David Baron (1998-1999), author of The Beast in the Garden, on mountain lion-human interaction in Colorado's Front Range, reports that Boston's PBS station, WGBH, has optioned the movie rights to the book. WGBH, which produces a third of all national public television programming including NOVA, Frontline, and American Experience, wants to produce a feature film for broadcast and theatrical release. David currently splits his time between Boulder and Boston where he oversees coverage of global health and development at the radio program The World. Last fall he traveled to Equatorial Guinea to report on malaria control and endangered monkeys. In January, David was in New York to accept a duPont-Columbia Award, broadcasting's equivalent of the Pulitzer, on behalf of The World. The prize was awarded for the show's series on the science and ethics of stem cell research globally. The series is also being recognized with a National Journalism Award for Excellence in Electronic Media/Radio, presented by the Scripps Howard Foundation at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., on April 21. The foundation's press release says, "This comprehensive radio report offered a primer on stem cell research, as the interests of science, medicine, politics and religion converge and conflict in the ethical debate over their use. The four-part series examined scientific progress on the research and dramatically different attitudes and practices in China, Israel, Britain and America."
Jennifer Bowles (1998-1999) continues to cover the environment in Southern California's Inland Empire for the Riverside Press-Enterprise. Her beat has held some intriguing stories of late, including how a developer of a massive housing project dug up an old World War II fighter that crashed during a training run in 1942 and is now using the federal Superfund law to sue the Army for not completely cleaning up the munitions; and the steps Hollywood takes to avoid harming endangered wildlife while filming TV shows, commercials and movies in the California desert. A Ralph Lauren ad, for instance, appeared to be shot in the middle of a field of Joshua trees but in fact the model was standing at the edge of a parking lot at Joshua Tree National Park. And speaking of Joshua trees, Jennifer has also reported on how invasive plants are taking over the desert and threatening to change the entire ecosystem by pushing out Joshua trees and other native plants because the invaders sprout faster after fires, in turn encouraging more and larger fires.
Paula Dobbyn (1998-1999), who's still reporting for the Anchorage Daily News, has traveled far afield of Alaska lately. In November she went to Ireland to scout out graduate school programs, then to Panama in February for a winter sun break. There she visited Isla Barro Colorado, a tropical forestry research island owned by the Smithsonian Institution where "we saw tons of tropical birds as well as howler and white-faced monkeys. We also did touristy things like taking a tour boat through a couple of locks in the Panama Canal." On the way to Panama, Paula stopped off in Boulder where she stayed with CEJ co-director Len Ackland and his wife Carol for a few days, enjoying time with former Scripps fellows in the area as well as friends she met during her fellowship. Paula was engaged in November; she met her fiance during her fellowship in Boulder. They plan to spend a year in Ireland starting in August, when she will begin grad school. Paula says she is "excited about taking a year off from daily journalism and going back to school again, after a very long time away."
Sam Eaton (2004-2005), who was hired by American Public Media's Marketplace last October to head up the radio show's newly launched Sustainability Desk, was immediately sent to China to report several features ahead of the show's two weeks of live broadcasting from China. He writes that he "covered thousands of miles in a week and a half, visiting everything from gleaming innovation centers near Hong Kong and Shanghai to one of the world's most polluted cities, Taiyuan, where coal dust covers pretty much everything... the flip side of breakneck economic growth. It sure makes it nice to come home to a place like Boulder."
Dan Glick (2000-2001) will be heading to Algeria in September as a Knight International Press Fellow. He will spend 4 months working with Algerian print journalists while living in Algiers with his two kids. In the meantime, Dan continues to cover environmental issues in the West and beyond. Recent stories have appeared in National Geographic on lynx reintroduction in Colorado (January 2006), and the effects of drought on Glen Canyon in Utah (April 2006). Dan also has a piece in the current issue of Audubon on the Mexican gray wolf reintroduction on the White Mountain Apache Tribe reservation in Arizona. In April he is off to Indonesia on assignment from National Geographic to report on gold mining, part of a larger story on the subject that will appear next year.
