Hope and the Climate Crisis

 On 18 November Rebecca Solnit wrote in the Guardian about avoiding despair. In her article "Ten ways to confront the climate crisis without losing hope" (LINK) she says:

"The world as we knew it is coming to an end, and it’s up to us how it ends and what comes after. It’s the end of the age of fossil fuel, but if the fossil-fuel corporations have their way the ending will be delayed as long as possible, with as much carbon burned as possible. ... If we succeed, those who come after will look back on the age of fossil fuel as an age of corruption and poison. ... We must remake the world, and we can remake it better. "

Remaking the world is what the Christian church is about. In Christopher's sermon this morning he talked about one desperate prisoner in a harsh London gaol overcoming his fear and changing the world around him. Such thing happen, but they do not happen without our engagement and commitment. Rebecca Solnit has ten recommendations that include basing feelings on facts and being aware of what is going on that is good. Grass-roots initiatives have been effective in getting rich universities and even investment funds to withdraw investments from the fossil fuel industry. 

One initiative in Berlin is to eliminate cars. The Local published a story on 21 September 2021 (LINK): 

"A citizens' initiative called 'Berlin autofrei' (car-free Berlin) certainly hopes so. It's drafted a proposal - currently being reviewed by the city's Senate - to cut the number of cars in the city and create the world's largest reduced-car area." 

These kinds of initiatives help to raise awareness, not merely about the damage that gasoline-burning automobiles do, but in sensitizing people to the damage done by covering the earth with concrete and asphalt instead of with plants and flowers and trees that can  replenish the atmosphere. Eliminating cars would  also save the lives of pedestrians and cyclists. Such actions are small steps, but every small step helps to protect God's creation.

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