As a professional composer, I seek ways to grapple with and provoke discussion about climate change through my art. New Voices Opera produced my opera, Intoxication: America's Love Affair with Oil, in 2013. We have held several public screenings of the DVD since then, always with a group discussion afterwards. This is proving an effective way to reach people. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJ5EpAdU3Ic&list=PLWwrJRVxzCj9dSxsLrwwT5kmBpEFsNlc-

Eating vegan saves: 1100 gallons of water, 45 lbs of grain, 30 square feet of forest, 20 lbs of CO2, 1 animal’s life... PER DAY.

We need to move faster and stronger on climate change, with policies that actually make a difference. Here’s a suggestion: Citizens’ Climate Lobby supports a carbon pricing plan in which all funds are returned to citizens. It’s based on the successful policy implemented in 2008 in British Columbia. Analysis shows that by 2025, carbon fee and dividend in the U. S. will raise employment by 2.1 million, reduce carbon dioxide pollution by 33 per cent, and increase gross domestic product by $84 billion.

In the midst of a drought, Nestle Corporation is extracting water from natural springs in California to sell under the Arrowhead and Pure Life brand names. With a recent report showing that California only has enough water to last the state one more year, we must put an end to this madness at Nestlé before it’s too late. Join us! Go to http://act.couragecampaign.org/sign/NestleDrought/?t=3&akid=1590.539008.J-hoSA to SIGN THE PETITION to tell the California Water Resources Control Board: “While California is facing record drought conditions, it is unconscionable that Nestlé would continue to bottle the state’s precious water, export it, and sell it for profit. As a consumer and concerned citizen, I call on you to immediately stop Nestlé’s bottling operations in California.” http://act.couragecampaign.org/sign/NestleDrought/?t=3&akid=1590.539008.J-hoSA

The Citizens Climate Lobby pushes a Legislative proposal to Tax (Fee) Carbon and disperse the funds as a Dividend to every household. This lets the market make decisions, not regulators. Join us lobbying to save the Earth. Rich Greene

Solar panels may possibly be a better financial choice, but we switched to 100% wind because it was easy and cost little more than conventional sources.

Representatives from our Green Sanctuary Committee and Social Action Council are working together on a climate Justice proposal. This involves both individual and congregational actions, working within our homes and church and in the larger community. Our local League of Women Voters Environment Committee is interested in our project and is considering working with us. We're just beginning!

If we are interested in sustainable and ethical living, we must address our practice of raising animals to be slaughtered for food: animal agriculture is responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions that all transportation combined and is the number one cause of species extinction, ocean dead zones, habitat and rainforest destruction. Please inform yourselves, consider the facts, and make the connection — for the sake of our children, the environment, the animals, and ourselves. Here’s a start: http://www.cowspiracy.com/facts/#

Commit2Respond believes that saving our biosphere is possible, but it will take a paradigm shift and a revolution of values to get there. Our framework is simple: to meet this challenge, we will need to SHIFT to a low carbon future, ADVANCE the human rights of affected communities, and GROW the climate justice movement.