Todd Hartman (1998-1999) is back on the environment beat full time at the Rocky Mountain News after a year-long hiatus dominated by reporting on a variety of controversies at the University of Colorado, and Homeland Security. Todd managed to get some environmental issues covered nonetheless, producing lengthy stories on conflicts over oil and gas drilling; growing interest in alternative fuels, including ethanol; growth in recycling in the Denver region; the legacy left by a massively polluted corporate hog farm; and struggles with the state's auto-emissions testing program. Todd says, "I love to hear what my fellow Scripps fellows have been up to," so keep the updates coming.
Rebecca Huntington (2001-2002) will be leaving her job as public lands reporter at the Jackson Hole News & Guide in April to begin a freelance career with an emphasis on environmental and science writing. During the past year at the News & Guide, she won first place for in-depth reporting from the Wyoming Press Association for an explanatory piece on the complex management and demands for water on the upper Snake River drainage. She also won second place in the National Newspaper Association's Better Newspaper Contest in 2005 for best breaking news story for an article about a Jackson accountant who calculated the risks of skiing in avalanche terrain in pursuit of fresh snow but ultimately died in an avalanche.
Dave Mayfield (2000-2001) is regional issues editor for the Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk where he supervises six writers, including the paper's environmental reporter. Dave and his family enjoyed a two-week vacation to Italy last summer and are looking forward to time on the coast of Maine during the summer ahead.
Kim McGuire (2003-2004), who became the environment reporter at the Denver Post not long after her fellowship ended, is engaged to the paper's regional editor, Todd Stone. Kim and Todd worked together in Arkansas before both became transplants to the Rocky Mountain West. They are planning a summer 2007 wedding in Estes Park, Colo.
Michael Milstein (1997-1998) and his wife welcomed son Daniel in November 2004. He's just begun to toddle around, Michael writes, and "he is keeping us very busy." As a Portland-based environment writer for the Oregonian, Michael continues to cover plenty of endangered species and forest issues. A big story he recently wrote on declining numbers of hunters and anglers, bringing about reduced funding for conservation, gained a lot of local interest.
Susan Moran (2001-2002) is teaching magazine writing at CU this semester, as well as keeping a freelance career going with stories in The Economist, The New York Times, 5280 magazine, Newsweek, and other publications. Susan writes mostly about the environment and business/technology, and where they often overlap. Check out her recent articles in The Economist on "The Greening of the U.S. Armed Forces" (December 2005), and a story on Rocky Flats, the former nuclear weapons production plant near Denver (Spring 2004).
Paul Tolme (2000-2001) is currently spending several weeks in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where he says it's hot, and they've got a lot of coffee. The editors of National Wildlife recently awarded Paul the Trudy Farrand and John Strohm Magazine Writing Award, an honor bestowed annually by NWF for the best writing in the magazine. Paul got the award for his article "It's the Emissions, Stupid" (April/May 2005), which highlighed strategies for combating global warming pollution. You can find a link to the article on Paul's web site, under 'environment.' Paul also published a story recently on wolverines for Defenders magazine.
Nadia White (2004-2005) is living in Missoula, Montana, where she is freelancing, working on a book about brucellosis (the subject of her fellowship project), and writing for an education think tank. She recently participated in a 10-day "Salmon Country" expedition along the coast of Oregon, sponsored by Institutes for Journalism and Natural Resources. The impact of population growth and dams on salmon was a central focus of the program, during which Nadia and other journalists met commercial fishermen, biologists, canneries folks, law professors and other parties with a stake in salmon issues. In addition to learning many details about a subject in which she had no previous expertise, Nadia writes that "the shape of the problem and how the dialog had shifted, how unlikly alliances came to be forged over time -- those broader lessons learned were also quite interesting."
Ted Wood (2001-2002) writes, "I am now an officially censored photojournalist in Wyoming!!" The project he started during his Ted Scripps Fellowship on the coal bed methane boom in Wyoming recently bore fruit, as well as notoriety, for Ted. An exhibit of his photos opened earlier this year at the gallery of the Ucross Foundation in Wyoming's Powder River basin. The show, "The New Gold Rush: Images of Coalbed Methane," which features Ted's work and that of three other photographers, was scheduled to travel to the Nicolaysen Art Museum in Casper, Wyoming's largest museum. But after pressure from the energy industry, the museum cancelled the show. This created a huge press interest, says Ted, and the effort backfired. The show is now booked two years out, and will travel throughout the Rockies and to the coasts. For more on the controversy, see the Casper Star-Tribune's article and the story from Planet Jackson Hole. Ted is headed back to Mongolia in July, where he will be putting the final touches on a second set of map/guides and postcards to promote responsible tourism in Mongolia's national parks, a project sponsored by the non-profit organization he co-founded, Conservation Ink.
