Prayer
As you may know, NETWORK has been lobbying for just over a year with other organizations to ask the Biden Administration to assemble a commission by executive order to study reparations for the descendants of enslaved black people. During Black History Month, NETWORK is adding a call to us to “level up” our advocacy with prayer. They invite all justice-seekers, to join in. Please sign their pledge to commit to praying every day during Black History Month. Once you sign up, you will receive an email with the prayer.
Advocacy and Action
- Two new liquified natural gas (LNG) processing plants are being planned for Brownsville Texas in the Rio Grande Valley. LNG is mostly methane, a gas that has 80% more climate warming capability than carbon dioxide. These plants will impact impoverished communities and trample the rights of indigenous communities, not to mention create huge greenhouse gas plumes. But, they are not yet a done deal. The financing has not yet been secured. Public pressure on banks to step away from these projects has been successful in the past. However, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, two companies in our investment portfolio, are financing these projects. Can you be an activist investor and send them a message? Click here for the Rainforest Action Networks email tool. Please personalize your email or the computer logarithm will simply put it into an electronic file with identical emails. This is TIME SENSITIVE! These banks are close to making the deal. Send your email today. Next, send a message to the Biden Administration asking to finalize the plans to limit methane production in the US.
- The urgency of the need to protect creation becomes only more evident by the day as we witness the devastating consequences of neglect and abuse. The Earth Act to Stop Climate Pollution By 2030, also referred to as The Earth Bill, is slated to be introduced in this Congress. The bill aims to get us on track to mitigate the impacts of climate change by focusing on three main areas of importance: Electricity, Zero-Emission Vehicles, and Regenerative Agriculture Production. Our friends at Creation Justice Ministries invite us to ask our representative to cosponsor this bill.
- One of the biggest tools in the tool box of any president is to enact requirements of companies that contract with the federal government. These do not have to pass through Congress as it is an administrative rule. The Biden administration is seeking public comment on a federal rule known as the Federal Acquisition Regulation: Disclosure of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Climate-Related Financial Risk. This rule would require federal contractors to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions and, for the largest contractors, to release a plan to reduce emissions in line with Paris Agreement levels. This rule will make an impact! Many of these contractors are military contracts. One example of its affect is the clean up of Superfund sites - areas that have been contaminated with hazardous, toxic materials. Currently, about 21 million Americans live within a mile of a Superfund site and it is estimated half of those people are indigenous and marginalized communities. Can you submit your Federal comment through the Action Network site.
- Ohio folks! Death Penalty Action Ohio and OHIO death row inmate Kevin Keith needs you! Mr. Keith has valid claims to innocence. His fate is now in the hands of Ohio Governor Mike DeWine. For four weeks Gov Dewine has received daily petition signatures and over 200 people have used the letter-writing tool to send him an email. These are good actions, but we are now being asked to make a phone call to save a life. Please make a quick, POLITE and supportive phone call to Governor DeWine today at 614-644-4357. If it is busy or you get a voicemail that is full, that means we're doing our job. Try again later. The message: "I live in [City in Ohio] and I am calling to ask you to let Governor DeWine know that he has my support to grant clemency to Kevin Keith and free him today. Please share this message with him."
Education
- This might be of interest to you! The Sisters of St. Joseph and the CSJ Institute for Faith Inquiry and Education is sponsoring Dr. Marcus Mescher as part of an international speaker series. His lecture entitled Being the Church in the World: Joys and Griefs, Then and Now will be held at Xavier University’s Kennedy Auditorium, February 15th at 7:30pm. It is free to attend in person or $10 to watch the live stream. Please see the flyer attached for details. If you’d like to register for the livestream, choose Symposium Session 8. Dr. Mescher says, “my talk will focus on the core aspirations of the document and its reception, how it has helped shape the moral and pastoral teachings of Pope John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis, and what it means to be a church that takes seriously the "joys and hopes, griefs and anxieties" of people today. I see a lot of connections between Pope Francis' vision for building a "culture of encounter" and his emphasis on synodality, and look forward to seeing what this event might break open for expanding what we imagine possible in working collaboratively to be a church marked by mercy, solidarity, and hope.”
- This Black History month the Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center is celebrating women of the Civil Rights Movement. Each week this month they will highlight the work of an important Black woman activist. I will post the name in the JPCC Weekly Update, but to get all the information, you can take part in this series by signing up for weekly emails, or by following IJPC on Instagram or Facebook. We are encouraged to share something we learn with a family member or friend. This week meet Claudette Clovin.
- The next public dialogue from Georgetown is titled US Catholics and Challenges to Democracy. REGISTER.