SimpliRural – Black Lives matter

by Jay Allen

For 48 straight Saturday mornings, a Black Lives Matter vigil has been held by the Courthouse near downtown Warrenton. Since June 2020, following the killing of George Floyd, participants diverse in race and age have gathered there peacefully. An occasional speaker opens or closes our sign advocacy. The most recent speaker was an Asian-American high-schooler sharing her advocacy efforts regarding Asian hate.

Regular UUBRidge participants include Rev. Russ Savage, ESJ member Ellie Clark, and my wife Karen and me. Ellie attended most of the vigils last fall and says, “It was good to see that most drivers were enthusiastic and supportive. We came out in all sorts of weather, and I found participating very rewarding. The occasional hecklers were treated with courtesy and respect, as all beings should be.”

Do such protests make a difference? You better believe it! According to the June 2021 Harper’s Index, the average number of police killings in a U.S. city decreased 14 percent one year after its first Black Lives Matter gathering, and five years after its first gathering, police killings decreased by 30 percent!

The vigils are held at Courthouse Square Plaza in Warrenton Saturday mornings from 10:00 to 10:45.

Bottles and Wrappers and Cans: Oh My!

by Sue Daniels

No lions or tigers or bears confronted the “Green Machine” as we picked up and bagged trash and recyclables in early May, although an aggressive dog briefly caused some anxiety. We even were undeterred by the unmowed grass along the roads where trash tends to hide.

Rev. Russ Savage and ESJ committee members Jay Allen and Lisa McQuail joined my husband Will and me on two of our Adopt-A-Highway sections, about two miles of roads in Page County. Numerous bags of trash were left for the highway department to dispose of, and we took four bins of items—mostly plastic and aluminum—to our local recycling station.

While enjoying views of the mountains around us and the cattle and horses grazing in the fields, I pondered why people toss trash on the roads. Selfishness? Lack of pride? Ignorance about recycling? Or do they just not believe that we all share, and need to care for, the land and our environment?

Lisa spoke with a couple of people out in their yards who pick up the trash on their property. She asked them to join us in writing letters to the local newspaper about this issue, and they agreed. A starting point, at least.

What About Recycling?

Recycling reduces the amount of trash that goes into landfills. Many of the items thrown out on roads and put into the waste stream are recyclable. Recycling programs in various locations usually accept aluminum and other cans, glass containers, and certain types of plastic.

Recycling materials uses less energy and emits less pollution than creating completely new items. Aluminum can be recycled indefinitely. About half of aluminum beverage cans in the U.S are recycled. According to GreenBiz, recycling old cans into new ones “uses 90 percent less energy and generates 90 percent less emissions compared to producing that same can from virgin material.”

Glass is heavy and expensive to truck to places that reuse it, and it often breaks while being collected or sorted. Chemical and Engineering News reports that only about 33 percent of glass in the U.S. is actually recycled into new products. In states that require refundable deposits on beverage bottles, that amount is 98 percent. Fairfax County and other jurisdictions, including Page County, no longer recycle glass. Instead it is crushed and used for other purposes, such as layering into landfills.

Giant islands of plastic in the oceans, plastic washing up on beaches and being found in the stomachs of dead animals and fish, plastic bags blowing against fence lines and caught in trees—plastic is everywhere, even in the food we consume. Is recycling the answer? We will talk about that next month.

How Do Our Gardens Grow?

Not quite like Jack’s beanstalk, but still pretty impressive! Various kinds of lettuce, chard and other greens continue to be donated to the local food pantries. At the food security gardens in Amissville and in Page County tomato, pepper, squash, cucumber, and even strawberry plants are in the ground.

A new feature is coming for the community gardens in Page. The county extension office is developing plans for “Free Market Fridays” at the gardens. In addition to having produce available, information and brief classes on nutrition and how to prepare the vegetables will be provided. We look forward to helping in this community outreach.

To our readers: we invite you to use the comments section below not only to give your thoughts on what you read here, but to recommend things to read, watch, or listen to related to environment and social justice. Also of interest are your own activities or accomplishments in the environment/social justice realm.

(Images from NASA Scientific Visualization Studio. An interactive map showing the progression can be found here.)

The Wizard Bill Gates

by Will Daniels

In his 2018 book The Wizard and the Prophet, Charles Mann described opposing visions of how to save the world. The Wizard is Norman Borlaug, a scientist whose breakthroughs in plant breeding ushered in the Green Revolution that made possible feeding the world’s burgeoning population. The Prophet is William Vogt, an ecologist who warned that science and technology would not save the world, but might in fact contribute to despoiling it. The revolution needed, as he described it, is one of human consciousness: we must learn to adjust our needs and desires to what the earth can sustain.

Those opposing visions illustrate the poles of our modern debate over the environment. Do we continue to manage nature, expand our presence, and use more technology to fix the environmental side-effects, or, let nature take the lead, scaling back as we see more clearly what the health of natural systems requires?

In How to Avoid a Climate Disaster, Bill Gates weighs in with a wizardly solution to one major aspect of our environmental crisis. He does not speak as a rah-rah technologist uninterested in reducing consumption and development, but from his expertise in bringing innovation to problem-solving. Co-leading the Gates Foundation, with his wife Melinda, has shown him the complexity of achieving the basic standards of health and wealth so urgently needed in the poorer countries of the world. That achievement will require generating much more energy — a challenge in itself, but even more so as it needs to be derived from clean sources.