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Christianity Getting Greener
By Erika Engelhaupt
To some, the phrase "Christian environmentalist" may sound like an oxymoron.
But Christians are not of one political mind on the environment, and a growing movement called "creation care" is greening Christianity, even in socially conservative evangelical circles. In particular, the climate change debate is exposing ideological divides among Christian groups that traditionally have been lumped together as the "Christian right."
While some evangelical leaders face off in battles over endorsing U.S. action on global warming, others believe the mainstream of conservative Christianity is experiencing an environmental awakening.
"The ice is breaking in the center of the community on this issue," said the Rev. Jim Ball, an evangelical pastor at the forefront of the global warming debate. Ball spoke at a panel discussion on creation care at the 2005 Society of Environmental Journalists conference in Austin.
Ball is an ordained Baptist minister and a leader in a movement he calls "creation care," a faith-based brand of environmentalism that stresses the responsibility of humans to be good stewards of God's creation. Ball founded the Evangelical Environmental Network, a Christian non-profit organization that publishes Creation Care magazine and campaigns for environmental causes, most famously in the "What Would Jesus Drive?" campaign, in which Ball drove a hybrid Toyota Prius across the Bible Belt, spreading the word about clean vehicles from church pulpits and Christian radio stations along the way.
In February, Ball led a group of conservative Christian leaders to create the Evangelical Climate Initiative, a campaign calling on government to enact legislation to curb carbon dioxide emissions that cause global warming.
A statement from the group implored that "Christian moral convictions demand our response to the climate change problem." The statement was signed by 86 evangelical leaders, including 39 college presidents, and first appeared Feb. 9 in a full-page New York Times advertisement. Signatories included Todd Bassett, national commander of The Salvation Army, and Rick Warren, the megachurch pastor who authored the best-selling "The Purpose-Driven Life," as well as several prominent African-American pastors.
Recognizing that "the consequences of climate change will be significant, and will hit the poor the hardest," the statement urged evangelicals to "engage this issue without any further lingering over the basic reality of the problem or humanity's responsibility to address it."
The statement was part of a tug-of-war between church leaders trying to lay claim to the role of mouthpiece for the evangelical community. Ball worked for months crafting a statement opposing global warming with the large and politically powerful National Association of Evangelicals. The group seemed poised to take a strong stance: in 2004, they had crafted an environmental statement claiming a "sacred responsibility to steward the Earth and not a license to abuse the creation of which we are a part."
But the NAE finally abandoned the statement on climate change in January after a small group of influential leaders wrote a letter criticizing the effort, citing disagreements among Christians over the "cause, severity, and solutions to the global warming issue." Among them were Focus on the Family head James Dobson, and Richard Land, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. In response to the rebuff, Ball organized the Evangelical Climate Initiative.
Climate change is only one environmental concern of Christians among many. Because the poor are often hit hardest by environmental problems like climate change and air pollution, justice issues play heavily into Christian environmental ethics. Evangelical progressives cite a biblical mandate from Jesus to care for the poor and oppressed, and the "What Would Jesus Drive?" campaign against gas-guzzling SUVs made it clear that some Christians think Biblical values can inform consumer decisions that may affect others.
Best-selling Christian author Jim Wallis challenges Christians to examine their social decisions closely in a moral and biblical context. In his book God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It, Wallis argues that the political right has been allowed to hijack faith and moral values, defining moral values narrowly and focusing on hot-button issues like abortion and gay marriage.
Wallis, who describes himself as a "19th-century evangelical" in the tradition of a spiritually based emphasis on social justice, is the founder of the Sojourners Community, an inner-city outreach ministry in Washington, D.C.
"I would say that if our gospel isn't good news to poor people, it isn't an evangelical gospel. That's what I believe. I think that's right in the heart of the true evangelical tradition," Wallis told PBS in 2003 on a program called "The Jesus Factor" which examined the growing political influence of evangelicals in American politics.
Broadly defined, evangelical Christians believe in a personal conversion to a relationship with Jesus Christ, the Bible as the authoritative word of God, and the importance of spreading their faith. That leaves plenty of room for a diversity of opinions on the environment, and even on social issues.
