Center for Earth Ethics

#OurPowerPRnyc
2018-09-20 18:00 - 20:00 UTC
Join the Center for Earth Ethics in standing with our brothers and sisters of #OurPowerPRnyc on September 20th for a Just Recovery for Puerto Rico.
#OurPowerPRnyc Statement
September 20th will mark one year since Hurricane Maria landed on Puerto Rico. What we have seen in that time amounts to no less than a humanitarian crisis and mass violation of human rights. This has been fueled by a long legacy of colonialism and extraction; a sadistic federal administration committed to racism, subjugation, and austerity; and the deepening climate crisis wreaking havoc on low-income communities, communities of color, and the Global South.

On September 20th, #OurPowerPRnyc will be holding a community gathering in New York City to commemorate the landing of Hurricane Maria, to look back on the events of last year, to uplift the acts of resistance and resilience carried out on the island, and to ask the question “Where are we now?”

We recognize that our sisters and brothers from the island are defined in part by their relentless commitment to social justice. Whether it is a rally for Black Lives Matter, indigenous rights, workers’ rights, or immigration justice, we have always counted on the people of Puerto Rico to stand with us in solidarity.

This is a moment to demonstrate our support for our sisters and brothers from the island in a time of both deep crisis and renewed possibility, in a time when over 3.3 million of our brothers and sisters stand at a crossroads between the forces of disaster capitalism on one hand and a grassroots movement towards a just transition, people-to-people recovery, and environmental, economic, racial, and climate justice and sovereignty on the other. Learn More
#OurPowerPRnyc
#NoToDisasterCapitalism
#JustRecoveryJustTransition
#SolidarityWithBorinquen

Global Climate Action Summit: Integral Ecology
2018-09-14 14:45 - 15:45 UTC
The Center for Earth Ethics will join Interfaith Power and Light, Greenfaith, Global Catholic Climate Movement, Citizen’s Climate Lobby and others in the Global Climate Action Summit Faith-Rooted Affiliated Workshops. The GCAS workshops are designed and led by leaders and experts representing many faiths on Wednesday, September 12, Thursday, September 13, and Friday September, 14 at Grace Cathedral. Participants will engage with issues of faith, climate change, local and global action, and learn about environmental praxis from a multi-faith perspective.
CEE is co-hosting a panel of representatives from the Vatican, and various religious and Indigenous traditions, to explore the meaning of integral ecology.

INTEGRAL ECOLOGY: AS SEEN THROUGH THE LENS OF LAUDATO SI’ AND OTHER RELIGIOUS AND INDIGENOUS TRADITIONS
Friday, September 14th, 2:45 p.m. to 3:45 p.m.
Host: Ken Kitatani, Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development; Center for Earth Ethics; Forum 21 Institute
This event is Co-Sponsored by:

Global South Summit 2018
2018-09-14
On September 14th we will convene the 2018 Global South Summit in New York City at the UN Church Center. REGISTER NOW
Last year, the Center for Earth Ethics teamed up with Rev. Leo Woodbury of Kingdom Living Temple to host the 2017Global South Summit. Participants came from North Carolina, South Carolina, New York, and New Jersey, as well as, Global South representatives of Mexico, El Salvador and Nigeria to join forces tackling the problems of Climate Change.
The Summit serves to bring allies together, sharing various insights and information, thereby strengthening our potential impact through partnership. This shared space helps bring our local communities and constituents forward towards clean air and clean water by providing new educational platforms that serve those goals.

After a rich morning session which included talks by (clockwise from top left) Green Faith Organizer Estrella Sainburg, Dogwood Alliance’s Danna Smith, International Adviser Marta Benavides and CEE’s Mindahi Bastida, participants reconvened at Union Theological Seminary for discussion.
Topics Included:

How do we bring NGO’s together? Do we all have the same goals? (NGO’s, Communities, Faith groups, Environmentalists, Original Peoples?) How can we determine if NGO’s share our common goal to reconnect people to the Earth?
What principles can we apply from First Nations’ wisdom?
How do we measure Sustainability? What is Our Vision of the Future?
How do we make a Just Transition?
What are the current funding sources to assist communities transitioning to renewable energy sources?
How can pastors apply this information to their congregations?

How can we move forward on these subjects as we integrate a new year of progress and deepening understanding of these important issues?
REGISTER
For more information contact us at info@centerforearthethics.org.

Global Climate Action Summit
2018-09-12 - 2018-09-14
What: The Global Climate Action Summit will showcase the actions states and regions, cities, companies, investors and civil society have taken already to reduce their emissions; secure bold commitments to do even more, show that decarbonization; job generation and resilient economic growth go hand-in-hand and galvanize a global movement for climate action that leaves no one behind.
When & Where: The Summit will take place from 12-14 September, 2018 at Moscone Center South in San Francisco, California.
Topics to Address: Planning for Healthy Energy Systems, Inclusive Economic Growth, Sustainable Communities, Land and Ocean Stewardship and Transformative Climate Investments.
Who & Why: State and local leaders to businesses, investors, scientists, students and nonprofits are critical agents who can not only help unleash the opportunities from climate action but catalyze the world’s Presidents and Prime Ministers to go further and faster too.

San Francisco and Beyond
People everywhere are encouraged to participate in the hundreds of affiliate events taking place in the San Francisco Bay Area and throughout the world during the week of September 10-14th, including climate action panels, workshops, tours, exhibits and other special events.
View the Affiliate Calendar of Events
From September 12-14, you can virtually attend the Summit by streaming it live on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. In person, Summit attendance for the plenary and other high-level sessions is by invitation and will require accreditation. If you represent an organization ready to make a major climate commitment at the Summit, please send details about that proposed announcement by clicking here.
The Global Climate Action Summit is also committed to reducing the environmental impact of the Summit event itself. To see how the Summit looks to meet or exceed international sustainability standards for large events, please click here.
Grassroots Leadership and Training
The Global Climate Action Summit is preceded by RISE for Climate, Jobs and Justice on September 8th and 9th with events around the country and around the world. How to Participate.
Training Sessions are still available.

