Canadian Mennonite
Volume 12, No. 12
June 9, 2008
Carbon revelations
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When I’ve let slip among friends that I study facets of climate change, I’ve sometimes sensed a furtive unease, a polite drift of attentiveness. We people of faith have not always talked easily about global warming. We worry, perhaps, that stressing too much such earthly questions might detract from more-pressing spiritual aims, that saving the environment will distract us from saving souls.
I wonder that, too. For now, though, my timid answer is this: Climate change deserves no special prominence in our churches, no bold-faced items in our bulletins. Rather—and this is harder—we might enfold it into our other faith-oriented aims. It’s not a question of evangelizing less so we can preach environmental ethics more. We evangelize more by voicing and living our hope in the Redeemer of all on this earth. Saving the environment, then, is not a detour from the saving of souls; it’s on the road that leads us there.
The issue
Our home on this earth is astonishing in grandeur, exquisite in grace and elegance. And, my biases notwithstanding, few facets of this creation are more enthralling than the relentless cyclical rhythms of carbon.
The air all about us contains this element as carbon dioxide (CO2). Using sunlight, green plants trap this carbon gas, turning it into sugars. The earth’s creatures—fungi, giraffes and people—then ingest this carbon and breathe it back into the air again.
And so the carbon atoms flit and flow around the planet, continuously being absorbed by plants, resting for a while (perhaps in soils as humus), before finding their way back into the air, over and over again, furnishing energy to countless creatures. This seamless continuity, surely one of the Creator’s finest touches, connects us all. The carbon fuelling your very thought this moment will soon escape your lungs, and one day soon may reside in someone’s banana; the carbon in that rotting log in the park may one day appear in your french fry.
But CO2 also serves another critical function—it helps keep us warm. Along with other greenhouse gases, CO2 absorbs energy radiated from the sun-heated earth, keeping a layer of warmth next to its surface. We depend on this greenhouse effect; without it, our planet would be a frigid, barren place. If CO2 in air increases too much, too quickly, though, the enhanced greenhouse effect might become uncomfortable.
And the CO2 content has been rising because we’ve been messing with the carbon cycle:
• We began by cutting down forests, burning them, releasing in bursts of flame their carbon stores as CO2.
• We ploughed up grasslands for farmland, advancing decay of soil carbon to CO2.
• But most ominously, beginning with the Industrial Revolution, we have been burning fossil carbon—solar energy trapped eons ago by prehistoric plants—and spewing it into the air as CO2.
And with more and more of us scrabbling about and our demands for energy growing year by year, these emissions are hastening. Today, we emit about seven billion tonnes of fossil carbon into the air each year, which averages out to about a tonne per person per year. Sadly, Canadians emit much more than that!
Although trees and oceans mop up some of that extra CO2, they can’t keep up. So the CO2 in our air keeps rising. Before the Industrial Revolution its concentration was 280 parts per million (ppm); when I was a student it was 330 ppm; today it is 380 ppm; and every year now it goes up about another 2 ppm.
How will that affect our climate? Scientists cannot yet predict that exactly. The complexity of creation still confuses their best equations. Not least among the uncertainties is the behaviour of the planet’s most capricious species: us!
But with passing time and growing understanding, it seems harder and harder to justify a waning optimism that nothing unpleasant will ever happen. The worries abound:
• Will the sea level rise, swamping the millions, like those in Bangladesh, who live on the ocean’s edge?
• Will droughts and hunger visit Africa more often?
• Will we lose even more plants and animals, as they are squeezed from their habitats?
• Will diseases spread ever wider on a warmer earth?
Affected most by these changes will be the weak, the vulnerable, the poor—the ones largely innocent of causing the changes—instead of the wealthy (us) who brought the changes about.
Some still insist that we cannot yet predict the future easily, so let’s wait until we know exactly what will happen. But waiting for certainty may only amplify our children’s problems. The earth responds slowly and subtly to changes we impose on it, so the effects of our assaults on it today will continue long after we have stopped.