Some evangelicals agree with Wallis' premise of protecting the poor but disagree about the best way to do it. Greenhouse gas-cutting measures that might increase energy prices could hurt the poor disproportionately, argues Calvin Beisner, a professor at Knox Theological Seminary and organizer of an opposition group to the Evangelical Climate Initiative called the Interfaith Stewardship Alliance.
Grassroots action at the local level is the breeding ground for the kind of new Christian movement—or return to traditional Christian values, which Wallis would claim—that evangelicals like Wallis and Ball preach.
Denver-based Eco-Justice Ministries is an ecumenical agency that helps churches in Colorado and across the country get involved in creation care and social justice issues. Its founder, the Rev. Peter Sawtell, an ordained minister in the more liberal United Church of Christ denomination, runs the ministry with a board of directors, teaching clergy how to develop social and environmental ethics in their home congregations.
"We seek the well-being of all humanity on a thriving Earth," Sawtell said.
The group provides educational materials for adults and children and asks partner churches to form leadership teams to coordinate church projects. Materials are available to any church, conservative or liberal.
Last November, Eco-Justice Ministries co-sponsored a conference in Denver with the National Council of Churches where about 70 participants, mostly from Colorado, gathered to learn about regional environmental issues and how to bring environmental concerns into their home churches through preaching, Sunday school lessons and group activities.
At the conference, Sawtell emphasized that "the church is not meant to be a branch of the Sierra Club," but rather that his ministry is concerned with how Christians should live within their faith.
Around Boulder, both progressive and conservative churches are putting creation care into practice. Cornerstone Church pastor Gene Binder who describes his church as "conservative evangelical Christian," says church members are interested in caring for the environment. A more liberal congregation, Community United Church of Christ, has formed an Earth Action Team that helps the church recycle and hopes to eventually get the church powered solely by renewable solar energy.
The Rev. Martie McMane described her hopes for the creation care movement, starting with her congregation at Boulder's First Congregational Church of the United Church of Christ.
"Our church is small and can only do so much for the environment. But think of it like ripples going out; if each person does something, it carries forth," she said.
To some, the phrase "Christian environmentalist" may sound like an oxymoron.
But Christians are not of one political mind on the environment, and a growing movement called "creation care" is greening Christianity, even in socially conservative evangelical circles. In particular, the climate change debate is exposing ideological divides among Christian groups that traditionally have been lumped together as the "Christian right."
While some evangelical leaders face off in battles over endorsing U.S. action on global warming, others believe the mainstream of conservative Christianity is experiencing an environmental awakening.
"The ice is breaking in the center of the community on this issue," said the Rev. Jim Ball, an evangelical pastor at the forefront of the global warming debate. Ball spoke at a panel discussion on creation care at the 2005 Society of Environmental Journalists conference in Austin.
Ball is an ordained Baptist minister and a leader in a movement he calls "creation care," a faith-based brand of environmentalism that stresses the responsibility of humans to be good stewards of God's creation. Ball founded the Evangelical Environmental Network, a Christian non-profit organization that publishes Creation Care magazine and campaigns for environmental causes, most famously in the "What Would Jesus Drive?" campaign, in which Ball drove a hybrid Toyota Prius across the Bible Belt, spreading the word about clean vehicles from church pulpits and Christian radio stations along the way.
 |
| The Rev. Jim Ball, a leading green evangelical, promotes "creation care" among churches (Photo/ Kara Ball, Evangelical Environmental Network). |
In February, Ball led a group of conservative Christian leaders to create the Evangelical Climate Initiative, a campaign calling on government to enact legislation to curb carbon dioxide emissions that cause global warming.
A statement from the group implored that "Christian moral convictions demand our response to the climate change problem." The statement was signed by 86 evangelical leaders, including 39 college presidents, and first appeared Feb. 9 in a full-page New York Times advertisement. Signatories included Todd Bassett, national commander of The Salvation Army, and Rick Warren, the megachurch pastor who authored the best-selling "The Purpose-Driven Life," as well as several prominent African-American pastors.
 | The Evangelical Climate Initiative ran this full-page ad in the New York Times (Image/ Evangelical Climate Initiative). |
Recognizing that "the consequences of climate change will be significant, and will hit the poor the hardest," the statement urged evangelicals to "engage this issue without any further lingering over the basic reality of the problem or humanity's responsibility to address it."
