The Recording, Transcript, and Chat Transcript from the Feedback Session are available.
I guess itâs actually five years, and this resolution is worded to avoid that limitation. Well, ok, and given the current rains in Florida, there is certainly a crisis for us to respond to. But I still think it would be a more focused AIW if it omitted the celebration of Labor Day, the support for democratic labor unions (not that I oppose them), and the advice to President Biden, who I think is capable of dealing with the situation without our advice.
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Unfortunately I missed the feedback session yesterday so Iâm adding these concerns here so they can be taken into account in any revisions:
While I support all of the sentiments in this AIW, I agree with other criticisms here that there are some parts that could be cut to make it more focussed and clear. The two paragraphs under immediate action about poverty and gender donât directly relate to the rest of the AIW, and the indirect relationship, of marginalized people being more impacted by climate change, is not made clear there; the paragraphs confusingly seem to be out of nowhere, and extend beyond a mere recognition of impacts on marginalized communities to go into the content of what should be other AIWs I believe, and that lack of cohesion I think takes some of the strength and clarity away from the AIW. The court case is also mentioned with no context or explanation.
As someone lacking several kinds of privilege, including living in chronic poverty with past experience of homelessness and a current threat of it, I also found that a lot of the discussion (that I watched via video), and some of this text is really more about poverty/classism than climate change, and as far as I have heard, no one involved in this AIW is living in poverty themselves (correct me if Iâm wrong). If we are to have a (separate) AIW about poverty I think there should be someone involved who lives in poverty, and if this AIW is to directly deal with it it should still probably include people from our community. And if we do make another AIW about poverty now or in future years, Iâm also concerned that some of the off-ish topic conversation here about the decriminalization of poverty etc might actually hamper future AIW initiatives because of the UUA rule that you canât repeat parts of AIWs from the past 5 years (depending on how strictly they interpret that).
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Thank you so much yes for the AIW. Here in my temperate Seattle; itâs now getting hot enough we have to have cooling stations in the summer and cold enough my pipes froze in the winter even though they were in the ceiling! Yes, who has access to air conditioning? Who has shelter and clean air when every summer in the NW it is actually on FIRE. We have a new season out here called Smoke Season where we get badge of something for having the worst air quality in the actual world. And who does that effect the most: folks without shelter, without air filtration, without homes, essential workers, etc. And who knew how to handle poor air quality and educated others in my communities - the disabled folks and the Indigenous People, who were the first to organize mask give aways before the pandemic when the whole west coast was on fire - my disabled community. Who taught me about mutual aid - my disabled and BIPOC communities. And why are the fires as bad, climate change and colonial setter land management. Yes yes to this AIW. Thank you for being intersectional and inclusive!
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Every moment we spend talking about human rights is a moment lost in the fight for the Rights of the Earth and all of its other inhabitants. Without them we are toast. Fighting about who is marginalized and who is to blame is just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. It wonât matter. And it takes away valuable time. Can we agree that the Earth has rights? Can we agree that we are not in control of this planet? Can we agree that there are too many of us? I wish someone would whisper it, overpopulation. Can we start speaking that word? Can we start that discussion?
Iâm curious why you claim human rights activism as mutually exclusive from climate activism. My perspective is the exact opposite. Whether weâre discussing superfund sites being located in poor urban areas, or lower-income island nations experiencing their lands literally disappearing as the seas rise, or the high rates of asthma that accompany air pollution caused by highway redlining in predominantly Black neighborhoods, or the many communities that lack access to clean water due to industrial poisons leeching into groundwaterâall of those issues are undeniably and inseparably both human rights issues and climate issues.
I strongly disagree with invoking âoverpopulationâ as a concept, full stop. Down that path lies eugenics. We have a history of endorsing eugenics within our denomination, and a responsibility to not repeat that history.
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The problem with the overpopulation argument is that what we really have is too many living the high-income, luxurious, USAmerican-inspired lifestyleâyou know, the small percentage who have half the assets/wealth in this country, and their ilk across the world. Redistributing a portion of those resourcesâand even a tenth of the U.S. military budgetâand switching to a truly universal improved and expanded Medicare for All with its 2 to 3% overheadâwould make a huge difference in human impact and quality of life for many.
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Population is just a word. Invoking it means putting eyes on the number of humans on the planet. In no way does bringing up this topic imply support for genocide or eugenics.
The population problem does not go away because there are also other problems (i.e. affluence and waste). We can choose our battles. But please recognize that this battle, too, exists and deserves attention.
