The Genesis of Pixar (post in The New Atlantis by John Murdock)
March 8, 2010
Check out this thoughtful post on Up and WALL-E and some of the origins the greener elements of those films by John Murdock writing for The New Atlantis.
Here is an excerpt from John’s post.
“The centrality of human relations and redemption to both Up and WALL-E may have something to do with the relationship between Stanton and Pete Docter, the director/co-writer of Up, and a fellow Christian. In fact, the original story for WALL-E dates back to a 1994 conversation between the two, and they earned a joint Oscar nomination for their screenwriting efforts. Both were also integral to the creation of Toy Story, and Stanton was later the executive producer of Up. It requires no great feats of interpretation to see how the directors’ mutual Biblical faith influenced the two movies. Even if some of the references to Genesis were the result of what Stanton describes as the Old Testament being ’sort of built into our DNA,’ others certainly were intentional.”
You can read the full post at The New Atlantis website by visiting http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/the-genesis-of-pixar.
Renewal’s Green Awakenings Christian Campuses Report
February 22, 2010
Check out this great resource for Christian college students, presidents, and staff. Renewal: Students Caring for Creation has released a report which tells the story of many creation care initiatives from Christian college campuses across the country. Congratulations to Ben Lowe and Anna Jane Joyner for their hard work on the report.
You can review and download the report here and read a special release from Campbellsville University here.
Dr. Tim Keller on Can Faith be Green?
February 18, 2010
Check out this excellent and thoughtful reflection at Redemer’s website. Click here.
A small preview, “In Chapter 11 He is standing in front of the tomb of his friend Lazarus who has just died of the plague or disease… He claims to be God and He is standing in front of the tomb and the bible says He is angry … Jesus Christ who says He is God can be mad at he plague and still not mad at himself, because He knows this is not the way it’s supposed to be … so someday He can end all this [pain, suffering, disease, pain] without ending us.”
When God Reminds you He’s God
January 25, 2010
by Brian McArthur
A smile in another man’s face as he patiently offers to let you pass.
The moonrise over the ocean, so big and so golden it seems like the sun; its rays illuminating the thin bands of clouds blanketing the waves.
The luminescence and spectacular beauty of a lighting storm as seen from above; pure darkness, utter blackness suddenly interrupted by a flash that throws silver lining along the mass of clouds, backlit with white fire and halfway translucent; the flicker as it dies away, like a spluttering candle.
The sea-green and aquamarine pools of the Caribbean seen from 39,000 feet; with white shores rimming barren strips of desert, and wider patches of green.
The fog and mist on hills covered in rainforest, rising and falling, creating lightshows and lending a haunting loneliness to the mountains as they spill toward the sea.
The fragrance of newly wet earth, blown in from a thunderhead miles distant, the dark streak of rain slanting toward the thirsty ground.
The amazing intricacy of certain tiny blossoms, scarcely large enough to catch your eye as you pass quickly by.
The sudden crispness in the air as summer gives way to autumn, accompanied by the occasional crunch of the largest leaves underfoot.
The unanticipated and non-negotiable generosity of a friend who pays for your meal before you even have time to protest.
Just standing in the rain and letting God wash the filth and the complications from your life, feeling his grace fall to the roots of your hair and run off your nose, drenching and renewing you completely.
Watching a falling snow gently cover the world with silence and peace; being still and knowing that He is God.
Stopping to watch a butterfly and wondering if it truly has a destination, or if it is there simply to be seen and admired.
Looking out from a mountain and thanking God you are alive.
Just listening to a friend talk about their passions, and thanking God for creating more than just you.
A squirrel springing through the grass, either in directionless bliss or abject terror at your passing.
Gazing in wonder at a sky blazing with stars, tracking the disk of our galaxy across it; a sky that helps you to realize your size in proportion to the universe, and the disproportionate love of the creator for you.
Hugging a pine tree and breathing in the butterscotch-vanilla scent.
Being deafened by the roar of a torrential downpour on a metal roof.
Swinging lazily in a hammock on a hot afternoon, gazing at ants below and being glad you’re not quite as busy.
Listening to pigeons coo in the evening and train whistles in the distance at night.
Being blinded by a flash of lighting and left deafened with the crash of thunder as God reminds you that you are mortal.
Trading a knowing glance with a fox, as both stop to contemplate one another.
Witnessing another’s baptism and sharing in their joy, as yet another screwed up individual becomes a blameless brother or sister.
Pouring out your soul in worship, sometimes oblivious, sometimes aware of and warmed by the scores of voices raised up around you, praising your common Father.
The sudden realization that somewhere, someone is praying for you.
Prayer with a friend.
God’s embrace.
U.S. President Remarks in Copenhagen
December 18, 2009
Be sure to read his full remarks here.