The statement was part of a tug-of-war between church leaders trying to lay claim to the role of mouthpiece for the evangelical community. Ball worked for months crafting a statement opposing global warming with the large and politically powerful National Association of Evangelicals. The group seemed poised to take a strong stance: in 2004, they had crafted an environmental statement claiming a "sacred responsibility to steward the Earth and not a license to abuse the creation of which we are a part."
But the NAE finally abandoned the statement on climate change in January after a small group of influential leaders wrote a letter criticizing the effort, citing disagreements among Christians over the "cause, severity, and solutions to the global warming issue." Among them were Focus on the Family head James Dobson, and Richard Land, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. In response to the rebuff, Ball organized the Evangelical Climate Initiative.
Climate change is only one environmental concern of Christians among many. Because the poor are often hit hardest by environmental problems like climate change and air pollution, justice issues play heavily into Christian environmental ethics. Evangelical progressives cite a biblical mandate from Jesus to care for the poor and oppressed, and the "What Would Jesus Drive?" campaign against gas-guzzling SUVs made it clear that some Christians think Biblical values can inform consumer decisions that may affect others.
Best-selling Christian author Jim Wallis challenges Christians to examine their social decisions closely in a moral and biblical context. In his book God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It, Wallis argues that the political right has been allowed to hijack faith and moral values, defining moral values narrowly and focusing on hot-button issues like abortion and gay marriage.
Wallis, who describes himself as a "19th-century evangelical" in the tradition of a spiritually based emphasis on social justice, is the founder of the Sojourners Community, an inner-city outreach ministry in Washington, D.C.
"I would say that if our gospel isn't good news to poor people, it isn't an evangelical gospel. That's what I believe. I think that's right in the heart of the true evangelical tradition," Wallis told PBS in 2003 on a program called "The Jesus Factor" which examined the growing political influence of evangelicals in American politics.
Broadly defined, evangelical Christians believe in a personal conversion to a relationship with Jesus Christ, the Bible as the authoritative word of God, and the importance of spreading their faith. That leaves plenty of room for a diversity of opinions on the environment, and even on social issues.
Some evangelicals agree with Wallis' premise of protecting the poor but disagree about the best way to do it. Greenhouse gas-cutting measures that might increase energy prices could hurt the poor disproportionately, argues Calvin Beisner, a professor at Knox Theological Seminary and organizer of an opposition group to the Evangelical Climate Initiative called the Interfaith Stewardship Alliance.
Grassroots action at the local level is the breeding ground for the kind of new Christian movement—or return to traditional Christian values, which Wallis would claim—that evangelicals like Wallis and Ball preach.
Denver-based Eco-Justice Ministries is an ecumenical agency that helps churches in Colorado and across the country get involved in creation care and social justice issues. Its founder, the Rev. Peter Sawtell, an ordained minister in the more liberal United Church of Christ denomination, runs the ministry with a board of directors, teaching clergy how to develop social and environmental ethics in their home congregations.
"We seek the well-being of all humanity on a thriving Earth," Sawtell said.
The group provides educational materials for adults and children and asks partner churches to form leadership teams to coordinate church projects. Materials are available to any church, conservative or liberal.
Last November, Eco-Justice Ministries co-sponsored a conference in Denver with the National Council of Churches where about 70 participants, mostly from Colorado, gathered to learn about regional environmental issues and how to bring environmental concerns into their home churches through preaching, Sunday school lessons and group activities.
At the conference, Sawtell emphasized that "the church is not meant to be a branch of the Sierra Club," but rather that his ministry is concerned with how Christians should live within their faith.
Around Boulder, both progressive and conservative churches are putting creation care into practice. Cornerstone Church pastor Gene Binder who describes his church as "conservative evangelical Christian," says church members are interested in caring for the environment. A more liberal congregation, Community United Church of Christ, has formed an Earth Action Team that helps the church recycle and hopes to eventually get the church powered solely by renewable solar energy.
The Rev. Martie McMane described her hopes for the creation care movement, starting with her congregation at Boulder's First Congregational Church of the United Church of Christ.
"Our church is small and can only do so much for the environment. But think of it like ripples going out; if each person does something, it carries forth," she said.