Rally For Our Planet: No To Pipelines!
2018-09-07 18:00 - 21:00 UTC | Climate-Speaks-2020-1
Arlington Unitarian Universalist Church will host an uplifting rally of various groups allied against the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley pipelines as part of the RISE for Climate Actions happening all around the world in September.
This event will feature Karenna Gore, Director of the Center for Earth Ethics at Union Theological Seminary, Delegate Sam Rasoul, a member of Virginia’s House of Delegates, and speakers from multiple grassroots advocacy groups — all stressing the importance of protecting our state’s natural environment, clean drinking water, public health and property rights. The two pipelines would carry fracked gas from West Virginia through Virginia (the ACP also extends through North Carolina) destroying pristine land and threatening clean drinking water for generations to come.
Rally for Our Planet is an action standing up for Virginia’s clean water and expressing opposition to dirty fossil fuels projects, liked fracked gas pipelines follows months of intensifying opposition. This action is happening as part of a global effort, with hundreds of actions under the banner of Rise for Climate to highlight increasing climate impacts and the need for real climate leadership.

Taking on the Doctrine of Discovery Conference
2018-08-18 09:00 - 2018-08-19 13:00 UTC
Taking on the Doctrine of Discovery, What are our Next Steps?

Date: August 18-19, 2018
Time: 9:00am-5:00pm on Saturday (with a banquet 6:00pm-9:00pm) and 9:00am-1:00pm on Sunday
Place: Skä·noñh—Great Law of Peace Center, Liverpool NY in Onondaga Nation Territory
Tickets: $100 per person, inquire for information on scholarships available
Sponsors: Indigenous Values Initiative, American Indian Law Alliance
Schedule: View Tentative Schedule
Summary:

We are excited to announce the conference “Taking on the Doctrine of Discovery, What Are Our Next Steps?” at the Skä·noñh—Great Law of Peace Center, Saturday and Sunday (18-19 August 2018). A conference fee of $100 will cover the rental of the Center, lunches for both days and a dinner of traditional Haudenosaunee foods on Saturday night. This event is organized and sponsored by the Indigenous Values Initiative.
In 2014, before the Skä·noñh—Great Law of Peace Center had officially opened, we held a first conference titled “The Doctrine of Discovery: After Repudiation, What Next?” About 40 delegates from different faith traditions attended. This year’s conference builds on the 2014 meeting. The Skä·noñh Center is now open and it is a good context from which to draw the values of the Haudenosaunee to affect positive change. As with the previous meeting, we will first to learn about the devastating impacts of the Doctrine of Discovery first hand from the Haudenosaunee, to understand its history, and then to share strategies for addressing this 500+ year-old ongoing human rights violation. Then we will hear from one another and the ways in which religious and faith communities are pushing back against the Doctrine of Discovery. There will be a traditional foods banquet on the evening of Saturday the 18th followed by screening of the film “Spirit Game: Pride of a Nation” and panel discussion.
View the Tentative Schedule for Taking on the Doctrine of Discovery, What are our Next Steps?
If you want to contribute a scholarship for others to attend the conference you can donate to the conference.

Justice First Tour
2018-08-15 19:00 - 21:00 (America/New_York)
On August 15th, the Justice First Tour will come to Birmingham!
Join New Alpha Community Development Corporation, Kingdom Living Temple, Dogwood Alliance, Sierra Club, #Readyfor100, and local co-hosts for an evening of local speakers, solution-centered dialogue, and celebration through art and music.
Southern communities are on the frontlines of the climate crisis in the US, bearing the greatest impacts of an economic system of exploitation that continues to concentrate power and wealth into the hands of a few, while many people suffer. Across the South, many of us have risen to address this challenge. Unfortunately, our very best intentions have often left our movement segmented when it comes to speaking with one unified voice. Now, more than ever, we need to come together and unite in one voice for climate justice and stand together to advance long-term solutions that put justice first and lift frontline communities up.
The Justice 1st Tour calls for a strong network of grassroots and frontline organizations working together to advance climate justice and forest protection, with a focus on 100% clean energy for 100% of the people — no more false solutions. To solve the climate crisis, we need to put Justice 1st.
***

Poor People's Campaign, Repairers of the Breach & CEE: Ecological Justice Organizing Tour
2018-08-12 10:00 - 2018-08-13 21:00 UTC
Join CEE’s Director Karenna Gore, the Rev. William Barber II, and former Vice President Al Gore in North Carolina at Greenleaf Christian Church and Shiloh Baptist Church or on the road. Monday, August 13th at 12 pm, Catherine Coleman Flowers will join as they will be traveling to visit with local community members impacted by environmental justice issues to hear and to amplify their stories.
If you cannot join in person, join us via Livestream at breachrepairers.org/livestream.
Visit https://facebook.com/brepairers/events to learn more about each event and to share on Facebook.