Our Evangelical Voice in Copenhagen IMPORTANT UPDATE
December 17, 2009
Sent 3:00 pm EST Thursday December 17, 2009 from Copenhagen
Important Update from Copenhagen:
It’s Thursday afternoon and Secretary Clinton just announced what many are describing as a major breakthrough that could break the deadlock in the talks. The “blockbuster” announcement, as it has already been described by some in the environmental community, has to do with our key concerns: appropriate funding to help the poor adapt to climate impacts and achieve climate-friendly, sustainable economic progress.
Only hours earlier it was being reported that China was saying that an agreement on major elements of a comprehensive deal wouldn’t be possible. (My interpretation: China isn’t comfortable with where the so-called “MRV” discussions with the US are going and wanted to have everyone join in a weak statement in order to have the blame shared, rather than have most of it fall on them.)
With this announcement from Secretary Clinton, the US is clearly putting pressure on China to come to an agreement on the MRV issues, namely that efforts on emissions must be measurable, reported on, and be verifiable. The US wants such verification to be transparent to the international community, but China is very sensitive to the idea of outside observers verifying their efforts.
Such verification is absolutely essential. There is no way we can ever pass comprehensive climate legislation in the US unless this issue is adequately dealt with.
So to provide a much needed boost to the stalled talks Secretary Clinton announced (see relevant excerpts below) that “the United States is prepared to work with other countries toward a goal of jointly mobilizing $100 billion a year by 2020 to address the climate change needs of developing countries.”
Sounds good. But …
1. There’s a big condition: this $100 billion a year offer is only good if a deal can be struck in Copenhagen on verification. As Secretary Clinton said, it must be “in the context of a strong accord in which all major economies stand behind meaningful mitigation actions and provide full transparency as to their implementation …” So if China (and other major emerging economies) don’t agree to a deal on verification, this $100 billion a year aid package for poorest countries won’t be forthcoming. (Politically, this is an attempt to split the developing countries, which normally operate as a block called the G77.)
2. It is very unclear where this funding will come from, both in terms of how much the US is prepared to contribute and how much will be from public sources and how much from private.
3. It is also very unclear how much will go towards the three areas needing funding: (1) adaptation; (2) forestry; (3) and mitigation/tech transfer.
4. Though $100 billion is a substantial sum, the American people must be assured that we are making a wise investment. This is especially true with something as controversial as climate change, we must hear from our relief and development agencies and others on exactly what is needed. A strong commitment is important but must be wisely spent with oversight and accountability.
EEN has been jointly focused on securing adequate funding for adaptation that meets the Bali Action Plan criteria of being “adequate, predictable and sustainable” and “new and additional.” We have worked with other religious communities in the US through the National Religious Partnership for the Environment (NRPE) on such adaptation funding within comprehensive climate change legislation.
Let me make three points on EEN’s position:
1. Adaptation funding needs to be separate from the other funding. While on the ground there can be helpful overlap between adaptation and mitigation (which includes both forestry and clean development/tech transfer), there are many, many needs that are primarily if not exclusively adaptation needs. This includes such things as drought resistant crops, or dealing with health impacts, or creating robust disaster preparedness programs that can deal with the climate-intensified natural disasters, or helping with climate refugees.
2. The adaptation funding of this package should be public funding, and the US should contribute 25% of the public adaptation funding in keeping with our history of generosity in the areas of AIDS funding and past help with major international disasters. We shouldn’t be less generous with adaptation than we have been with these other international humanitarian concerns.
3. A major portion of the $100 billion a year should go towards public financing of a balance of both bi-lateral and multi-lateral adaptation funding. (As a reminder of the need: a recent World Bank study puts adaptation needs at $75-100 billion a year.) The bi-lateral funding from the US should be handled by USAID and be available as grants to non-profit relief and development organizations such as World Vision, Food for the Hungry, etc. These organizations have long-term relationships with poor communities in poor countries, and will ensure both accountability of the funds spent as well as that local communities are strong participants in the development and implementation of adaptation projects. Further, such bi-lateral funding will help with a key sticking point in the talks — whether such funding should go to most vulnerable developing nations or most vulnerable developing communities/individuals. The multi-lateral funding should go to the former, but the bi-lateral funding should be allowed to go to most vulnerable developing communities/individuals who may live in developing countries other than the least developed countries.
I am encouraged by this major announcement by Secretary Clinton on aid to developing countries. It’s great that it may help to un-stall the talks here. But, to play off of the old saying that the devil is in the details, righteousness is also in the details. We need to know more of the details before we can fully celebrate this $100 billion-a-year offer.