CU Professor Emeritus Champions 'Eco-Justice'
By Wendy Worrall Redal
When Jack Twombly retired in 1990 from his 54-year career as a professor of electrical engineering at the University of Colorado, he didn't give up teaching. Now a vital 84, Twombly's educational mission is helping Christians better understand the need for stewardship of the environment, or, as it is frequently called in church circles, "creation care."
At the heart of creation care is the concept of "eco-justice," Twombly explained, a situation "where society and ecology both win." The notion embraces the insight that "justice to human beings is inseparable from right relationships with and within the natural order," said Twombly, citing the Rev. William Gibson's book Eco-Justice: The Unfinished Journey.
The biggest challenge to that mission, he said, is that people do not have enough information, an impetus for making more ethical decisions. He seeks to rectify that among churchgoers in his denomination and beyond. Churches took part in the first Earth Day observance in 1970, he said, when "people really began to wake up" about the environment. He hopes the contemporary creation-care movement will have a similar effect.
Twombly, who received a bachelor's degree from CU in 1944 and a PhD in 1959, has been a member of First Presbyterian Church in Boulder for half a century. He currently serves as a liaison for creation-care issues to 44 churches in a regional division of the Presbyterian Church USA, a 19,000-square mile area that encompasses northeastern Colorado and western Nebraska. There are about 60 such appointed "Stewardship of Creation Enablers" nationally, part of the larger Presbyterians for Restoring Creation.
In his position, Twombly assists congregations in gaining the knowledge and skills to sustain a "long-term, spiritually vital commitment to God's Creation." That may involve giving workshops, hosting an information table on a Sunday morning, or, in keeping with his own expertise in energy issues, counseling churches on how to save resources and money by converting to compact fluorescent lighting and other means of enhancing energy efficiency. Twombly has also helped sponsor an annual "Bike to Church Day" at First Presbyterian in Boulder, where those who cycle or walk to the Sunday service enjoy a free breakfast to honor their efforts.
Twombly credits retired minister and climber John Wade for inspiring him to get involved in the position back in 1997. He had read about Wade, then the 77-year-old chair of the Sierra Club's Rocky Mountain Chapter, in Sierra magazine. The article outlined Wade's vision for sparking an Earth stewardship movement in the Presbyterian Church through the creation of a network of grassroots positions like the one Twombly now holds.
Twombly's task has not been an easy one, though. While most people say they support environmental protection, they don't have enough facts to push them into behaving differently, he said. Part of the problem, Twombly thinks, is that the U.S. is "only a couple of generations away from the frontier economy." A belief prevails, especially among older people, that "there's always more out there, that resources are infinite." Challenging that perspective is central to Twombly's educational mission.
One of the biggest hurdles is encouraging people to take time to educate themselves, he said. He has found it hard to get individuals to commit even 15 minutes a week to read from an array of accessible publications he would like to suggest. Even when he is successful in persuading parishioners to learn more about environmental problems, "when they do, they find it overwhelming. A lot of people are living in denial," he said, with the attitude that "if we ignore it, it will go away."
He worries that his message may come across as too negative, but he doesn't want to dilute the realities he expects the next generations will face. "You're not a doom-and-gloomer if you study the facts and report them."
It is young people who know the most about environmental problems, Twombly said. When he spoke to a group of CU freshmen in the Honors Program a few years ago, "they were very aware. They're the ones with the biggest stake in it…By 2050, when they're approaching retirement, they're going to be living in a very miserable world" if current trends continue, he said.
Twombly is heartened that environmental consciousness, especially among Christians, is growing.
"We're making progress. But it's not nearly fast enough." Particularly about climate change, "people need a sense of urgency," he said. Global warming is "easily" the most pressing environmental issue Twombly wants to get church members concerned about.
"If this issue is not solved," he said, "all these other issues become somewhat irrelevant."
As a scientist, he is worried about the possibility of abrupt climatic shifts. "Very few things in nature are linear. You approximate it with linear mathematics because that's the best you can do." But he wonders if we may already have moved beyond that linear process with polar ice-sheet melting, a "self-sustaining phenomenon" in which melting ice creates a larger dark ocean surface which in turn speeds up further ice-sheet melting.
It's frustrating to Twombly when people's eyes glaze over at such discussions. He sees in part a "willful ignorance of science," compounded by the Bush Administration's "distortion of reputable science," which troubles him. When he first started in his position with the Presbytery, "I thought if I had impeccable data and presented it well, it would bring people over, rationally…but I've found that you have to get people emotionally and passionately involved."