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Thank you for providing that really concise and excellent explanation of how climate change hits marginalized communities first and hardest.
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Naming âoverpopulationâ as the problem necessarily means the solution is a decrease in the population. Once the solution verges into deciding who is allowed to have children, and who is âworthâ the resources to keep them alive, thatâs where the discussion enters the realm of eugenics.
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One can talk about population decline via humane, informed and consentual standards. 45% of all pregnancies are unintended. Improving contraception, especially for the young, is a goal that would both help to stabilize population and would help end the cycle of poverty. Also, talking more openly about this will help to overcome erroneous connotations (eugenics).
This logic actually feeds into racist practices of population control that stem from eugenicist ideologies. I encourage folks that are curious as to why promoting birth control as a means of controlling the population and the false idea that it will help alleviate poverty to look into SisterSong and other women of color reproductive justice organizations and publications.
I think we need to remember that people have the right to have children.
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People also have the right to avoid pregnancy if they so choose. Population awareness is not population control nor is it eugenics. It is seeking balance and sustainability. For more: https://www.populationbalance.org/
Checked out the website and population âbalanceâ is a spin on population control. In practice, itâs the same thing. I do agree that pronatalism (by the state and socially) is problematic but that doesnât mean Iâm on board with what youâre saying.
Listening to women of colorâs history of reproductive control would help you and this organization develop a more mature politic around whatâs truly harming the planet.
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Yes, it is a âspinâ on population control, but that is because âcontrolâ is a trigger word. Trigger words prevent us from thinking freely. Thanks for checking out Population Balance. There is plenty of science literature showing the population is indeed a global problem. If you need help finding it, let me know.
Iâm going to let people reading this thread to decide for themselves if your position is worth considering.
Cheers!
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Thank you for your engagement in this discussion. As a BIPOC UU as itâs become too painful, exhausting and extractive/exploitative feeling to engage with the racism here in this thread. I think this is a great AIW and am appreciating itâs intersectional/interconnected lens.
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I need clarity on the 5-year rule for AIWs in relation to this AIW. This AIW touches on a number of issues that could potentially be separate AIWs providing more specific background information and more appropriately related calls for action. If the AIW passes as itâs currently written, would we be barred from creating other AIWs that would be more specific to some of the issues mentioned in this one? Could there be a bar on a future AIW that calls for action in supporting impacts on migrant (some who are illegal) farmworkers? Could there be a bar on a specific climate-related disaster that could occur within the next five years that will create more homeless or refugees? Could there be a bar on a future climate-related food insecurity or drinking water AIW? LGBTQAI+ access to health and social services?
Thatâs my biggest concern. While I wholly appreciate the inclusivity and the broad range of this AIW, I believe there needs to be more visible linkages with the issues to climate change. Specifically, Iâm unclear on how the Labor Day and LGBTQAI+ services paragraphs are related to climate change as they currently read. An explanation would be helpful, otherwise they sound like unrelated âridersâ on a piece of legislation.
Also, an explanation of what the Presidentâs invoking the Stafford and National Emergencies Act would look like. What exactly are you asking him to do under the Acts as they currently exist? How would climate change be incorporated into these Acts?
Keep in mind not all UUs have climate as a justice priority, so providing some language that could tie into the other justice areas that are their priority, would be helpful. Also keep in mind that climate change impacts are going to vary radically depending on the, social, economic, environmental and cultural aspects of a given geographical area. You might want consider calling on congregations to assess whatâs going on in their particular spheres and refer to Side with Loveâs Green Sanctuary 2030 program that does just that and call out the efforts of UU Ministry for Earth as a means of individual, congregational, regional and national resources to help them along.
Thank you for attempting to grapple with the expansiveness of this issue, but then if we take any justice issue, honestly and thoroughly, they are all as complex and entangled.
Whatâs tragic is to hear the questions like, âWhy are we concerned about extreme weather and people with inadequate housing?â âDoes extreme heat cause health problems for farm workers?â
Weâre caught in a brutal week (June 17) for much of North America. Cities like Chicago and New York are suffering through major heat waves. Southern California has its wildfires and southern Florida has its floods. Humanitarian action is needed and itâs needed today. Unitarian Universalists can be helpful.
Yes, thereâs a connection between climate change and social injustice.
Social justice has contributed to the climate crisis and social injustice has made a bad situation much worse. The UUA doesnât need separate statements about social injustice and the environment. We need to bring all of our climate-related concerns together in one statement for climate justice. ASAP.