Sept 24 in Chicago: Campaign Nonviolence - "Connecting the Dots" Between War, Poverty, and the Climate Crisis

Campaign Nonviolence has an event planned for September 24 in Chicago, as part of a week of actions nationwide.

The September 24 event invites us to " connect the dots between violence/war…poverty/economic injustice…climate change as well as envisioning nonviolent alternative to build a culture of peace."

Have you thought about how the damage we are doing 

to the climate results from our reliance on violent behavior?

What can we do to change this?

The September 24 event takes place between 3:00 and 6:00 p.m. - meet near Old St. Pat’s, 700 W. Adams Chicago, IL 60602.

* Full event description
* Facebook event page

Summer in the City: Organizing for Climate Action in Chicago in September and beyond

Below are some events for activists interested in planning for climate action in Chicago in September and beyond.

July 30: IS THERE STILL TIME? Climate Change: Prognosis & Prescription

30 July 2014
7:00 to 9:00 p.m.

DePaul Art Museum
935 W. Fullerton

Chicago Area Peace Action invites you to this free public event to discuss the recently released scientific reports on climate change and what we can do about Illinois carbon standards.

David Archer, professor of Geophysical Sciences at the University of Chicago

Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org via videotaped address

Jack Kelly, President Emeritus and Board Member of Chicago Area Peace Action

935 W. Fullerton – Chicago
CTA Brown/Red Line Fullerton Bus #74
Validated Parking $6 at 2331 N. Sheffield, half-block south
Info@ChiPeaceAction.org | 847.475.3692

Join the Facebook event and invite friends.

A Modest Proposal for September 20-21: "It's the cars, stupid!"

James Carville and the team that brought about Bill Clinton's election in 1992 famously boiled down their campaign message to a simple proposition: "It's the economy, stupid!" It helped them transcend analysis paralysis and start communicating with their supporters.

People in Chicago need to start planning to be part of the national (and global) climate mobilization for September 20-21, 2014, per the call by Bill McKibben and 350.org.  Everyone's welcome to put their ideas forward. Here's mine:

Chicago and its cars

"It's the cars, stupid!"

Chicago and its surrounding region have so much going for it . . . but it's a dinosaur when it comes to moving beyond automobile transportation.

We have decent mass transit within the city itself, but the mass transit in the Northern Illinois region needs to be much better managed. (See Final State Task Force Report Dives Into Transit Reform Details and Northeastern Illinois Public Transit Task Force Report, March 31, 2014)

Task Force Report: "Metropolitan Chicago lags its peers in system expansion."

And our role as the center of the Midwest and the Midwestern economy has been hampered by the absence of any kind of decent Midwest regional public transportation. (See "The Cross-Rail Chicago Project and Midwest HSR")

Midwest Regional Rail Plan

So there it is, Chicago: a place to focus our attention on September 20-21.

What's your vision for a climate mobilization?


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There's nothing better than Zabriskie Point for commentary on student radicalism, dissent, capitalism, consumerism, patrimony, the environment ... plus some of the the most beautiful cinematography ever and a historic soundtrack. And (spoiler alert) an apocalyptic ending that transcends language.

(See Obama and Xi: Get to the Point! on the Scarry Thoughts blog)



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As explained in the report "Transit Deserts in Cook County," "The Chicago region’s current hub-and-spoke transit system leaves nearly half a million Cook County residents stranded in transit deserts."

What If Chicago Started to "Think Different" About Electricity?

The way I look at it, I'm the perfect person to have an opinion on the important role of Chicago in shaping the discourse on future electrical energy generation choices in the Midwest.

Illinois has a complicated relationship with coal, and I have a complicated relationship with coal. (See "I was an anthracite miner . . . . " on Scarry Thoughts.)

Illinois has an even more complicated relationship with nuclear energy -- if such a thing is possible -- and I also have a complicated relationship with nuclear energy. (See "Chicago, IL: Zero Carbon AND Zero Nuclear!".)

Location of Illinois Basin

I'll get into all the fascinating details of both of those coincidences in future posts, but the main points are these:

(1) Illinois sits atop one of the richest fields of coal in the world. Unfortunately, what we now know about the climate crisis and the need to move to a zero-carbon economy needs we need to leave it in the ground. (Sorry.) And this is true notwithstanding a barrage of industry re-branding about "Clean Coal!"

