Climate Change
the challenge of our lifetime
(and many lifetimes to come if we don't act decisively and soon)
The last time there was this much CO2 in the global atmosphere, 4 million years ago during the Pliocene Period, temperatures rose 7 degrees (F), sea levels by 78 feet.
"The only thing standing between this and that is human response." David Wallace-Wells.
In other words: We broke it - the climate - and we can be the ones to fix it.
Want to turn down the heat?
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The Ten (Climate) Commandments
Thou shalt drive less and walk, bike, share rides and telecommute more
Thou shalt eat lower on the food chain and clean thy plate – then storing, composting or sharing the rest
Thou shalt use less energy in thine house or office – disconnecting, insulating, ventilating, tolerating indoor temperature swings
Thou shalt buy less goods and services, as this is responsible for the majority of our greenhouse gas emissions: reframe (the meaning of life), refuse, reduce, reuse and recycle – in that order
We shalt support girls’ education and empower women as keys to addressing the climate crisis
We shalt support regenerative farming and reforestation as ways of restoring ecosystems and storing carbon
We shalt support young people as they call the perpetrators to account and generally take it to “the man” – and shalt follow their lead
We shalt support native communities and listen to them for the ecological wisdom they have to offer
We shalt learn about the unjust impact climate change is having on the world’s poor and on nature – and seek to make reparations
We shalt devote ourselves and call our communities to loving our planet and creating a livable future for our kind and all life
The Ten (Climate) Commandments
proposed by New Community Project
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Getting specific about these lifestyle choices:
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What we eat (lower on the food chain, closer to home, beans replace beef - eelgrass anyone?) Palm oil is in half the stuff in the grocery store - and producing it releases nearly 1 percent of global greenhouse gases - boycott it!
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How we get around (every mile we drive typically emits a pound of CO2 into the atmosphere; electric cars are better, but still emit one-third as much carbon as gas-powered vehicles, plus there's the issue of the batteries and lithium mining's eco and other impacts; plus, any car needs roads, creates roadkill, and isolates us from neighbor and nature)
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The size of our dwellings and how energy efficient they are, since 20 percent of US emissions are "home-grown". Adjusting the thermostat by 2 degrees saves a ton of CO2!
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How much stuff we consume (it takes energy to make stuff, and a lot of it is shipped from abroad - just 15 container ships create as much carbon emissions as all the world's cars)
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Lawn size (mowing = 25 million tons of CO2 per year in USA)
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Challenge your school, congregation or other group to take climate change seriously; invite NCP staff to stop in for a workshop - we're cheap, knowledgeable and occasionally funny :)
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By your own lifestyle show others that a good life can be had without sacrificing a livable future
Your town on climate - see how many more 90+ degree days there are today as compared to the past.
(here's our personal CO2 calculator with points for bad and good behaviors)
Farther
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Advocate for local systems to be climate-friendly: bike lanes, ride-share, farmers markets
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Our Sustainable Living Center in Harrisonburg, VA led the way in getting that city to adopt a 50 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2025. More here.
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Call for legislation to support carbon taxes, green energy and other policies to reduce fossil fuel emissions
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Beavers! Often considered a pest, turns out they are our ally in a climate-changing world!
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Solar farms are also sometimes considered a "pest". Whether this is due to of lack of information or because some people don't care for "solar" or anything that responds to climate change, fight back with facts. Here's an analysis of how much land it takes to generate different forms of energy. For many, taking the tops off of mountains in WV to get coal is not as bad as a solar array in the field next door. And doesn't add in the land degradation from climate change caused by fossil fuel use, which is big and getting bigger, from Africa drying and Asia flooding to the American West burning to the Arctic melting. And since money talks, here are the numbers cost-wise on moving from coal to renewables.
Farthest
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The world lost 10 million acres of forest in 2020, releasing the CO2 equivalent of two years' worth of US vehicle travel in the process. Get your school, club or congregation involved in our Two (!) Million Tree Campaign to do something about it!
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Here's a list of the most climate change-vulnerable countries in the world - NCP partner areas Malawi, Myanmar and South Sudan are regularly among the most at-risk.
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Educating girls and empowering women are two of the top ten recommendations for reducing climate change from the book Drawdown – do both through our Give a Girl a Chance fund
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Join campaigns to protect tropical forests, limit palm oil production, empower native people
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Go on our Learning Tours to the Amazon, Arctic and Dine reservation in NM to support native communities as they protect the environment, deal with climate change and battle the extractive industries
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NCP's David Radcliff on causes, effects and solutions to climate change =>
These Malawian families were down to one meal a day, as their crops failed due to erratic monsoon rains - one of the impacts of climate change. D. Radcliff photo
NCP's Jubilee Carbon Farm in Virginia is turning food production from an emitter of carbon to a way to store carbon.
NCP supports native communities in the Americas both in their roles as defenders of natural areas and in their reforestation efforts.