On Friday, September 20, over a dozen UUMANites showed up at the Georgia State Capitol to participate in the Global Climate Strike. This strike, inspired by the Swedish16-year-old Greta Thunburg, was held around the world and led primarily by youth. In August 2018, Ms. Thunburg began skipping school to protest climate change and she has inspired others to do the same. Greta herself was inspired by the teenagers who had protested gun violence after the Parkland shootings. (Nobody does anything alone…ripples in a pond!)

Now, many of our young people at UUMAN are inspired! One of our religious education classes collected improperly disposed of single-use plastics and made hand-held art projects out of them. After Sunday service, the young ones had these on display as they lovingly agitated (i.e. chanted) for climate justice.

At the Global Climate Strike, many of the young people who spoke at the capitol urged us to become educated and familiar with the talking points of the Green New Deal. They urged us to think for ourselves and not accept mainstream media’s interpretation of this legislation. The actual Green New Deal House Resolution proposed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D- NY) can be found at the link below:

 

https://www.congress.gov/116/bills/hres109/BILLS-116hres109ih.pdf

The principal resolution, taken from the document is summarized as follows:

Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that—

1. it is the duty of the Federal Government to create a Green New Deal—
   1. to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions through a fair and just transition for all communities and workers;
   2. to create millions of good, high-wage jobs and ensure prosperity and economic security for all people of the United States;
   3. to invest in the infrastructure and industry of the United States to sustainably meet the challenges of the 21st century;
   4. to secure for all people of the United States for generations to come—
      (i) clean air and water;
      (ii) climate and community resiliency;
      (iii) healthy food;
      (iv) access to nature; and
      (v) a sustainable environment; and
   5. to promote justice and equity by stopping current, preventing future, and repairing historic oppression of indigenous communities, communities of color, migrant communities, deindustrialized communities, depopulated rural communities, the poor, low-income workers, women, the elderly, the unhoused, people with disabilities, and youth (referred to in this resolution as ‘‘frontline and vulnerable communities’’);

So much rich work to do. May we be energized in service to our congregation, our community and our world!

Take care,

Dave