Catherine Flowers to Speak on Panel with UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty & Human Rights in Geneva
2018-06-26 09:00 - 10:30 UTC
The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva – organised in partnership with the Guardian and the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights presents
Poverty and Inequality in America under Trump: Human Rights under Threat

Auditorium Ivan Pictet
Maison de la paix, Geneva
VIEW LIVE STREAM HERE
READ MR. ALSTON’S ORAL STATEMENT to the 38th session of the Human Rights Council
Geneva, 22 June 2018
The Trump Administration inherited an economy with the highest rate of income inequality in the Western world: 40 million people (one third of them children) live in poverty and one person in eight depends on food stamps. In response, it has adopted massive tax cuts for the wealthy and set about cutting benefits and entitlements across the board for those living in poverty. Following the presentation to the Human Rights Council on June 21 of a damning report on the United States by the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Professor Philip Alston, this panel will discuss the human rights implications of these developments, especially in terms of gender and racial disparities and the functioning of American democracy. Join us for a discussion with leaders in the field of human rights and anti-poverty work in the United States, moderated by The Guardian newspaper.
Panel discussion:

Philip Alston, UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights and John Norton Pomeroy Professor of Law, New York University School of Law

Catherine Flowers, Rural Development Manager, the Equal Justice Initiative; Director and Founder, Alabama Centre for Rural Enterprise; CEE Director of Environmental Justice & Civic Engagement

Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch

Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, Co-Chair, Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival and Co-Director, Kairos Centre for Religions, Rights and Social Justice

Moderator:

Ed Pilkington, Chief reporter, The Guardian US

CLIMATE CHANGE, WATER & JUSTICE: OUR CHANGING PLANET AND A MORAL CALL TO ACTION
2018-05-31 18:30 - 21:00 UTC | Venus over Otter Lake, from Goddard Bay
From Lake Chad to Flint, MI, the struggle for clean water has become one of the most pressing justice issues. Hear from an incredible panel about how faith communities can join the fight against ecological exploitation.
Click here to RSVP.
Al Gore
Former Vice President Al Gore is co-founder and chairman of Generation Investment Management. He is a senior partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and a member of Apple, Inc.’s board of directors. Gore spends the majority of his time as chairman of The Climate Reality Project, a non-profit organization he founded that is focused on solutions for the global climate crisis. Gore was elected to the US House of Representatives four times from 1976—1982 and to the US Senate in 1984 and 1990. He was inaugurated as the 45th vice president of the United States on January 20, 1993, and served eight years. He is the author of several bestsellers including Earth in the Balance, An Inconvenient Truth, and most recently, The Future: Six Drivers of Global Change. He is the subject of an Oscar-winning documentary and was selected as the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate for informing the world of the dangers posed by climate change. Former Vice President Gore was born on March 31, 1948, and resides in Nashville, Tennessee.
Catherine Coleman Flowers is the founder of the Alabama Center for Rural Enterprise (ACRE). ACRE seeks to address the root causes of rural poverty. She also serves as the Rural Development Manager for the Equal Justice Initiative and the Director of Environmental Justice & Civic Engagement (EJCE) at the Center for Earth Ethics at Union Theological Seminary. In addition, she serves as Duke University’s Franklin Humanities Institute Practitioner in Residence. Her goal is to expose the Third World conditions were rural people live amongst raw sewage. She has characterized this as “America’s Dirty Secret.”
She hopes to shepherd a paradigm shift toward sustainability and resiliency in rural communities as well as the development of climate-friendly onsite wastewater technology using renewable energy. The lack of environmental and climate justice in poor rural communities was noted during her 2011 testimony about the raw sewage problem in Lowndes County, Alabama. It was included in the Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation to the United Nations Council on Human Rights. In December of 2015 she represented the Center for Earth Ethics in Paris as an official observer at COP 21, and in 2016 she was chosen to attend the White House Water Summit. In 2017 she invited to Alabama, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty. He characterized what he saw as “uncommon in the first world. “ Flowers has a Master’s degree in History and recently co-authored a peer reviewed study with scientists from Baylor’s National School of Tropical Medicine that exposed evidence of hookworm and other tropical parasites in the United States.

Special Contributor:
Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim is an indigenous woman from Mbororo pastoralist community of Chad; She is a Coordinator of the Peul Indigenous Women and Peoples Association of Chad (AFPAT) “Association des Femmes Peules et peuples Autochtones du Tchad. Hindou is also co-chair of the International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change (IIPFCC) and a member of the Executive committee of the Indigenous Peoples of Africa Coordinating Committee (IPACC), with a background in indigenous peoples’ rights and environment protection through the three Rio Conventions (Biodiversity, Climate Change and Desertification) with multiple responsibilities. Hindou is a recent National geographic 2017 Emerging Explorers.
***

On Water and Faith: Ministry in the Time of Climate Change
2018-05-31 - 2018-06-02 | Venus over Otter Lake, from Goddard Bay
On Water and Faith: Ministry in the Time of Climate Change May 31 – June 2, 2018 Union Theological Seminary – New York To train, support, and empower faith leaders, the Center for Earth Ethics is once again partnering with the Climate Reality Project to train 30-50 faith leaders from around the country to better address the ecological crisis in their own communities. Ministry in the Time of Climate Change requires an open-hearted approach that embodies the diversity of our country and plurality of ideas we’ll need to mitigate the worst effects of the ecological crisis.
On Faith And Water: Ministry in the time of Climate Change May 31- June 2, 2018 Union Theological Seminary Thursday May 31, 2018 9:00 AM Registration and Check-In 9:45 AM Hastings/121st Street entrance 9:45 AM
Opening Ceremony 10:15 AM Location: Quad or James Chapel Organizer: CEE Team 10:30 AM
Plenary: Where We Are, Where We Need to Go 11:45 AM From increased storm severity to crippling droughts, it is clear the climate is changing, affecting water systems that all life depends on. In the midst of this change, fossil fuel interests continue to draw and poison groundwater while fracking, putting more heat-trapping pollution in the air. There are also efforts to privatize and commoditize water, even selling it back to the very drought-ridden communities from where it is pumped. What insights and practical solutions do faith communities have to offer to address this? These are the questions that will frame the whole conference.

Moderator: Karenna Gore – Center for Earth Ethics
Tiokasin Ghosthorse – First Voices Indigenous Radio
Kartik Chandran – Columbia University
Mariama White-Hammond – Bethel AME Church Boston

12:00 PM Lunch – Social Hall 1:45 PM
Optional River Walk 1:30 PM
On Faith and Water: Learning from Our Traditions 4:00 PM During this session we will split into four groups and rotate between four different speakers on topics designed to deepen our understanding of faith and water. Each session will last 25 minutes.