Our response
Although consensus is now building among scientists, arguments about the impending warming still fester, even in Christian circles. But maybe such debates are misdirected, maybe they address the wrong question. For the deeper issue is not how much the earth is warming, but how faithfully we are stewarding God’s gracious creation. Global warming is merely a symptom of deeper ills, a symptom of greed, of injustice, of violence to each other and to our Maker. It is a symptom of our selfishly squandering the gifts of God.
Whatever our viewpoint, surely we can agree that, as a people of faith, we want to use energy more thoughtfully; to take more tender care of the land, the seas, the skies; to foster peace among us, for what ravages the earth and skies more than conflict?
Is that not precisely what is needed to avert climate change? Endless debates about science merely distract us. What counts is that we, worshippers of our Creator, become more frugal, more reverential, more far-seeing in how we live in God’s handiwork.
Jesus says two commandments undergird all others: Love the Lord your God, and love your neighbour as yourself. Can we pretend to love God while trampling on a creation he deemed good? And can we pretend to love our neighbours while we smugly besmirch their skies? We are all connected. The CO2 from my sputtering Pontiac seeps into the skies of the Bangladeshi peasant; he, too, is my neighbour. And more sobering, the child still unborn—the vulnerable child awaiting innocently the consequences of what I do this day—she, too, is my neighbour.
How we behave on this land, graciously given by God to us and to our neighbours, surely affects our relationship to him. And surely it colours how others view our praise of God, and whether they want to worship him too. Will they be inspired by our love of the one whose exquisite gifts we trash?
What can we do?
Our first instinct might be to draw up lists of dos and don’ts—regimens and rules by which to judge our progress and each other. These must come, I suppose, but they are not the beginning.
The place to start is to see the majesty, to cherish the mystery, to exult in awe of what God has made. We moderns have withdrawn from creation. We dwell in insulated palaces and scurry about in motorized canisters of steel and glass, sealed from the wind, rain and starlight. We eat foods encased in plastic, plucked from sterile metal racks. We stare transfixed at flickering screens, forgetting how to really see.
Seeing is the first step, for seeing leads to wonder. And wonder leads to worship. Who of us can gaze skyward at night, beholding light that left a star towards our eyes a thousand years ago, and not want to honour someone? Who can contemplate a grain of rice, knowing its sun-given energy may fuel a poetic phrase, and not yearn for someone to praise? Who can watch the tulip unfold from the long-frozen earth and not be driven to worship?
In thrall of wonder, then, we bow our heads in humble gratitude, honouring the life-breathing Creator of the mysteries about us. And we fall to our knees, repenting of having walked unseeing through mazes of miracles and trampled obliviously on artistry crafted with infi-nite care. Repentance, then, leads to joy anew in nurturing our little fragments of creation.
Sometimes we’re tempted to ask, “But what difference does my paltry effort make? If humanity emits seven billion tonnes of carbon into the air each year, does the litre of gas I leave unburned by walking to work today really matter?”
But that evades the issue. I am not called to solve all global ills, but only to be faithful with the gifts in my care—the moment of time I exist in, the plot of land I walk on, the litre of gas I use (or not) today. I can be content with nurturing the sprout from a mustard seed planted, the litre of gas unburned, the newly planted sapling, the lesson of caring taught to a child, the fervent prayer of thanks for petunias.
The reward from each little act of stewardship may not be a world saved, but our own faithfulness confirmed. My little act of reverence may not change the world much, but it will change me. I will be remade. Our acts of faith may not yet heal the earth, but they may awaken us. And having been transformed, we become the salt that pervades a world grown musty. Dare we dream what our Creator might make of that?
Finally, then, from our trivial acts of faithfulness comes hope. That, in the end, is our greatest joy and most urgent mandate—conveying hope to an anxious, troubled world. Despite all the omi-
nous signs, all the wringing of hands and voices of gloom, there is hope—for we are not in this alone. We are stewards for the Creator, who, we believe, is intent on restoring what he has created and we have abused. We share the aims of the Creator, whose unrelenting plan, it seems, is to redeem, to reclaim, to resurrect.
