May 16, 2012
One of the chief difficulties in addressing climate change is that we are all complicit in the propagation of the warming of our world. Even those of us who are seriously concerned about this issue play a substantial role in the problem.
I ride my bike to work as often as I can, but my bike tires and even much of my clothing comes from foreign factories powered by coal fired furnaces. According to Scientific American, Producing the annual beef diet of the average American emits as much greenhouse gas as a car driven more than 1,800 miles. Just being alive in the first world and reaping the benefits of the free market and all of the infrastructure that supports it makes it dang near impossible to live a life that is entirely removed from industrial carbon cycles.
We must act humbly, but with purpose. None of us are innocent, but the whole of humanity is charged with the responsibility of doing better. The hard fact is that the world will become warmer. Retroactively reducing atmospheric CO2 content to preindustrial levels is no longer an option. People will die of hunger, thirst, heat exhaustion, extreme weather events and in myriad resource shortage conflicts. People already do worldwide, everyday. But the frequency and severity of these events will increase in direct proportion with warming trends.
Apr 16, 2012
On behalf of our millions of members and supporters, we urge you to oppose the “Surface Transportation Extension Act, Part II” and to take up and pass the bipartisan Senate transportation bill, H.R. 14, without adding divisive changes.
Mar 27, 2012
Joining other faith organizations, FCNL has signed onto a letter supporting EPA’s Mercury Air Toxics Rule which would reduce mercury pollution and other air toxics, including arsenic, chromium, nickel, and acid gases, from power plants around the United States. A substantial percentage of mercury emissions come from coal fired power plants (51% in 2005). Mercury exposure is known to damage the fetal development of children, and may result in mental retardation, cerebral palsy, deafness, and blindness. The faith community is currently opposing an effort in the Senate to halt the rule through the Congressional Review Act.
Mar 27, 2012
The USAID climate strategy illustrates the Agency's clear commitment to addressing the consequences and some of the key causes of a changing climate in developing countries. Moreover, the strategy creates a strong framework for building on and expanding effective climate programs to bolster resilience to the impacts of climate change and promote low emissions development through forest and ecosystem protection and the adoption of clean energy technologies.
Mar 26, 2012
As the State Department considers its allocations of the Economic Support Fund (ESF) for Fiscal Year 2012, we write to ask that you direct the $200 million authorized for “Multilateral Assistance, International Financial Institutions” to critical climate and food security accounts. In addition to our support for this transfer of funds, we also want to take this opportunity to urge that the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) and the Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF), also funded out of the ESF, be funded at FY10 levels.
Mar 26, 2012
Guided by Spirit, our Quaker Meeting has long had a deep concern about moving more strongly into right relationship with Earth and toward a more ecologically sustainable society. We firmly believe that Spirit intends that we should be good trustees of Earth, preserving and conserving all that is here.
Mar 13, 2012
The House Energy and Commerce Committee has approved legislation that would reverse President Obama’s rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline. Politicians and pundits alike have been promoting the pipeline because there is a lot of profit to be made. However, in order for the project to be approved they have to convince the American people of all of the hollow benefits that the pipeline would provide. Every single one of those benefits is a deception. Let’s take a closer look.
Mar 9, 2012
The House Energy and Commerce Committee has approved legislation that would reverse President Obama’s rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline. Politicians and pundits alike have been promoting the pipeline because there is a lot of profit to be made. However, in order for the project to be approved they have to convince the American people of all of the hollow benefits that the pipeline would provide. Every single one of those benefits is a deception. Let’s take a closer look.
Feb 10, 2012
Semper Fidelis-often shortened to Semper Fi-is a Latin phrase meaning "always faithful." It's most commonly known as the motto for the United States Marine Corps. The phrase has taken on a new meaning for me as details about the poisoning of Marines and Marine Corps families who lived at Camp Lejeune, the United States' largest Marine base, have come to light. For decades, the Marine Corps dumped toxic waste in Lejeune which leached into the groundwater, affecting as many as one million Marines and their families.
