Climate Justice Revival

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Children’s Story

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Sermon Text

Climate Justice Homily – John Chmaj

“What Do We Mean by a Revival? – from UUA
Throughout religious history, revivals have marked periods of resurgence in people’s commitment to their faith traditions. Classic American tent revivals took people out of the four walls of the church and into the world. They brought the community together and served as a galvanizing force for the future, often during times of great change or anxiety.

Taking a note from those who have gone before us, the UUA Climate Justice Revival is meant to be a time to come together and re-commit. This may be time to re-imagine a way forward for Climate Justice in our congregation as it relates to a changing world. Though we may not be gathering in a tent or under the stars, we are invited to bring the revival spirit to our worship together.”

We all have an idea of what climate action is. Fundamentally it’s action towards addressing the damaging practices humans engage in that destroy creatures and habitats, deplete natural resources, and change the climate itself, making the world less habitable. Climate action is the range of events, from personal to community and national, that seek to raise awareness, advocate for change, and directly challenge toxic events and activities. The symptoms and crises are already upon us.

The underlying forces that engender and expand these destructive activities are not as often talked about. For climate destruction is ultimately a cultural event driven by attitudes and assumptions about who gets to use resources, how, and how those activities are governed (or NOT). The ‘inconvenient truth’ is that we are in a broad, deeply destructive cultural and ecological crisis. The well to do nations (and people) are wreaking the most damage that most injure the least advantaged. And the marginalized groups of society – the economically and socially disadvantaged – are receiving similar treatment. [Example slides 2 – 5].

Here is where Climate Justice takes a broader and more substantive view of many contributing factors. Not surprisingly, the factors that drive these cultural behaviors stem from many if not most of the current biases that those in power have about their place in the world, and what those not in power do and don’t deserve.

This graphic gives a general sense of how behaviors by developed nations impact other less developed nations [Slide 6 – North/South image]. Roughly, the ‘global North’ drives most of the climate degrading actions. There is more wealth, more technology, and a bias towards prioritizing profits over people. The less developed nations in the ‘global South’ suffer most from the impact of these climate behaviors. They have many fewer resources and influence to address the impacts coming “downstream”, if you will, from economically advantaged people and nations. Providing these groups a seat at the table when discussing climate action priorities is the starting point for acknowledging where we’re at, and to dialogue honestly.

We are well familiar as Unitarian Universalists how many dimensions of justice are highly unbalanced – we fight for many of these justices every day. Not only does this expanded view of where justice and injustice take place show how connected all our existing justice-based efforts are to each other. It also starts to expose where presupposition and bias in climate-based decisions impacts the very notions of what it is we’re trying to address. The people whose economic and climate circumstances drive climate narrative focus on what is visible and relevant to them: largely carbon emissions and perhaps a few related factors [Slide 7 – Climate Issues circle]. While carbon emission reduction is important, many other factors (the rest of the circle) need to be considered in how that is done for the transition to be just. All those parts have to work together. Have you ever seen media coverage or a rally about climate and inequality, about climate and goods & services, about ecotoxicity? Not often, if at all! So then, what about the other factors? Who is attending to them? Do we even know how these contribute to the overall “earth sickness” we have, who is most impacted, and how to effectively address them?

The sources of climate change stem from far beyond just economic factors. Almost every social and cultural bias of our culture influences how we understand and address climate change. [Slide 8 – Climate Justice interdependence]. This picture is not intended to give you a headache, but on one level it should. The point here is not to show how complex the issues are, but to consider how many factors of justice there truly are in our society. It challenges us to think about the multiple layers of interdependence that exist within the umbrella of “Climate Justice”.

So how can we approach all these moving parts holistically?

The first thing to do is to NOT replicate the ‘zero-sum’ attitude of previous polluters, where whomever gets to the resources and can extract them wins. This is not an ‘us vs. them’ conversation. It’s time to truly evolve our view to a global set of priorities that everyone has a stake in, and to do it in a collaborative, creative, and yes JOYFUL manner. Seek to enroll all the participants on earth to positive action, while still calling out and challenging the most destructive behaviors. As we know a combination of positive energy and firm resolve drives justice-focused activity the most effectively.

The Sufi scholar Llewellyn Vaughn-Lee points out in his book “Awakening the World” that our sense of connection to the world – and each other – is critical to advancing climate justice in joyous, authentic ways:

“With the correct attitude of spiritual service we go beyond ego and its limitations, and step into the dimension of our divine nature. In order to bring this quality into life, the divine needs our participation. We are the guardians of the planet. We need to work with its energy for the well-being of the whole…Our survival and evolution will depend on understanding the interrelationships between the parts and how they dynamically work together.”

