Kevin Costner and Sally Bingham, July 2010 |
 New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu with Sally Bingham, July 2010 |
Your Stories
Tell your story.
I have committed to spending the next year in deep meditation for Pensacola, my former home and the current people and animals of the Gulf of Mexico region. I hope you will join me in prayer that our leaders will lead us out of this mess. It is the least I can do and I hope it will ease some of the pain I feel in my heart. –Vivian Fulk, NC
I have known about the “greenhouse effect” since college in 1977. I wanted to fight it by becoming a solar power engineer. By 1981, the solar collectors were gone from the White House roof and my dream was taken away by what I believe are selfish and short-sighted people. I am back to fight for the dream of local, clean, renewable, energy once again. This time, the dark fossil fuel forces will not take my dream of a sustainable future for my children and theirs away: not over my dead body! –Vincent Pawlowski, AZ
I visited my son in Fairbanks, AK this past February. It was 20 degrees (f) above zero most days(normally its 25 – 40 degrees below zero) while back at home, we were having record breaking cold and snow all over the East Coast. The wacky weather is “global”. I guess that’s why they call it “Global Climate Change” –Bill Thwing, PA
Response to President Obama’s Oval Office address: Dear and respected Mr. President, or as we say in Spanish, “Querido y estimado Señor Presidente”, I awaited and listened to your message tonight (6/15/10) about the status quid est in the Gulf Coast. It is not good or pleasant or even easily accepted news. . . You closed your address from the Oval Office tonight by invoking God and his blessing. I join my voice with yours in this request. . . Prayer may be the beginning and unifying response, but prayer without action is vocal at most and trite as usual. . . Your administration has been burdened, challenged and taunted . . . I have some sense of the challenges that your family faces as they sustain, strengthen and support you. Mr. President, you have my full and sincere support. Your fellow citizen, Rolando, SFO. –Rolando Rodriguez, OR
I am not a recent “convert,” but I will wear this pin in hopes it will bring me opportunities to speak out – gently and lovingly. This comes at a good time for me: in my meditation group at Duke Hospital yesterday (June 17) our focus was the shared hurt of the Gulf disaster as part of the hurts we all have and the importance of remembering we all also have joy and we need to stay aware of the space around us that can hold our hurts and joys. My awareness of the need to cherish and nurture our beautiful planet has become stonger and stronger over the 65 years I have enjoyed its beauty and gifts. When I am most tempted just to weep over the damage being done to it, I try to breathe in its gifts gratefully and intentionally, then go foth and share them with others. May Mother Earth — and we her children — be safe, and loved, and at peace. –Bebe Harris, NC
My people — here in Oklahoma — have understood that human activity impacts climate for some time. The Dust Bowl was largely created by human activity and its duration was clearly associated with farming patterns. –Mark Christian, OK
By working wisely together, we can reduce our impact on the climate while improving the quality of life for everybody. –Dewaine Nelson, IL
Thirty years ago, as a young graduate student majoring in marine fisheries biology, we were warned in lecture after lecture about key species extension, resource depletion, developmental toxins, loss of ecosystems and climate change. Sadly, today those warnings are now a reality. We no longer have thirty years to wait. We need to act now; transform old habits into the creation of a new sustainable lifestyle leaving a better world and renewable resources for the next generation. –Frank Edmands, OH
As a practicing shaman I take my responsibility very seriously to be a caretaker for the earth. She doesn’t need saving, she will survive. We are the ones who are in danger of the results of our thoughtless acts against nature,against ourselves, and against all future generations to come. The planet has already begun her “cleansing process” in the way of natural disasters, floods, hurricanes, sunamis, earthquakes, heatwaves, melting of the polar caps. We have the choice to act consciously now or suffer the consequences for many generations to come. Time to wake up. –Buffalo Thunder Frank Del Toro Jr., TX
The power of one person can be immeasurable. History shows that again and again one person has made the difference. –Albert Cohen, CA
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Richard Muller — Well-respected physicist Richard Muller of UC Berkeley was once touted by climate change skeptics as a bona fide climate scientist who shared their mistrust of the data on global warming. Then, he did his own exhaustive study. Dr. Muller says: “I believe that global warming is an important issue that should be looked at very seriously by policymakers. The research shows without a doubt that significant warming has already taken place, much of it due to human activity. The good news is that we have time to address the problem.” Read Richard’s Story.
Steve Schmidt — “As a well-traveled mechanical engineer, I have lots of respect for the scale of our earth: the continents and oceans; vast forests and mountain ranges; incredibly powerful events like hurricanes and volcanoes. The immensity of our natural surroundings can make us feel small and insignificant. So for many years I was highly skeptical that our coal plants could make an impact on a truly global scale. . . I’m smart enough to know that I can be wrong.” Read Steve’s Story.
Lorelei Scarbro — “My name is Lorelei Scarbro and I’ve made a commitment to stand up and fight for Creation. I wasn’t always a fighter. But I’ll tell you this — there’s nothing like seeing your home, your community, and your culture destroyed to make you into one.” Read Lorelei’s Story.
Mike Stafford — Like many conservatives, I was traditionally skeptical of the science supporting anthropogenic global warming. Today, I am skeptical no longer. Like conservative blogger D.R. Tucker, on this issue, I was ultimately “defeated by facts… In my own case, I finally reached a point where I could no longer in good conscience deny the implications of the cumulative weight of so large a corpus of evidence.” Read Mike’s Story.
Richard Cizik – “I’m a climate convert. That means I believe in human-induced climate change, and as a person of faith, I know that it’s my duty to do something about it. Back when I was the vice president of the National Association of Evangelicals, I stressed climate change as a moral issue. And although it didn’t always make me popular, I knew it was the right thing to do.” Read Richard’s Story.
Richard Rohr – “As a Franciscan priest who has been honored to meet people in travels around the world, I used to think most of us didn’t realize what a high price we paid for ignoring the connectedness of all creation. I still believe this is true — but I think awareness of that price is growing as we witness the devastation in the Gulf of Mexico.” Read Richard Rohr’s Story.