For me, this story is more than an abstraction. I was born at Lejeune in the 1980s. My father joined the Marines to help pay for college, and he served for four years as an officer before returning to Harvard to get a second (and eventually a third) degree. My dad was stationed in Lejeune in 1989, and I was born on July 4th of that year--a fitting start for a Quaker peace activist. When I first read about this story in The Washington Post, it hit me right in the gut. Is this me? Could I be sick? How could this happen?
Feb 9, 2012
The House Energy and Commerce Committee has approved legislation that would reverse President Obama’s rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline. Politicians and pundits alike have been promoting the pipeline because there is a lot of profit to be made. However, in order for the project to be approved they have to convince the American people of all of the hollow benefits that the pipeline would provide. Every single one of those benefits is a deception. Let’s take a closer look.
Dec 12, 2011
The “North American Security Act” Is the GOP’s attempt at forcing a decision on the Keystone XL pipeline within 60 days. The act will take the form of a rider on the payroll tax cut extension legislation. Proponents insist it will create 20,000 direct jobs. It is argued that the pipeline will strengthen national security by reducing conflict oil dependence by promoting trade with a neighbor. It is also suggested that the U.S. economy would benefit. Here is what lies beneath the rug.
Dec 2, 2011
The United States is the only nation on the globe where political leadership has failed to come to the consensus that climate change is both a real and immediate issue.
Nov 28, 2011
The development of the Keystone XL pipeline was delayed by the Obama administration until at least 2013 for further review of environmental implications, and to study the possibility of an alternative route.
Jul 18, 2011
Our laws are filled with perverse incentives that make it hard to change from our old carbon-based energy system to a renewable system.
Jul 8, 2011
In an effort to keep alive some of the incentives for the ethanol industry, while also facing the reality of growing opposition to ethanol subsidies, a bipartisan group of Senators have come to a compromise to repeal an ethanol tax credit as well as the tariff on ethanol imports by the end of the month.
Jun 24, 2011
The Clean Air Act provides powerful, cost-effective, and proven tools to combat pollution. It is the best tool in place to combat greenhouse gas pollution on a national scale.
Jun 22, 2011
Surging gas prices, a ballooning deficit, and record profits for the oil industry have renewed interest in subsidies on Capital Hill. In response law-makers are rushing to hold hearings, and propose legislation on this politically sensitive issue.
The relationship between high gas prices and record paydays for the oil industry is fairly straight forward. As world crude-oil prices increase (which is determined on the international market and by some speculative trading), profit margins grow, while production prices stay relatively flat. Companies such as BP, Exxon, Shell, Chevron and ConocoPhillips, are able to pass these increased prices on to the costumer at little expense to operations.
May 17, 2011
Surging gas prices, a ballooning deficit, and record profits for the oil industry have renewed interest in subsidies on Capital Hill. In response law-makers are rushing to hold hearings, and propose legislation on this politically sensitive issue.
The relationship between high gas prices and record paydays for the oil industry is fairly straight forward. As world crude-oil prices increase (which is determined on the international market and by some speculative trading), profit margins grow, while production prices stay relatively flat. Companies such as BP, Exxon, Shell, Chevron and ConocoPhillips, are able to pass these increased prices on to the costumer at little expense to operations.
May 17, 2011
The week of May 16th, the Senate will vote on a bill (S. 940), introduced by Senator Robert Menendez (NJ), that would end some subsidies for the biggest five oil companies in the United States and use the money saved – about $4 billion per year – to reduce the deficit. The subsidies are loopholes in the tax code - tax credits and deductions that only benefit the oil and gas industry.
The five largest oil companies made $30 billion in the first three months of 2011. As Sen. Menendez has pointed out, with profits like that they do not need more help from taxpayers, especially when Congress is facing tough choices about cutting medical, welfare and environmental programs that benefit millions of people.
Apr 14, 2011
During the 2011 budget debates, FCNL has been greatly concerned about cuts to funding for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Originally proposed to be cut by 39%, the EPA’s 2011 budget has been cut by 16% from the 2010 levels. Most of the anti-EPA policy amendments on the budget bills were dropped; thank you for your letters, phone calls, and lobbying! With the help of many people around the country, FCNL, through lobby visits, letter writing, and phone calls was able to help protect the EPA’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.