Stewart Room
Water in Jewish Texts and Teachings [Rabbi Burt Visotzky, Jewish Theological Seminary]

Room 205
Water in Christian Liturgy and Rituals [Rev. Thia Reggio, Astoria First Presbyterian Church]

Room205a
Water in Indigenous Perspectives, Rituals, and Traditions [Dr. Mindahi Bastida, Center for Earth Ethics, Tiokasin Ghosthorse, First Voices Indigenous Radio]

Room 207
Water in Islamic Texts and Teachings [Colin Christopher, Islamic Society of North America]

Water, Environmental Justice, and Climate Change 5:30 PM Location: Room 207In the wake of devastating storms and in the midst of extreme heat waves, low income and marginalized communities are routinely left without access to water. Many communities also struggle with health problems resulting from inadequate water and sanitation systems, all of which is exacerbated by climate change. This panel will take a clear look at these issues and explore solutions.

Moderator: Dr. Geraldine Patrick – Center for Earth Ethics
Bishop Carroll Baltimore – International Community Baptist Churches
Wes Gillingham – Catskill Mountainkeeper
Raina Thiele – Thiele Strategies

Dinner 6:30 PM Social Hall
Public Lecture 8:30 PM Speakers:

Vice President Al Gore – Climate Reality Project
Catherine Flowers – Center for Earth Ethics/ACRE/EJI

Friday, June 1, 2018
Breakfast (optional) Social Hall 9:00 AM Morning Meditation 9:45 AM Location: James Chapel Leader: Rev. Ken Kitatani, Forum 21 Climate and Water Presentation 12:15 PM Location: 207
Lunch 12:30 pm Social Hall
Workshops Session 1 – Faith in Praxis 3:15 PM Location: Stewart Room, 205, 205a, 207 Training to help faith communities respond to the ecological crisis. Two sessions of 45 minutes each to allow participants to attend at least two sessions.

Stewart Room
Integrating Climate into Your Sermons [Facilitated by Rev. Ana Levy-Lyons, First Unitarian Congregational Society in Brooklyn]

Room 205
Water in the New Testament [Facilitated by Dr, Aliou Niang, Union Theological Seminary

Room 205a
Watershed Discipleship [Facilitated by Dr. Tim VanMeter, Middle

Room 207
Advocacy and Nonviolence: Confronting Climate Change [Rev. Mariama White-Hammond- Bethel AME Church]

Workshops Session 2 –Engaging Beyond Our Faith Communities 3:30-5:30 PM Locations: Stewart Room, 205, 205a, 207 Training to help reach out to communities being impacted by the ecological crisis. Two sessions of 45 minutes each to allow participants to attend at least two sessions

Stewart Room
Reaching Out to Those in Need [Facilitated by Catherine Flowers, Center for Earth Ethics]

Room 205
Disaster Relief [Facilitated by Alyssa Young and Marcus Coleman, FEMA]

Room 205a
Crafting Climate Stories [Facilitated by Jill Leaness, The Climate Reality Project]

Room 207
Laudato Si and Civic Engagement – Lessons from the Papal Encyclical [Facilitated by Fr. John Rausch and Sr. Robbie Pentecost]

Casual Dinner 5:30 PM Social Hall Saturday, June 2, 2018 Breakfast (optional) 8:00 AM – 9:00 AM Social Hall Morning Meditation 9:00 AM – 9:45 AM James Chapel Leader: Josephine Mandamin, Ojibwe Elder
Planning for the Future We Need: Brainstorming Session 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM Location: James Chapel At the end of the training we want to reflect on what we learned and plan for what we can do. We will break into groups to strategize and share ideas that will help transform our communities. The Climate Reality Project will facilitate the session.
Closing Ceremony 11:45 AM – 1:00 PM Social Hall or Quad
Questions: Please contact: Genie Cooper.

The Fourth Sunday of Easter: Karenna Gore to offer morning service at Harvard Memorial Church for Earth Day
2018-04-22 09:30 - 12:30 UTC
Faith & Life Forum: Karenna Gore

9:30am to 10:30am

Buttrick Room

Speaker: Karenna Gore, Director of the Center for Earth Ethics, Union Theological Seminary.
The Faith & Life Forum explores matters of faith and public life. This term, we will continue to explore the theme of “Redefining Success: Living a Life of Sacrifice and Service” through readings, discussion, interviews, and lectures.

Fourth Sunday of Easter

11:00am to 12:30pm

The Memorial Church Sanctuary

Preacher: Karenna Gore, Director of the Center for Earth Ethics, Union Theological Seminary. Anthems: Philips, Ecce vicit Leo; Monteverdi, Nisi Dominus.
Listen Live on WHRB, Sunday at 11:00 a.m.

Beyond SDGs; Biocultural Wisdom of Indigenous Peoples in Times of Crisis
2018-04-19 14:30 - 16:00 UTC
Thursday, 19 April 2018
2:30 pm – 4:00 pm
4 West 43rd Street
New York, NY 10036 (off of 5th Ave)
Welcome: Swami Parameshananda, CRNGOs
Opening invocation: Mindahi Crescencio Bastida Munoz
Moderator: Rev. Ken Kitatani, Sukyo Mahikari-NA Region, Director-Forum 21 Institute

Speakers:
Karenna Gore, Director-Center for Earth Ethics, Union Theological Seminary
Mindahi Bastida, Director-Original Caretakers Program, Center for Earth Ethics
Geraldine Patrick, Scholar in Residence, Center for Earth Ethics

Closing remarks: Rev. Ken Kitatani
Closing invocation: Mindahi Crescencio Bastida Munoz
Co-Sponsors: UN Committee for Religious NGOs | Forum 21 Institute, Center for Earth Ethics, and Union Theological Seminary
April 19 Event CRNGO