The opportunity
As children of the Creator, we are invited by God to make known his love and forgiveness, and his enfolding care for us all. The question of caring for creation need not distract from that calling. Indeed, it’s a new chance to show how much we reverence our Lord. It guides us to nurturing peace, defusing the violence that so destroys God’s handiwork. And it gives us a chance again to be renewed and redeemed ourselves by an act of faithful devotedness to the God who longs to save us.
Putting a face to climate change
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Recently, we’ve seen increased energy expended on creation care within the Mennonite Church. In my many conversations on environmental issues, I’ve noted a number of reasons for this:
- Many see creation care as an inherently spiritual journey. Who can witness a beautiful sunset, or listen to the wind among the trees, and not experience the presence of God?
- Reports from the scientific community have raised awareness that something is seriously wrong with God’s creation and humans are largely responsible.
- Caring for creation is, dare I say it, fun! Living simply and in harmony with creation is a life-giving experience that compels many to untangle themselves from highly consumptive and hectic lifestyles.
Need another reason to care for creation? How about because Jesus said so? Being a disciple of Christ implies caring for our brothers and sisters, something that is not new to us Mennonites. We have a faithful tradition of adhering to Jesus’ command to care for the poor, seen most succinctly in Matthew 25. In this passage, Jesus puts a face to injustice, for Christ himself is one of the sick and hungry.
Similarly, Jesus challenges us to see his face in the marginalized people of our world, forcing us to recognize that each person is a beautiful child of God. To follow Jesus faithfully, we, too, must put a face to injustice by standing with our brothers and sisters against practices that harm the earth.
Unfortunately, the Mennonite Church hasn’t consistently or forcefully proclaimed the connection between environmental destruction and human injustice. To some, caring for creation is even at odds with social justice, as if protecting polar bears must come at the expense of raising people out of poverty. Yet God made us to be inextricably connected with the earth, so that any offence we commit against creation we ultimately commit against humans as well. It is time we remember our oneness with all of creation by putting a face to climate change.
Sheila Watt-Cloutier was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for her tireless efforts to raise awareness of the impact climate change has on her people in Canada’s Arctic. The very survival of the Inuit people is threatened with warming temperatures breaking up ice, hunting populations struggling to survive and weather patterns changing significantly. She states very clearly, “We must give climate change in the Arctic a human face—an Inuk face.”
The dignity of these proud people is being eroded because we have failed to understand that our contribution to climate change is having very real consequences for our northern brothers and sisters.
Thinking globally, there are many faces that will struggle to adapt to climate change. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a series of reports on the impacts climate change will have on various regions of the world. It concluded that sub-Saharan Africa will likely bear the worst of these impacts, with scarce and irregular rains threatening subsistence farmers. By 2020, between 75 million and 250 million people are projected to be exposed to an increase of water stress and decreased agricultural production.
If we see the faces of hungry children when we make crucial lifestyles choices—where to live, what food to consume or how we travel—we are more likely to be sure our choices will protect God’s creation.
As a Mennonite Church, our response to climate change must come from the same source of motivation we’ve used to feed millions of people in need—faithful discipleship to Christ. Behind every act of injustice, including environmental degradation, there is the face of a child of God. When we truly see the faces of our brothers and sisters, we are moved into new relationships and new ways of living that bring God’s peace to all. It is time the Mennonite Church move creation care from an isolated issue on the fringes to the very core of being a people that is called to embody God’s peace and reconciliation in the world.
In seeking to assist congregations in caring for creation, Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Ontario has developed the Creation Care AUDIT. It is designed to encompass personal and collective change, as well as spiritual and earthly renewal. The Creation Care AUDIT includes:
Awaken your church to creation care issues.
Untangle yourselves from an excessive carbon footprint.
Donate carbon taxes to the church.
Integrate your tax dollars to conduct a church-building energy audit.
Transform your church by becoming leaders in solar energy.
