It’s Here.  How Do We Respond?

122°F – obviously not the official high temperature on July 20 (that was 119°F), but nonetheless, what my car thermometer read after parking in an unshaded area in Phoenix.  I quickly started the car and the air conditioning, and while I was safe in the a/c, I felt a kind of alarm and agitation.

Are we in a new phase of the climate crisis? The climate had been changing already, but perhaps so gradually we hadn’t noticed.  This month’s record heat wave demands that we notice it. That might be a good thing.

This a good time to get into conversation with the people around you – your family, members of your congregation. Listen to how people are feeling, their concern about their family or the people your congregation serves in the community.  Some folks are feeling worry and anxiety, others disillusionment or despair. And maybe some are newly motivated, asking what they can do.

As a start can we avoid being the “climate doomers” that Rebecca Solnit wrote about last week?  We need to ensure people understand that there are positive steps we can take, and are already taking, to avert further climate damage.  There is good news to be shared. For example, for the first time wind and solar produced more energy than coal in the first five months of this year. The Business Council for Clean Energy reported that the “clean-energy transition is hard-wired into the US economy”, due in part to passage of the IRA which they called “the most consequential climate law in US history”.

Faith communities have a role in helping us cope with this new phase of the climate crisis. As people who care for neighbors, congregations provide refuge from the dangers of heat and wildfire. Faith communities often provide emotional and spiritual support to those grappling with a changing world. Importantly, as stewards of creation, our faith communities must also be sources of action – inspiring change on both the individual and policy level that can help prevent the worst of the crisis. I hope AZIPL can stay in conversation with you as we all find our footing in this new phase.