CEE's Catherine Coleman Flowers and Vice President Al Gore to speak at Summit opening the National Memorial for Peace & Justice
2018-04-18 08:00 - 17:00 UTC
The Equal Justice Initiative (EJI)
National Memorial for Peace and Justice and the Legacy Museum:
From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration opens to the public with a Two-Day Summit, April 26-27, 2018.
Catherine Coleman Flowers, CEE Director of EJCE, will join Former Vice President Al Gore to talk about climate change and the crisis surrounding environmental justice across the globe as our planet is imperiled by radical shifts in climate and global warming. They will join acclaimed artists and speakers Michelle Alexander, Rev. William Barber, Gloria Steinam, Ava Duvernay, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Alvin Ailey II and others to mark the opening ceremony and week of events.
Inside the memorial to victims of lynching

Oprah Winfrey reports on the Alabama memorial dedicated to thousands of African-American men, women and children lynched over a 70-year period following the Civil War

LEGACIES OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: LOOKING BACK AND MOVING FORWARD
2018-03-22 17:00 - 20:00 UTC
CEE’s Director of Environmental Justice & Civic Engagement, Catherine Coleman Flowers to participate in World Water Day panel at the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Michigan. March 22, 2018 – 5:00pm – 8:00pm

In a collaboration with the Temple Hoyne Buell Center for the Study of American Architecture at Columbia University and Louise Seamster at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, this Detroit panel discussion will consider some of the recent history of Emergency Management in Michigan.

Since the 1980s, Michigan has been the national epicenter of “emergency management”—a project that allows state governors to declare “financial emergencies” in cities and thereby replace democratically elected officials with appointed emergency financial managers. In the three decades that emergency management has unfolded in Michigan, its cities have seen the privatization of public institutions, disinvestment in public infrastructures, and other acts of violence against the public sphere. Extending long histories of the extraction of labor, land, and wealth from communities of color in the United States, emergency management has been focused on black majority cities; in the last 10 years, around 52% of Michigan’s African-American residents have been disenfranchised by emergency management as compared to 3% of white Michiganders.

On December 14, 2017, Governor Rick Snyder announced that there were, at the moment, no emergency managers governing any of Michigan’s cities. That announcement prompts questions about the ongoing consequences and legacies of emergency management—a project that has become dormant rather than invalidated. What has the impact of emergency management been on Michigan’s cities? What lessons should be learned from these experiences? How can these lessons inform resistance in other spaces of threatened or ongoing dedemocratization?

Reception: 5:00pm

Panel Discussion: 6:00pm
Mark Fancher, Racial Justice Project, ACLU of Michigan
Catherine Coleman Flowers: Alabama Center for Rural Enterprise
Shea Howell, The James and Grace Lee Boggs Center
Helen Moore, Keep the Vote
Louise Seamster, The University of Tennessee Knoxville
Moderated by: Andrew Herscher, The University of Michigan

On Friday, March 23rd, a related workshop will be convened in Ann Arbor. This conversation will take up some of the issues presented on Thursday, considering Emergency Management as not only a local but also a national project, which engages with systems of infrastructure, government, and culture at multiple scales.

The events are co-sponsored by theTaubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Michigan and the Temple Hoyne Buell Center for the Study of American Architecture at Columbia University. Image Courtesy of the Overpass Light Brigade.

They Will Inherit the Earth: Peace and Nonviolence in a Time of Climate Change with Author John Dear
2018-03-21
WE REGRET TO ANNOUNCE THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED AS UNION THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY IS CLOSED DUE TO WEATHER! We hope you will be inspired to read John’s work and enrich your own practice of nonviolence in the world.

JOHN DEAR BOOK TOUR [NEW YORK CITY]

ORGANIZER: Larry Rasmussen

VENUE: Union Theological Seminary

ADDRESS: 3041 Broadway @121st St

They Will Inherit the Earth: Peace and Nonviolence in a Time of Climate Change, releasing February 2018.

In this landmark work, author, activist, and Nobel peace prize nominee Father John Dear connects the way of active nonviolence with solidarity with Creation, and shows how our global epidemic of violence and war could only lead to catastrophic climate change. He cites Jesus’ third Beatitude as the basis for his meditation: “Blessed are the meek, they will inherit the earth.” Thomas Merton said “meekness” was the biblical word for “nonviolence” (in the Gandhi/King sense), so Dear reflects how Jesus connected nonviolence with oneness with creation, how he practiced nonviolence and lived at one with creation, and how we need to do the same.

In this time of terrifying climate chaos, John Dear shares his own personal journey from the Upper West Side of Manhattan to the high desert of New Mexico where he now lives off the grid on a remote mesa. He shares his experience serving as a pastor in the mission church at Yosemite; encounters with New Mexican indigenous women who live at one with the earth while resisting nuclear weapons production at Los Alamos; his experience at Standing Rock in North Dakota, resisting the pipeline; reflections on the work of environmental leader Bill McKibben and Pope Francis’ monumental encyclical on the environment, Laudato Si; and ends with suggested steps forward into conscious, mindful solidarity with all creatures and Mother Earth through active, steadfast nonviolence, what he calls, “eschatological nonviolence,” walking the earth in the footsteps of the nonviolent Jesus into the Kingdom of God.