Twombly thus believes it is crucial how issues are framed. He cites the latest issue of Eco-Justice Notes, a publication of ecumenical Denver-based Eco-Justice Ministries, which observes that people are more likely to respond to pictures of a starving polar bear perched on an ice floe, marooned by ice that has fragmented too early, than to scientific studies. "That gets to people more than a curve on a graph of CO2 and temperature."
It's also critical to take on the economic argument, according to Twombly, who said his professional background in electrical engineering has taught him a few things about energy efficiency. "If we could just get past this mantra that doing anything about global warming would ruin our economy – that's tragically not true."
While he recognizes that a public response is happening, "it's got to happen faster. There's got to be a tipping point where most people get involved."
Far from being daunted, however, he works indefatigably for even small gains.
"There's no choice but to be hopeful," said Twombly, who has 16 grandchildren. "As a retired professor, I have a lot of faith that if people would just become informed, it would make a difference…They have good hearts."
Jack Twombly will be attending the National Council of Churches Eco-Justice Conference in New Orleans June 1-4, 2006.
When Jack Twombly retired in 1990 from his 54-year career as a professor of electrical engineering at the University of Colorado, he didn't give up teaching. Now a vital 84, Twombly's educational mission is helping Christians better understand the need for stewardship of the environment, or, as it is frequently called in church circles, "creation care."
At the heart of creation care is the concept of "eco-justice," Twombly explained, a situation "where society and ecology both win." The notion embraces the insight that "justice to human beings is inseparable from right relationships with and within the natural order," said Twombly, citing the Rev. William Gibson's book Eco-Justice: The Unfinished Journey.
The biggest challenge to that mission, he said, is that people do not have enough information, an impetus for making more ethical decisions. He seeks to rectify that among churchgoers in his denomination and beyond. Churches took part in the first Earth Day observance in 1970, he said, when "people really began to wake up" about the environment. He hopes the contemporary creation-care movement will have a similar effect.
Twombly, who received a bachelor's degree from CU in 1944 and a PhD in 1959, has been a member of First Presbyterian Church in Boulder for half a century. He currently serves as a liaison for creation-care issues to 44 churches in a regional division of the Presbyterian Church USA, a 19,000-square mile area that encompasses northeastern Colorado and western Nebraska. There are about 60 such appointed "Stewardship of Creation Enablers" nationally, part of the larger Presbyterians for Restoring Creation.
 |
| CU Professor Emeritus Jack Twombly (Photo/ Wendy Redal) |
In his position, Twombly assists congregations in gaining the knowledge and skills to sustain a "long-term, spiritually vital commitment to God's Creation." That may involve giving workshops, hosting an information table on a Sunday morning, or, in keeping with his own expertise in energy issues, counseling churches on how to save resources and money by converting to compact fluorescent lighting and other means of enhancing energy efficiency. Twombly has also helped sponsor an annual "Bike to Church Day" at First Presbyterian in Boulder, where those who cycle or walk to the Sunday service enjoy a free breakfast to honor their efforts.
Twombly credits retired minister and climber John Wade for inspiring him to get involved in the position back in 1997. He had read about Wade, then the 77-year-old chair of the Sierra Club's Rocky Mountain Chapter, in Sierra magazine. The article outlined Wade's vision for sparking an Earth stewardship movement in the Presbyterian Church through the creation of a network of grassroots positions like the one Twombly now holds.
Twombly's task has not been an easy one, though. While most people say they support environmental protection, they don't have enough facts to push them into behaving differently, he said. Part of the problem, Twombly thinks, is that the U.S. is "only a couple of generations away from the frontier economy." A belief prevails, especially among older people, that "there's always more out there, that resources are infinite." Challenging that perspective is central to Twombly's educational mission.
One of the biggest hurdles is encouraging people to take time to educate themselves, he said. He has found it hard to get individuals to commit even 15 minutes a week to read from an array of accessible publications he would like to suggest. Even when he is successful in persuading parishioners to learn more about environmental problems, "when they do, they find it overwhelming. A lot of people are living in denial," he said, with the attitude that "if we ignore it, it will go away."