ECAM has worked with the congregation over the past year to gather and summarize members’ feedback on East Shore climate action priorities. These are our shared priorities [Slide 9]:
1. Developing deeper Connection with Nature
2. Embracing Indigenous Wisdom about the natural world
3. Acknowledging our grief, and shifting to Hope and Action
4. Advancing Environmental Justice
5. Assuring a sustainable planet for future generations

We can work to fold in our church’s priorities into the UUA Climate Justice framework to create a powerful synergy between principles and actions. Let’s not lose hope, but nurture our shared vision!

Pushing for Climate Justice is Good Trouble!

Ann’s Section starts:

Slide 10 – Ann Intro slide. Now that John has shared about Climate Justice, I will tell a little about what Washington is doing about it. Our state, county and city governments are hard at work helping residents and businesses transition to clean energy. Many new laws are being implemented to help make that shift. One of the most important ones is the Climate Commitment Act (CCA). Let’s find out what it is, why it’s important, and how it contributes to Climate Justice.

Slide 11—What is the Climate Commitment Act? It’s a market-based cap and invest law designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in equitable ways. Emissions reductions and climate justice have to work hand in hand for success. It was signed into law in 2021 and started requiring polluters to pay fees in 2023. The funds are granted to state, county, and local agencies to support environment, clean energy, and climate justice projects. Let’s break that down a little more for you.

Slide 12—The CCA works in two ways: CAP means put a cap on and reduce pollution. The largest polluters in Washington state are required to pay for their emissions over a certain amount. Over time the cap is lowered, making emissions more expensive and motivating businesses toward clean energy and reduced costs. Most of the companies are complying and support this law. It will lower their emissions.

INVEST means the state invests the payments from polluters back into communities. The funds these companies pay help more Washingtonians switch to climate-friendly options for their homes, schools, businesses, vehicles, and more.

Bringing the biggest industry polluters to clean energy use especially benefits the more vulnerable folks John talked about. It also uses the funds to support marginalized people in their own transition to clean energy.

Slide 13—Why did they make this law? Reducing emissions faster is crucial to solving the climate crisis. According to the latest study in Science magazine, putting a price on emissions is needed to get us there. This graph shows many pathways that GHG emissions could go in the future. If we do nothing, we are in the pink area with emissions growing higher and hurting more people; if we do some things like regulations and incentives, we are better in the middle orange area, and if we put a price on pollution like the CCA does, we will be in blue bands at the bottom–we will get climate under control in the fastest and surest way.

Slide 14—Reducing emissions faster will improve the lives of all living things which are threatened by uncontrolled climate change or half measures. This is especially true for the most vulnerable economically and health wise. So, any system to solve the crises, as John said, needs to work with and benefit those most affected by it.

Slide 15—There are CCA projects in all Washington counties. Importantly, the CCA requires that at least 35% of funds be invested in projects that benefit overburdened communities, and a minimum of 10% go to projects with tribal support.

For example, The CCA serves as a clean air program. A 2023 report by the Washington Department of Ecology identified 16 communities shown in ORANGE on this Washington state map where air pollution is among the factors that make people sicker and cause earlier deaths. These communities represent 1.2 Million people-over 15% of the state population. And more communities will be added after tribal consultation.

Slide 16–Many different kinds of projects are funded, including justice, tribal, and planning.

Nearly 3 Billion dollars’ worth of grants toward clean energy and equity projects are already happening in our communities and more are pending. These include incentives and rebates to income qualified people for electric home and car upgrades.

Slide 17—But CCA is at risk of repeal this fall if voters approve Initiative 2117. We as voters this November will decide whether or not all those community projects will continue; whether or not we will use the best methods to reduce our emissions; and whether or not those who make pollution will pay for the damage they cause and help a just transition to clean energy. Ballot language for Initiative 2117 will explain how approval would remove all that CCA is doing and how a no vote would work to retain the CCA. The voter’s pamphlet will include pro and con statements.

Slide 18– CCA has been bringing the light at the end of the tunnel. It is already working and adjustments can be made as needed, so it will support both swift emission reductions and climate justice.

You may have thoughts and questions about what John and I have shared. Mark will now tell how you can continue this discussion after the service.

Slide 19—Keep this slide up for Mark’s whole presentation.