Contacts: Tory Field – tf2406@utsnyc.edu // Larry Rasmussen, lras1939@gmail.com

http://www.paceebene.org/event/john-dear-book-tour-new-york-city/

Eagle and Condor Consciousness: An Evening with Three Thinkers in the Native Way
2018-02-21 19:00 - 20:30 UTC | Venus over Otter Lake, from Goddard Bay
This event is free and open to the public.
For thousands of years Indigenous people throughout the world have lived in ways that maintained a balance between human life and the life of all other beings. Over time, the dominant mode of human consciousness became an anthropocentric or human centered consciousness that disrupted the delicate balance and left behind the other mode of consciousness that was equally humanity’s endowment.
Please join us and experience a dialogue among three people whose lives are deeply rooted in traditional Native nonverbal thinking but who are able to beautifully translate into anthropocentric language the experience of the Native holistic consciousness. The dialogue will explore such subjects as ceremony; the “I” as “the we” way of thinking; the awareness of balance and blessing; and the consciousness of all beings including those beings that anthropocentric thinkers have defined as lacking consciousness. Their perspectives reach deep into the heart of an emerging consciousness that is both ancient and new.
Panel:
Tiokasin Ghosthorse, (Cheyenne River Lakota). Founder, host, and executive producer of “First Voices Radio”, a weekly program syndicated to 70 radio stations in the US and Canada.
Mindahi Bastida Muñoz (Otomi) Director of the “Original Caretakers Program.” Center for Earth Ethics at Union Theological Seminary.
Geraldine Patrick Encina (Mapuche descent), Scholar in Residence at the Center for Earth Ethics.
With Reflections by: Aliou Cissé Niang, New Testament faculty at Union Theological Seminary and native of Senegal West, Africa

RSVP to info@centerforearthethics.org
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Duke Environmental Justice Symposium: Access to Water and Sanitation in Underserved Communities
2018-02-09 09:00 - 16:00 UTC
The Duke Environmental Law and Policy Clinic’s first annual Environmental Justice Symposium will be February 9, 2018, at Duke Law. The theme of the symposium is Access to Water and Sanitation in Underserved Communities.
We will kick off with a panel discussion with environmental justice community organizers from across the U.S. who are addressing barriers to clean water and sanitation services in their regions, including Cherri Foytlin, Omega Wilson, and Colin Bailey. Catherine Flowers will be delivering the keynote address about her work in Lowndes County, Alabama.

The afternoon session will comprise three break-out groups, where participants can take a deeper dive into three of the main aspects of these issues: Regulatory, Engineering, and Building Relationships in Communities.

View a tentative schedule and RSVP online and reserve your spot.

The Logic of Sanctuary: Religious Movements in Non-Sovereign Spaces
2018-02-08 17:00 - 2018-02-09 17:00 UTC
In the past few years, from Standing Rock to Rojava, we have seen the emergence of transnational and interfaith forms of religious activism. At the same time, we have seen the revival of the medieval concept of “sanctuary”: by offering sanctuary, cities and universities are in essence identifying themselves as sacred spaces, outside the reach of the state.
The obsession with religious mobilization in recognizably political spaces (“the evangelical voter”) has obscured this kind of activity.
How should we conceptualize these alternative forms of religious mobilization?
This conference uses the theme of “sanctuary” as a jumping-off point to think about the resources religion offers to communities seeking to gather around, and govern, non-national spaces: the human body, the city, and the environment. The hope is that this will help us to better understand the forces at work in a twenty-first century world of weak states and global challenges.
The conference will begin with a public roundtable, featuring both scholars and practitioners, in Goodson Chapel on Thursday, 8 February at 5 PM. It will then continue with a day-long conference in the Ahmadieh Lecture Hall, Smith Warehouse, Duke University.
The conference will bring together practitioners with experts in anthropology, geography, history, and religious studies, all of whom will think through the concept of sanctuary as it relates to their own work.
CEE’s Catherine Flowers will participate in a panel on Environmentalism: Religion and the Land addressing Water and Faith in Lowndes County. This panel asks how religious engagements with the land have emerged historically, and how they might help us to imagine more ecologically sustainable futures.
All are welcome to attend. More information can be found at their website.

Indigenous Peoples and Cultural Freedoms: Implementing the UN Declaration on Indigenous Rights
2018-02-06 19:30 - 21:30 UTC
Columbia University Seminar on Indigenous Studies at Columbia College
Faculty House, 64 Morningside Dr., New York, NY 10027

Kristen Carpenter of Colorado Law School and Member of the UN Expert Mechanism on Indigenous Peoples’ Rights on Indigenous Peoples and Cultural Freedoms: Implementing the UN Declaration on Indigenous Rights. [traditional knowledge, cultural expressions, and genetic resources in the US and around the world, in UN, regional, and domestic forums]
Responding: Geraldine Patrick, Original Caretaker Scholars-in-Residence at the Center for Earth Ethics at Union Theological Seminary

Institute for the Study of Human Rights at Columbia University

Announcing Beyond GDP Course for Union Students and Life Long Learners
2018-02-02 - 2018-02-03 | Venus over Otter Lake, from Goddard Bay
Take Class with Us in 2018!
Beyond GDP: Lessons from Indigenous Cultures and Faith Traditions, SU 190 – KA1
Presented by The Center for Earth Ethics & Karenna Gore
Friday, February 2, 1:00 – 6:00 pm
Saturday, February 3, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
This class will focus on the flaws of current economic measurements such as Gross Domestic Product and the ways in which Indigenous cultures — along with voices from faith communities— are contributing to alternative ways of measuring the success and well-being of a society. Topics to be covered include the UN Sustainable Development Agenda, the impact of colonization on the bio-cultural heritage of Indigenous peoples, the conflict at Standing Rock, the Pope’s encyclical Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home, and the role of religion in development policy.
Registration for Union Students
https://utsnyc.edu/academics/registrar/course-registration-grades/register-su-190-intensive-courses/
Registration for Life Long Learners: $20
https://utsnyc.edu/event/beyond-gdp-lessons-indigenous-cultures-faith-traditions/

Closing Indian Point: Safe Decommissioning and Re-Powering New York with Sustainable Energy
2018-01-10 16:00 - 18:00 UTC | seminary-hill-farm
Closing Indian Point: Safe Decommissioning and Re-Powering New York with Sustainable Energy
Please join Riverkeeper Board members Maria Castaneda and Karenna Gore, and Cecil Corbin-Mark and Karl Rábago for a conversation and panel discussion on the issues arising from the imminent closure of the Indian Point nuclear plant including environmental safety, replacing nuclear power with sustainable energy sources, and environmental justice.
Welcome and Introductory remarks: Maria Castaneda, Secretary Treasurer, and 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East
Remarks by actor and activist Alec Baldwin, followed by a conversation with Richard Webster, Riverkeeper Legal Program Director.
Panelists:

Cecil Corbin-Mark: Deputy Director, WE ACT for Environmental Justice
Karenna Gore: Director of the Center for Earth Ethics at Union Theological Seminary; Riverkeeper Board of Directors
Karl R. Rábago: Pace Energy and Climate Center

Moderated by: Paul Gallay, President and Hudson Riverkeeper
Please note: you must register for a FREE, GENERAL ADMISSION TICKET to this event to be added to the guest list at the venue for security purposes. No one will be allowed entrance who has not registered at least 24 hours in advance of the event. SPACE IS LIMITED SO PLEASE REGISTER PROMPTLY.
The tireless support of our members is instrumental in providing Riverkeeper legal staff and experts with the means to actively monitor the shutdown of Indian Point. Please consider making a donation to our Indian Point campaign by clicking here.

UNDERSTANDING BIODIVERSITY: 11th Annual Forum of the NYC Gardens Club
2018-01-10
Join Us in Celebrating the New York City Gardens Club Centennial ~ 1918-2018
UNDERSTANDING BIODIVERSITY: 11th Annual Forum
Wednesday, January 10, 2018
8:30am-9:15am: Registration & Refreshments
9:15am-noon: Panel Presentations and Q&A

NYC Gardens Club Conservation: The mission of the Conservation Committee is to present timely environmental issues to members and the community, to further the restoration and beautification of New York City and to educate children about nature.
For the past 10 years, the Conservation Committee of The City Gardens Club has organized educational forums attracting an audience of CGC members, activists, and the general public. Led by recognized experts in their fields, these annual colloquiums focus on critical environmental issues. To name a few, past topics have included “Overcoming our Nature Deficit,” “Sustainable New York,” “Water, Our Most Important Resource,” and “Living with the Forces of Nature.” (Scroll down for the complete list of past topics.) The committee chose this year’s topic, ” Understanding Biodiversity,” because of its urgency and critical importance.
PANELISTS
Dr. Brooke Bateman
Director, Climate Watch, National Audubon Society
Karenna Gore
Director, Center for Earth Ethics, Union Theological Seminary
Emily Nobel Maxwell
Director, Urban Conservation Program, NYC, The Nature Conservancy
Dr. Donald Melnick
Professor of Conservation Biology
Director, Center for Environment, Economy and Society, Columbia University
Dr. Ana Porzecanski
Director, Center for Biodiversity and Conservation
American Museum of Natural History
Dr. William Schuster
Executive Director, Black Rock Forest Consortium
For more information and reservations, Click Here.
For content of our 2017 Forum, Click Here.

Creation, Redemption and Environmental Ethics from the Eastern Christian Perspective
2017-12-08 | Venus over Otter Lake, from Goddard Bay
​The Institute for Studies of Eastern Christianity (ISEC) of Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York (formerly the Sophia Institute of Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Studies) and the Center for Earth Ethics at Union Theological Seminary are happy to announce the upcoming fall 2017 conference on the theme of Creation, Redemption and Environmental Ethics from the Eastern Christian Perspective.
The Conference will take place on the campus of Union Theological Seminary (3041 Broadway @ 121st St, New York, NY 10027) on Friday, December 8th 2017.
REGISTRATION
​A Call for Papers will be open until November 7, 2017.
Sponsored by The Orthodox Peace Fellowship & In Communion.

Planetary Solidarity: Global Women’s Voices on Christian Doctrine and Climate Justice
2017-11-20 09:00 - 11:30 UTC
The American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, Nov 18-20, brings thousands of professors and students, authors and publishers, religious leaders and interested laypersons together in 2017 as it does each year. Co-hosted with the Society of Biblical Literature, the Annual Meetings are the largest events of the year in the fields of religious studies and theology.

CEE Director, Karenna Gore will participate in a panel discussion Planetary Solidarity: Global Women’s Voices on Christian Doctrine and Climate Justice on Monday, November 20th, 9 am – 11:30 am.
This book panel brings together womanist, mujerista, Asian and feminist theologians and biblical scholars to discuss the intersection of Christian doctrine, gender and climate justice.
Grace Ji-Sun Kim , Earlham College, presiding

Imagining an Earth-centric Theological Framing for Planetary Solidarity, Heather Eaton, Saint Paul University
And God Saw That It Was Good–Imago Dei and Its Challenge to Climate Justice, Wanda Deifelt, Luther College
Trafficked Lands: Sex Trafficking, Oil, and Ecological Evil in the Dakotas, Hilda Koster, Concordia College, Moorhead
Seeds, Cross, and a Paradox of Life from Death: A Postcolonial Eco-Theology, Jea Sophia Oh, West Chester University of Pennsylvania
Eco-Womanist Wisdom: Encountering Earth and the Spirit, Melanie L. Harris, Texas Christian University
Reimagining Eschatology towards Healing and Hope, for a World at the Eschatos, Barbara Rossing, Lutheran School of Theology, Chicago

Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza , Harvard University, respondent
Karenna Gore, Center for Earth Ethics, Union Theological Seminary, respondent
Co-sponsored with SBL Ecological Hermeneutics Group
Hynes Convention Center
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Program Session Descriptions
Registration and Housing Information

The State of American Democracy
2017-11-15 18:30 - 2017-11-17 21:30 UTC
This November, writers, scholars, and concerned citizens will gather in Oberlin, Ohio for a non-partisan, thoughtful, and rigorous series of discussions. Join us as we examine the origins of our present situation and consider how to rebuild the resilience, fairness, capacity, and durability of our democratic institutions. Read More…

The conference is being held at The Hotel at Oberlin, not only overlooking historical Tappan Square, but also built to incorporate renewable energy systems and other innovative technologies, making it one of the most environmentally sustainable hotel projects in the country.