Through these areas, we can resist actions that have a large impact on the earth, while at the same time create new opportunities in energy conservation and solar energy, so that we might live in harmony with creation.
The next generation speaks out
Canadian Mennonite excerpts two essays written by Melanie Cameron’s Grade 9 English class at Rockway Mennonite Collegiate, Kitchener, Ont.
Global warming and its effect on the Arctic environment
Global warming is the current crisis that is terrifying the global community. It is warming up the winters in some places and creating harsher winters in others. . . . The part of the world that is most affected by global warming, however, is the Arctic. The Arctic is warming almost twice as fast as the rest of the world, causing terrible damage to the ecosystem.
The Arctic environment is one of the most delicate environments on the planet. Because the environment is so delicate, there are many negative changes that are taking place. For one thing, the water is warming up. . . .
Arctic animals are at risk of losing their habitat, lifestyle and lives. One of the most greatly affected species is the polar bear. Polar bears swim out to floating ice, where they catch seals and fish to eat. Because the water is warming up, the amount of floating ice is greatly decreasing. Even if they do find ice, it can often be too thin to support the polar bear’s weight. Polar bears end up swimming great distances to find food, and if they don’t find it soon enough, they drown.
There is another important member of the Arctic ecosystem that we don’t always think of as “in danger” from the effects of global warming. I’m talking, of course, about the Inuit. Global warming isn’t only affecting our plants and animals; an entire human culture is being threaten-ed. . . . We are losing an ancient human civilization to this catastrophe, and no one seems to care.
It is evident that the collapse of the Arctic will have negative repercussions for the rest of the world. . . . [W]ith the melting of the Arctic, the sea levels will rise, creating vast amounts of flooded area and millions of refugees—not to mention the loss of a very unique culture and animals that you don’t find anywhere else in the world!
The global community must step up and fight the looming destruction of global warming, or there will be nothing left of the planet we proudly call home.
The fight against global warming
Are you driving to work today or planning a trip to the Bahamas? Fifty years from now, if we keep that up, there could be no work or no Bahamas! Transportation and our travel around the world have a big impact on global warming. Cars and other motorized vehicles like planes and trains send a lot of carbon emissions into the atmo-sphere. These emissions get trapped in the ozone layer and heat up the earth.
Instead of driving short distances, we should walk or bike. This would be good for the environment and also for our health. If it is necessary to drive, then we need to carpool. This reduces the amount of cars on the road and the amount of carbon we emit and inhale.
Is your electricity bill sky high? Well, if it is, it’s not just your bank account being affected; the world is being affected. People use so much electricity in their everyday lives. They are like human vacuums!
Our landfills are filling up! Where’s the garbage going next—your backyard? We need to reduce the amount of garbage we generate, to save the environment. Remember this: Reduce, re-use and recycle. It takes a little more effort, but the earthly pay-offs are incredible. . . . Follow the three Rs to save money, time and, most importantly, the world from the horrible pollutants and carbon emissions. Keep the garbage from coming to your backyard!
If we pollute our world with carbon emissions, if we suck out too much electricity and if we create too much garbage, who knows where we will be in 50 years? You must act on this today, right now! Walk or bike instead of drive; turn off the lights; reduce, re-use and recycle! Step up to the plate and do something!
For discussion
- Henry Janzen says that people of faith do not easily talk about climate change. Do you agree? What are your biggest questions, concerns or fears as you think about creation care and the environment?
- Darren Kropf encourages Christians to undergo a creation care audit in order to reduce our impact on the earth. How hopeful are you that people will change in order to live more in harmony with the earth? Do you agree with Janzen that there is hope in small acts of faithfulness?
- The Grade 9 Rockway students call us to step up and fight the looming destruction of global warming. Does the younger generation tend to be more aware of how energy is consumed than older generations? How much do you think about the effects on the environment when you go about your daily tasks?
- The amount of energy expended for travelling has risen significantly in the last 50 years. What factors have led to this increase? What will it take to reduce our travel? How guilty should we feel about travelling for things such as short-term mission trips or to Mennonite World Conference?