(2) Illinois also has the largest number of nuclear power plants. As Fukushima disaster has shown us, the risks associated with nuclear power simply can't be swept under the carpet. (Sorry.) And this is true notwithstanding a barrage of industry re-branding suggesting that nuclear is the solution to obtaining zero-carbon energy.

(Luckily, there is a long-standing alliance of activists, such as Nuclear Energy Information Service (NEIS), getting the truth about nuclear power plants in Illinois out there.)

Fowler Ridge Wind Energy Facility, Benton County, Indiana

It's not immediately obvious how Chicago and Illinois can move quickly to get electricity in a zero-carbon manner.  But here are a few initial thoughts . . .

(1) There are good options. (Believe it or not, we actually have wind and sun here.)

(2) We'll have to be disciplined about not getting distracted by bad options. (Carbon sequestration? Uh, I don't think so. And don't even get me started about natural gas and fracking.)

(3) It's not just about us; it's about the grid we're part of.

(4) It's not just about average electricity output; peak output (driven in turn by hence peak demand) is key.

(5) Chicago can play a role by leading with innovative pricing and valuation mechanisms.

(6) Um . . . would it help if we turned out some of the lights?

More on all of this in future posts that will drill down on specific issues.

Chicago skyline - Earth Hour 2013

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Granddaddy Melker probably would have been proud to have mined any kind of coal. But he was especially proud to have been an anthracite coal miner.

(See "I was an anthracite miner . . . . " on Scarry Thoughts.)

According to the Chicago-based Nuclear Energy Information Service, "Illinois is by far the most nuclear state in the United States . . . . Illinois was also home to the first commercial power reactor . . . one of the first commercial power reactors to close prematurely . . . . ComEd’s two large PWR reactors in Zion, IL also had to close prematurely . . . . We also have the first and only commercial storage facility for high level waste . . . Besides the 3 plants which closed prematurely, Illinois currently has eleven operating nukes – far more than any other state . . . etc. etc."

(See Chicago, IL: Zero Carbon AND Zero Nuclear! )

Climate: Where are Chicago's Churches?

The church I attend - St. Luke's Lutheran Church in Logan Square - has for several years now focused on environmental issues during September.

There is a movement in many congregations to recognize September as the Season of Creation, and to use it as a time to delve deeply into environmental issues.

Sadao Watanabe, Noah's Ark

I picked up a resource guide from Sojourners -- Holy Ground: A Resource on Faith and the Environment -- during a recent visit to 8th Day Center for Justice. It encouraged me to hope that more and more congregations will take this up.

In this day in which congregations are looking for more and more lay leadership, perhaps this is an opportunity for lay leaders at congregations throughout Chicago to encourage a focus on Creation in September, and to move their congregations toward greater activism on the environment?

Coincidentally, September is a time when a major climate mobilization is planned by secular organizations like 350.org. Maybe it's time for us to all get on the same page?

One of the fundamental ideas of this blog is that climate action goes beyond technology and politics -- it requires us to look deeply into what we value, what our community is, and how we are called to live.

More resources for Season of Creation are at Let All Creation Praise

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During the Season of Creation 2014 we looked at the witness of a modern-day prophet: the scientist and best-selling author Rachel Carson. Rachel Carson shook the world with the publication of her 1962 book, Silent Spring. In language that rivals that of any Old Testament prophet, Carson issued an eerie wake-up call . . . .

(See Rachel Carson: A Gentle, Strong, Prophetic Voice for the Environment on The Messenger, the blog of St. Luke's Lutheran Church Logan Square)

In September, 2012, we had a very rich observance of the "Season of Creation,” leading up to a screening and discussion of the film “Gasland,” about fracking. Around the same time, several of us started work on a Climate Crisis Conference, which culminated in an event in which about 100 people from Chicago and the surrounding area participated.

(See The Environment: a Big Topic of Conversation at St. Luke’s on The Messenger, the blog of St. Luke's Lutheran Church Logan Square)


Other related links

April 8-12, 2015 in Chicago: "Fragile World: Ecology & the Church -- Free & open to the public as well as all DePaul faculty, staff, and students, the 7th annual World Catholicism Week will be held April 8-12, 2015, in Chicago at DePaul University's Lincoln Park Campus. The theme is "Fragile World: Ecology & the Church," in anticipation of Pope Francis's forthcoming encyclical on the environment."

One Word: Wildflowers

This content has been moved to: "The Beauty of Chicago Wildflowers" at Scarry Thoughts.

The Human Scale in Chicago

This content has been moved to: "Take a Walk in Chicago" at Scarry Thoughts.