Monthly Archives: September 2012

09/18/12

God and an Endangered Toad: Faith Traditions and the Environment

A couple of weeks ago, there was quite a brouhaha in the news about the inclusion of God into the Democratic and Republican party platforms at the convention. Personally, I don’t think God cares too much about party platforms.

But I do think God might wish that we humans were better stewards of this beautiful planet and the animals that inhabit it along with us. Around the time of the conventions, the Zoological Society of London published a report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Species Survival Commission that listed the one hundred most threatened species of animals. These animals are unique and interesting in their own way, but they may die out simply because they don’t offer obvious benefits to humans. Are we being good stewards by letting this happen?

Although it’s rare, sometimes faith and conservation do join forces for good. Recently, I read a post by Brandon Loomis in the Salt Lake City Tribune:  Utah Group Goes on a Divine Quest for Rare Toads.

Volunteers in Utah from Interfaith Power & Light, a faith-based environmental coalition, went on a search for the rare boreal toad (Bufo boreas), which occupies only 1 percent of its historic breeding places and is under evaluation for possible Endangered Species Act protection.

The most serious threat to the boreal toad is the chytrid fungus, a disease that is devastating amphibian populations worldwide. Biologists believe habitat protections can help reduce stress and can keep outbreaks in check.

Boreal toad. Photo courtesy of the State of Utah Natural Resources Department: Division of Wildlife Resources.

The interfaith group didn’t find any boreal toads, but their excursion wasn’t in vain. One of the volunteers was quoted in the article as giving her reason for the importance of their outing, other than the fact that kids love frogs and toads:  “More and more we become so disconnected from nature. We might go to church on Sunday, but I feel like we’re called to do more than that.”

The search was organized by Jason Brown, a Mormon with theology and forestry degrees who teaches ethics at Utah Valley University. As quoted in the article, Brown said: “Depending on the faith tradition, biodiversity can be sacramental of God, or [indicate] God’s presence.”

We say Amen to that.

For more information:
The Interfaith Power and Light website has links to articles about different religious faith traditions (Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and others) and the environment.  Please click here.
See Vernal.com for more information about the boreal toad.

09/9/12

Presidential Campaign 2012: Where Do Romney and Obama Stand on Environmental Issues

Like Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter saga, climate change has been the issue “that shall not be named”– mostly a political no-show in the presidential campaign.—Christian Science Monitor, September 7, 2012

At Frogs Are Green, we’ve been following the presidential campaign and trying to get a handle on where  candidates Governor Romney and President Obama stand on climate change and other environmental issues. Unfortunately, these issues have become a political “third rail,” as Andrew Winston of the Harvard Business Review wrote in a recent Bloomberg.com post.

Over the years protecting the environment seems to have acquired the reputation as being “lefty” and anti-business, which is odd to those of us who there at the very beginning of the environmental movement in the 1960s and 1970s. It used to be a bi-partisan issue.

When Susan and I were growing up near New York City in the 1960s, a layer of smelly yellowish-brown smog hung over the city. The Hudson River was  full of raw sewage and toxic contamination. But because of public outrage from both sides of the political fence, the smog is gone and people catch fish in the river. And, yes, it involved regulations on businesses that were firmly enforced by William Ruckelshaus, the first head of the EPA—a Republican.

courtesy of timeoutkids.com

These days there seems to be a widespread feeling that because the economy is doing so poorly, we can’t talk about the environment—we have more important things to worry about. That is a shortsighted approach. As Winston argues in the Bloomberg.com post:

[T}ackling climate change is the smartest thing we can do for both our public health and our private sector. Reducing carbon emissions from our power plants, cars, and factories cleans the air and saves a lot of money. At the macro level, the burning of coal alone costs the U.S. about $350 billion per year in health (asthma, heart attacks, and so on) and pollution costs. At the micro level, from companies down to households, the opportunities to get lean and save money are vast.

While the U.S. remains wishy-washy about dealing with climate change, according to Winston, Germany is quickly moving its electric grid to renewables and China is committing hundreds of billions of dollars to energy efficiency and much more to the clean economy in general.

I watched Mitt Romney make a joke about climate change in his speech at the Republican convention. He got a standing ovation. Personally, I found that extremely depressing. I also watched President Obama’s speech at the Democratic convention, and while he at least mentioned climate change, tackling the environmental issues certainly wasn’t a major part of his agenda.

At Frogs Are Green, we don’t think the problems associated with climate change are a partisan issue: they affect all of us and future generations on earth.

It’s not a joke.