The Center for Earth Ethics is proud to partner with Oberlin College and many incredible organizations in The State of American Democracy: A National Conversation. Speakers include Rev. William J. Barber II, Ari Berman, Oberlin President Carmen Twillie Ambar and CEE Advisor Terry Tempest Williams.
Registration, Speakers and Partnering Organizations

Week of the Peacemaker 2017: Self+Other+Earth=A Formula for our Future
2017-11-04 08:30 - 2017-11-10 22:00 UTC
Advocacy and Social Justice at IONA College
Week of the Peacemaker 2017: Self+Other+Earth=A Formula for our Future Karenna Gore, Keynote
For over thirty years, IONA College has chosen time around Veterans Day to dedicate academic and co-curricular attention to peacemaking. This year’s Week of the Peacemaker kicks off Saturday, November 4, and concludes Friday, November 10 with its theme: Self+Other+Earth = A Formula for Our Future.
CEE Director, Karenna Gore, will give the Peacemaker Keynote, November 9, 2017, 12 Noon – 1 pm in Ryan Library Romita Auditorium. The thematic sense of creating an Earth Ethic can be found in a quote from Gore: “We must place value on the most sacred aspects of our lives – community, culture, clean air, nourishing food, and drinkable, fishable and swimmable waters-if we are going to protect them for future generations. Climate change is about more than science and economics, it is about morality, ethics and the very meaning of life.”

2017 Week of the Peacemaker begins with “Hope and Healing in the Anthropocene” on Saturday, November 4. The all-day event takes place from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. in Thomas J. Burke Lounge, Spellman Hall. Sponsored by the Thomas Berry Forum at Iona College, in alliance with the Collaborative for Palliative Care at Fordham University, the event features a day of contemplative inquiry with a host of healers, teachers and spiritual practitioners who look to guide those in attendance into informative and transformative dialogue on the challenges of being well and offering wellness – of body, mind, and spirit – to an ecologically, socially and spiritually suffering planet.

Other important discussions in the Week of the Peacemaker 2017 includes The Puerto Rican Story: Colonized Other or Decolonized Self After Maria with Dr. Teresa Delgado.
See the Schedule of Events

Día de Muertos, Day of the Dead
2017-10-31 - 2017-11-01 | Venus over Otter Lake, from Goddard Bay
We made a ceremony on October 31st dedicated to all who have crossed to the other side. Our thoughts for October 31st especially went to children and youth.
During the night we made a vigil and continued our observances until late November 1st. An additional element to those typically placed on the table was the trail of white flower petals that shows the way for the souls who come to visit. Special thanks go to David Ezra, Yolanda, Claudia, Brett, Katilau, and everyone else who held the space and brought light and warmth to a time of reflection about life and death, especially those that come about in conditions of injustice, including climate injustice and socioecological injustice.

Karenna Gore and Roberto Borrero on the Rights of Nature
2017-10-30 18:30 - 19:30 UTC
As the hard effects of climate change are upon us, felt overwhelmingly by the poor and marginalized in places like Puerto Rico, it’s time to rethink the rules of the game. Two environmental thinkers, Karenna Gore and Roberto Borrero, discuss earth ethics, the rights of nature, how to mitigate damages and find ways forward for environmental protections during an era of deregulation. This conversation will focus on indigenous knowledge on climate and science and will explore both speakers’ current strategies. The talk will be followed by a Q&A with the audience.
A co-convener of the Indigenous Peoples Major Group on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals programs on behalf of the International Indian Treaty Council, Roberto Múkaro Borrero offers particular expertise in Caribbean and other Indigenous Peoples’ issues. His unique perspective draws from multiple sources including his indigenous Taíno heritage, ongoing mentorship from indigenous leaders and elders from around the world, and real-time experience in the arts, as well as a long and distinguished history of human rights and environmental advocacy. With over twenty years’ experience in the non-profit/non-governmental sector, over a decade of experience as Senior Programs Coordinator for Public Programs in the Education Department of the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and as a former radio host and producer for WBAI Pacifica Radio’s “Circle of Red Nations,” Roberto maintains a diverse resource network locally, nationally, and internationally in the civil, business, and governmental sectors.
Karenna Gore is the director of the Center for Earth Ethics at Union Theological Seminary. Her past experience includes work in the legal center of Sanctuary for Families, which serves victims of domestic violence and trafficking and as Director of Community Affairs for the Association to Benefit Children (ABC), which provides early childhood education and other services for families living in poverty in New York City. She worked on the editorial staff of Slate magazine and is the author of Lighting the Way: Nine Women Who Changed Modern America (2006). Karenna is a graduate of Harvard College, Columbia Law School and Union Theological Seminary. She is the eldest child of Al and Tipper Gore and lives in New York City with her three children.
This event will be held after regular business hours at Leonard Library. Only those attending the event will be allowed inside the branch. All other regular functions of the library will be unavailable.
Brooklyn Public Library’s Green Series is made possible through the generous support of Whole Foods Market.

Creating a Climate for Change Conference
2017-10-26 08:00 - 16:00 UTC
The “Creating a Climate for Change” Conference is a gathering of people involved in all aspects of environmental and climate change work. This year’s focus is on how to organize on local, state, and regional levels. We will be looking at programs, processes, and practices that have resulted in expanded participation of community-based organizations and community members. We will also be looking at strategies and tactics that need to be employed in light of the regressive actions that have been taken on a federal level and with the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement. This year’s annual event will be guaranteed to leave you energized, encouraged, and equipped to continue our progress and to make new inroads as we address the impacts of climate change, environmental and economic injustice. We look forward to seeing each and every one of you at this year’s “Creating a Climate for Change” Conference because none of our progress, past, present, and future, is possible without you.