He worries that his message may come across as too negative, but he doesn't want to dilute the realities he expects the next generations will face. "You're not a doom-and-gloomer if you study the facts and report them."
It is young people who know the most about environmental problems, Twombly said. When he spoke to a group of CU freshmen in the Honors Program a few years ago, "they were very aware. They're the ones with the biggest stake in it…By 2050, when they're approaching retirement, they're going to be living in a very miserable world" if current trends continue, he said.
Twombly is heartened that environmental consciousness, especially among Christians, is growing.
"We're making progress. But it's not nearly fast enough." Particularly about climate change, "people need a sense of urgency," he said. Global warming is "easily" the most pressing environmental issue Twombly wants to get church members concerned about.
"If this issue is not solved," he said, "all these other issues become somewhat irrelevant."
 |
| Jack Twombly with hiking partner Bonaire (Photo/ Wendy Redal) |
As a scientist, he is worried about the possibility of abrupt climatic shifts. "Very few things in nature are linear. You approximate it with linear mathematics because that's the best you can do." But he wonders if we may already have moved beyond that linear process with polar ice-sheet melting, a "self-sustaining phenomenon" in which melting ice creates a larger dark ocean surface which in turn speeds up further ice-sheet melting.
It's frustrating to Twombly when people's eyes glaze over at such discussions. He sees in part a "willful ignorance of science," compounded by the Bush Administration's "distortion of reputable science," which troubles him. When he first started in his position with the Presbytery, "I thought if I had impeccable data and presented it well, it would bring people over, rationally…but I've found that you have to get people emotionally and passionately involved."
Twombly thus believes it is crucial how issues are framed. He cites the latest issue of Eco-Justice Notes, a publication of ecumenical Denver-based Eco-Justice Ministries, which observes that people are more likely to respond to pictures of a starving polar bear perched on an ice floe, marooned by ice that has fragmented too early, than to scientific studies. "That gets to people more than a curve on a graph of CO2 and temperature."
It's also critical to take on the economic argument, according to Twombly, who said his professional background in electrical engineering has taught him a few things about energy efficiency. "If we could just get past this mantra that doing anything about global warming would ruin our economy – that's tragically not true."
While he recognizes that a public response is happening, "it's got to happen faster. There's got to be a tipping point where most people get involved."
Far from being daunted, however, he works indefatigably for even small gains.
"There's no choice but to be hopeful," said Twombly, who has 16 grandchildren. "As a retired professor, I have a lot of faith that if people would just become informed, it would make a difference…They have good hearts."
Jack Twombly will be attending the National Council of Churches Eco-Justice Conference in New Orleans June 1-4, 2006.
Green Building: Beginning to make dollars and sense
By Felicia Russell
Boulder's recycling and open space programs have long earned the city national recognition as a leader in the push toward environmental sustainability. These days it's making headlines in the building industry.
The Ted Scripps Fellows and CEJ staff recently took a trip downtown to the historic Citizens National Bank Building on Pearl Street for a backstage look at the green building trend. There they met with Kristi Ennis, sustainable design director for Boulder Associates, an firm that specializes in medical architecture and design.
Ennis told the Fellows about her experience working with the United States Green Building Council's LEED program, which is a point-based system for rating how environmentally-friendly a building is. Her firm designed Boulder Community Foothills Hospital, the first hospital in the nation to earn LEED Silver, which means that the hospital has earned at least half of the green points possible under the program.
To sit in with the Fellows, listen to the CEJ's first podcast.
Boulder's recycling and open space programs have long earned the city national recognition as a leader in the push toward environmental sustainability. These days it's making headlines in the building industry.
The Ted Scripps Fellows and CEJ staff recently took a trip downtown to the historic Citizens National Bank Building on Pearl Street for a backstage look at the green building trend. There they met with Kristi Ennis, sustainable design director for Boulder Associates, an firm that specializes in medical architecture and design.
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| A room at Boulder Community Foothills Hospital, the first hospital in the U.S. to earn LEED Silver certification (Image/ Boulder Associates). |
Ennis told the Fellows about her experience working with the United States Green Building Council's LEED program, which is a point-based system for rating how environmentally-friendly a building is. Her firm designed Boulder Community Foothills Hospital, the first hospital in the nation to earn LEED Silver, which means that the hospital has earned at least half of the green points possible under the program.
To sit in with the Fellows, listen to the CEJ's first podcast.
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