Insights

Return to Source: Honoring 10 Years of Center for Earth Ethics

Ned Joyner May 21, 2025

“Tonight, we celebrate the Earth and the vision and the energy that the first Earth Day brought. Here tonight, we lift up what is good and beautiful and true about the life force we share. And we bring a different vision. We return to source.” Karenna Gore’s reflection captured the spirit of the Center for Earth Ethics’ Earth Day celebration on Tuesday, April 22. “Return to Source” brought together artists,

“Spirituality Is Life”: CEE Launches “Freedom to Be” Report Freedom to Be

Ned Joyner May 18, 2025

READ REPORT “Indigenous spirituality is not a compartmentalized religious act. It is an ongoing, relational way of living—connecting to land, water, community, our ancestors and future generations.” Carson Kiburo, executive director of Jamii Asilia Centre in Kenya and member of Kenya’s Endorios Peoples, captured a guiding insight of Center for Earth Ethics’ new report, “Freedom to Be: Dialogues on Freedom of Religion or Belief for Indigenous Peoples.” CEE launched the

CEE and Beyond Plastics Host Workshop on Plastics Pollution and Community-Based Response

Ned Joyner March 25, 2025

“Plastic is not just a waste and oceans issue, a climate change issue, an environmental justice issue—it’s also a public health issue. And the only way to stop plastic pollution is to stop plastic production. We need policy that holds industry accountable to accomplish that,” said Rev. Kathryn Beilke at a workshop co-hosted by the Center for Earth Ethics and Beyond Plastics at Union Theological Seminary on March 4. The

Love in Deed: Judging the Law by the Needs of the Neighbor

Erin Lothes February 21, 2025

Pope Francis recently released a “Letter to the Bishops of the United States of America,” addressing the “major crisis taking place.” In this rare direct message, possibly prompted by Vice President J.D. Vance’s remarks justifying suspension of U.S. foreign aid programs by reference to the Catholic notion of an “order of love,” Pope Francis speaks about the “drama of migration” as a crisis also experienced by Jesus and his family—at

Finding Common Ground on “Holy Ground” with Catherine Flowers

Ned Joyner February 13, 2025

“Know that people can be transformed. I try, in each and every essay in “Holy Ground,” to talk about the power of transformation.” World-renowned environmental and climate justice activist Catherine Coleman Flowers upheld the “power of transformation” as a central theme of her new book—“Holy Ground: On Activism, Environmental Justice, and Finding Hope”—at an event celebrating its release. The official book launch, hosted by the Center for Earth Ethics at Union Theological Seminary’s

A Message from Karenna Gore

Karenna Gore January 24, 2025

Image: August 13, 2018 in Belews Creek, North Carolina, standing with communities suffering lethal effects of coal ash pollution. Dear CEE Community, As this is our first newsletter of 2025, our 10th anniversary year, I want to convey greetings and thanks to each of you. I also want to acknowledge that we are in an unusual time, which for many involves a pervasive sense of dissonance, if not alienation. And