Excerpts From Secretary Clinton’s Remarks:
There is a way forward based on a number of core elements: decisive national actions, an operational accord that internationalizes those actions, assistance for nations that are the most vulnerable and least prepared to meet the effects of climate change, and standards of transparency that provide credibility to the entire process. The world community should accept no less.
And the United States is ready to embrace this path.
First, we have announced our intention to cut our emissions in the range of 17 percent below 2005 levels in 2020 and ultimately in line with final climate and energy legislation. In light of the President’s goals, the expected pathway in pending legislation would extend those cuts to 30 percent by 2025, 42 percent by 2030, and more than 80 percent by 2050.
Second, we also recognize that an agreement must provide generous financial and technological support for developing countries, particularly the poorest and most vulnerable, to help them reduce emissions and adapt to climate change. That’s why we joined an effort to mobilize fast-start funding that will ramp up to $10 billion in 2012 to support the adaptation and mitigation efforts of countries in need.
And today I’d like to announce that, in the context of a strong accord in which all major economies stand behind meaningful mitigation actions and provide full transparency as to their implementation, the United States is prepared to work with other countries toward a goal of jointly mobilizing $100 billion a year by 2020 to address the climate change needs of developing countries. We expect this funding will come from a wide variety of sources, public and private, bilateral and multilateral, including alternative sources of finance. This will include a significant focus on forestry and adaptation, particularly, again I repeat, for the poorest and most vulnerable among us.
So there should be no doubt about the commitment of the United States to reaching a successful agreement here in Copenhagen and meeting this great global challenge together.
This next part of the statement made clear that the US is wanting to pressure China to agree to transparency and verification of measurable efforts on emissions — and if they don’t, then the poorest countries will lose out of the financing being offered here in Copenhagen by the developed countries:
I am deeply concerned about the consequences for developing countries – from Bangladesh to the Maldives, from the Caribbean to West Africa and the Pacific Islands – if we cannot secure the kind of strong operational accord I’ve described today. We know what the consequences will be for the farmer in Bangladesh or the herder in Africa or the family being battered by hurricanes in Central America. Without that accord, there won’t be the kind of joint global action from all of the major economies we all want to see, and the effects in the developing world could be catastrophic. We know what will happen. Rising seas, lost farmland, drought and so much else. Without the accord, the opportunity to mobilize significant resources to assist developing countries with mitigation and adaptation will be lost.
Rev. Jim Ball
Writing from Copenhagen
An Open Letter to the President
December 16, 2009
President Obama
The White House
Washington, DC
Dear Mr. President,
We write to you on behalf of the businesses and millions of Americans we represent to urge you to lead at this historic moment and secure a fair and ambitious plan for global cooperation to combat climate change. In particular, we ask that you reprioritize American policy to phase out the sizable taxpayer subsidies we provide the fossil fuel industry and instead significantly increase the U.S. investment in global efforts to protect tropical forests, provide humanitarian assistance to protect vulnerable communities from climate impacts, and speed the deployment of clean energy technologies. With strong leadership and new proposals in the coming days, the United States can and should secure additional financing commitments from other nations as part of a broader agreement from major emitters to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
A Copenhagen agreement should include a landmark global plan to protect tropical forests from the destruction that causes approximately 15% of the emissions that contribute to global warming. Backed by a broad coalition of businesses and conservation groups, many in Congress have already supported measures to finance global efforts to protect tropical forests in climate legislation. The House-passed American Clean Energy and Security Act includes strong financing for efforts to reduce emissions from global deforestation by 720 million tons annually by 2020 – emission reductions that are above and beyond the emission standards in the bill. Similar provisions are included in the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act that has been approved by the Senate Environment Committee. You have an opportunity to offer this as a supplemental commitment here in Copenhagen and ask other nations to match it.
From Biloxi to Bangladesh, poor families get hit first and worst by the effects of climate change. We must help the poor in poor countries adapt to the impacts of climate change, including increased water scarcity, extreme weather events, increases in diseases, and declining agricultural productivity. Since climate impacts act as “threat multipliers,” such destabilization and the increase of refugees also will lead to security threats. Just as climate legislation in Congress must address impacts of climate on America’s poor, a global agreement should make sure that such impacts do not make it more difficult for the world’s poor to create better lives for themselves. The good news is that the solutions can help them climb out of poverty.
There are several opportunities to generate the necessary financing from innovative sources. At the G-20 and at the meeting of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation nations, you helped lead an effort to phase out the subsidies of fossil fuels globally. These subsidies have been costing American taxpayers $10 billion annually. International transport emissions from aviation and shipping were left out of the Kyoto Protocol. The loophole for these fast growing sectors should be closed through a global sectoral cap, and revenue generated should be directed to these priorities.
