UPCOMING EVENTS
If you would like to join the 35% of River Roaders who are addressing climate change by eating more plant-based meals, have we got a show for you!
RRUUC Contemporary Issues Forum and RRUUC Earth Ministry present…
Mary Purdy: Saving the Planet with Your Fork
Coming next Sunday, Nov. 20, at 12:00 pm, online only.
An eco-dietitian explains how food consumption affects the climate and explains how we can use food to build healthy bodies and a more sustainable future!
A Zoom link to the presentation will be provided in the Saturday, Nov. 19 email announcement. This event is part of our regular 3rd Sunday meeting of RRUUC Earth Ministry. See you there!
NEWS – CLIMATE RESET WORKSHOP RECAP
Earth Ministry members facilitated four lively sections of a Climate Reset Workshop for River Roaders interested in learning more about CO2 reduction actions at home. Over the 4 weeks of the workshop about 25 participants used materials from David Gershon’s LOW-CARBON DIET book and COOL BLOCK program (recast for our congregational community) to measure their current carbon footprint and select actions lifestyle, home and transportation actions to reduce it. You can try out the CoolClimate Calculator too, and access the CoolBlock guidance here to learn more…and you can also talk to any of these folks about their learning and experience! We’ll continue to meet periodically to hold ourselves accountable for the actions we’ve chosen to take over our personal Year of Reset.
MONTHLY FOCUS – ELECTRIFY MOCO, ELECTRIFY EVERYTHING!
Our local action focus this month is to support the Montgomery County campaign to Electrify Everything. As the grid is now receiving more energy from renewable energy sources like hydropower, wind, and solar, our energy consumption can both increase demand for clean energy infrastructure AND limit overuse of the existing capacity by:
- Using as little energy as possible through conservation methods like turning off the lights and taking shorter showers, and
- Becoming more energy efficient by replacing technologies that still run on combustion, like gasoline vehicles and natural gas heating and cooling, with alternatives that run on electricity, like electric vehicles and heat pumps. We should be getting as much of our energy consumption as possible hooked up to the power grid.
- Signing the Montgomery County Electrify Everything pledge: https://bit.ly/ElectrifyMC
- Contacting your County Council members in support of Bill 13-22, which gradually moves new buildings in MoCo away from dirty fossil fuels towards clean electric energy.
- Putting your laser focus on gas-powered leaf blowers and signing the petition to ban them in urban areas of MoCo.
NATIONAL ACTION OPPORTUNITIES
from UUs for Social Justice (UUSJ)
Climate Reality Check – Action Hour
Monday, November 14
12 ET • 11am CT • 10am MT • 9am PT
Register
Let’s Tell Senators Climate Remains On The Agenda – Join UUSJ’s Environmental Action Team
We cannot depend on the incoming class of the 118th Congress to buttonhole pending work for the environment and climate justice, so Senators in the 117th Congress need to finish some tasks during the lame-duck session, if possible. The current class needs to act before the new crop of climate change deniers starts pressing their case.
So we will call Senate offices to deliver a topline message that we have climate work to do during this last legislative push of the 117th Congress and the U.N. Climate Change Conference – known as COP 27. (Nov. 6-18 in Egypt.)
INSPIRATION