A successful Copenhagen outcome will include global targets for both emissions and climate finance. The United States should encourage and support a strong global commitment through 2020 for public finance of forest, adaptation and technology initiatives, backed by specific options for securing this funding. This effort will help advance global cooperation toward a more ambitious and fairer global deal that involves all nations.
We stand ready to support your leadership.
Sincerely,
Maggie Fox
President & CEO, Alliance for Climate Protection
Michael Eckhart
President, American Council On Renewable Energy
Daniel Magraw
President, Center for International Environmental Law
Mindy Lubber,
President, Ceres/BICEP
(Business for Innovative Climate & Energy Policy)
Jeff Anderson
CEO, Clean Economy Network Inc.
Fred Krupp
President, Environmental Defense Fund
The Rev. Mitchell C. Hescox
President/CEO, Evangelical Environmental Network
Benjamin K. Homan
President and Chief Executive Officer, Food for the Hungry, Inc.
Gene Karpinski
President, League of Conservation Voters
Larry Schweiger
President and CEO, National Wildlife Federation
Frances Beinecke
President, Natural Resources Defense Council
Carl Pope
Executive Director, Sierra Club
Stephen Smith
Executive Director, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy
Bill Meadows
President, The Wilderness Society
Kevin Knobloch
President, Union of Concerned Scientists
Jonathan Lash
President, World Resources Institute
Carter Roberts
President, World Wildlife Fund
Gillian Caldwell
Campaign Director, 1 Sky
Our evangelical voice in Copenhagen post #3
December 16, 2009
One in a series of updates from Rev. Jim Ball of EEN from Copenhagen where he is attending the international climage change talks. This one was sent Wednesday, December 16, 2009.
Update from Copenhagen:
Yesterday morning (Tue) those of us with organizations that are a part of the National Religious Partnership for the Environment (NRPE) were able to facilitate a meeting of religious leaders from India, Honduras, and Ghana with a senior staff person from the US State Department. I worked with Tearfund, a British evangelical relief and development organization, to have Osvaldo Munguia attend. Osvaldo is co-founder and Executive Director of MOPAWI (read more here), a Honduran Christian organization that works with the indigenous peoples in the Mosquito Coast region to achieve sustainable economic progress through conservation practices. Osvaldo told this senior State official about one of their projects that addresses the two parts of the climate change challenge: mitigation and adaptation. (With global warming we must deal both with the causes and the consequences. Mitigation, or pollution reduction, addresses the causes. Adaptation seeks to enhance resilience and reduce vulnerability to the impacts or consequences.)
This effort replaces slash and burn agricultural practices – which destroys rainforest and depletes the soils within a few years, forcing poor farmers to repeat the cycle – with what is called an “alley cropping” approach using the Inga tree. Alley cropping involves planting crops between rows of trees (in this instance corn and beans). The Inga tree, native to Central America, is utilized for several reasons. First, it replenishes the soil’s productive capacity because it helps to fix both nitrogen and phosphorus back into the soil. Second, it grows quickly, creating a canopy in two years whose shade helps to kill weeds. Third, the trees can be carefully pruned year after year, with the larger branches used for firewood and the smaller ones left with the leaves to create mulch that retains moisture and feeds the crops.
Other representatives at the meeting described the impacts that were happening in India and Africa.
This was an excellent opportunity to lift up these voices on the front lines of climate change, and to highlight positive responses to this challenge.
Rev. Jim Ball
from Copenhagen
What about those Christmas Trees?
December 16, 2009
If they Worship the one true God than use them. Here’s a good piece from Andrea Thompson.
Our evangelical voice in Copenhagen
December 13, 2009
One in a series of updates from Rev. Jim Ball of EEN from Copenhagen where he is attending the international climage change talks. This one was sent Saturday Dec. 12, 2009.
“Greetings from Copenhagen! Upwards of 30,000 could be here this week for the international climate change talks. Yesterday (Fri Dec 11) was my first full day here and I’ve already had a chance to briefly touch base with senior staff of Senators, and will be doing more of that in the coming days. I also met colleagues from World Vision Australia, including the CEO, Tim Costello, who today interviewed me for their video blog.
Many here are still talking about a very moving speech from the senior delegate from Tuvalu, a small-island state in the Pacific. For them, what is accomplished in the climate talks will determine their survival. It’s that simple.
Another thing creating buzz here is the back-and-forth between China and the US, the world’s two largest emitters who together comprise over 40% of the world’s global warming pollution. Both countries must lead and stop playing the blame game. Today’s NYTimes editorial, while again acknowledging the need for US leadership, rightly highlighted the need for leadership from China.”
Rev. Jim Ball
from Copenhagen
[watch for our December e-newsletter which carries more information on what we are hearing from our brothers and sisters in Tuvalu.]