The realist Bill Gates tells us that we cannot raise up the world’s poor and also reach a goal of zero carbon emissions “by flying and driving less.” No amount of attitudinal change will deliver us from a frightening climate future. In Charles Mann’s terms, the Prophet’s desire to live in harmony with nature can be fulfilled only with the Wizard’s help in ensuring that nature can endure our impacts with minimal further damage. That will require tools of technology we do not now possess, and probably some that we haven’t imagined.

To his credit, Gates rejects pure techno-fixes. Although a committed capitalist, he doesn’t trust markets to get us to net-zero. As one example, markets can be essential with the help of government policies enacting prices on producers of carbon dioxide.

Central to Gates’ message is utilizing zero-carbon technologies. But, developing them is not enough. To be adopted by consumers, the initial higher costs—which he calls the “green premiums”—must be level with, or lower than, the costs of our fossil mainstays.

I recommend this book for a comprehensive, non-technical summary of the full task ahead of us. I had not known, for example, that producing steel and concrete releases more carbon into the air than the fuel burned to heat the material. The raw materials themselves create carbon emissions during production. Either new ways have to be found to make steel and concrete, or the carbon needs to be captured before it escapes into the atmosphere. Gates delivers similar explanations for five major areas of our economy: the power grid, manufacturing, agriculture, transportation, and heating and cooling.

A bonus to readers is Gates’ light and self-deprecating touch. He wears his geekiness well and is not the sort of Wizard who is sure he has the answers. He pulls no punches, however, when it comes to the unprecedented difficulty of realizing a new energy paradigm for humankind. Cautiously optimistic, he tells us we might be able to succeed: We have no choice but to try.

Acting Locally: Food Security

Food security is impacted by climate change, and addressing it locally is a long-standing effort of the Unitarian Universalists of the Blue Ridge. Last year, a garden plot in Amissville was donated by a friend of the congregation to use in our efforts to provide produce for local residents through the Rappahannock Food Pantry. ESJ member Ellie Clark recently harvested cabbage and other green vegetables that overwintered in the garden and donated them to the pantry. The garden beds will be planted again this year. Volunteer help is welcome, particularly if you live near Amissville. If you are interested, leave a comment below and we will be in touch!

In Page County, the community gardens are a project of the Page Alliance for Community Action, working with other community groups and individuals, including ESJ members. Last year’s garden, in the town of Stanley, provided more than 600 pounds of vegetables to local food pantries, schools, and nearby residents. Seasonal greens were planted a few weeks ago and are already being harvested and delivered to the Page One food pantry.

A new community garden has been created, fenced, and planted by volunteers. It is located at the Valley Health facility in Luray. Cool weather vegetables are growing, and warmer weather plants and seeds will be planted later. ESJ members Bridget Harrison and Will Daniels joined the efforts in both gardens in recent weeks. The work will be ongoing throughout the growing season.

Invasive Alert: Spotted Lanternfly

Climate change may also cause invasive alien species to spread more widely. The spotted lanternfly, a highly invasive insect pest native to Asia, was first discovered in the U.S. in Pennsylvania in 2014. In 2018, it was detected in Winchester/Frederick County, Virginia, and is now found in Clarke and Warren Counties. It prefers feeding on Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima), but will also feed on grapes, peaches, apples, maples, walnuts, hops, cucumbers, and basil. It spreads rapidly when introduced to new areas and has great potential to impact the state’s wine, orchard, logging, and other industries, as well as being a serious nuisance to homeowners when present in high numbers.

Learn how to recognize, report, and prevent the spread of the Spotted Lanternfly here: https://ext.vt.edu/agriculture/commercial-horticulture/spotted-lanternfly.html

To our readers: we invite you to use the comments section below not only to give your thoughts on what you read here, but to recommend things to read, watch, or listen to related to environment and social justice. Also of interest are your own activities or accomplishments in the environment/social justice realm.

2021 Energy Bills

This article on energy bills in the General Assembly summarizes information from Ivy Main’s Power for the People VA blog post of March 11, 2021. Please see that post for details.

Ivy Main focused on three areas for Virginia to make more progress on the climate agenda:

1. Transportation electrification, to move away from internal combustion engines in cars, trucks, and school buses. To summarize:

    a) An electrical-vehicle rebate program was approved, but still needs funding.

    b) A bill asking the State Corporation Commission (SCC) to report on a way to electrify transportation passed.

    c) A school-bus electrification fund was established, but also has yet to be funded.

2. Improved energy efficiency in new home construction. This once again met the opposition of the homebuilder’s lobby.

    a) A bill mandating the adoption of provisions from the latest national energy-efficiency code was amended, leaving it to the discretion of the Virginia code-writing board, although the board is required to consider standards that favor stricter energy efficiency.

    b) Energy-efficiency bills did better regarding government buildings, with legislation favoring energy- and water-efficient products in public procurements and the capability for charging electric vehicles and energy/carbon tracking for new public buildings.

3. Giving consumers the right to buy renewable energy from competitive suppliers—Ivy Main’s third priority—went nowhere. The House supported the “right to shop” bill (HB 2048) and a suite of other utility reform bills, but they were dispatched by the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee. According to the Energy and Policy Institute (www.energyandpolicy.org/dominion-va-contributions-2020/), Dominion Energy nearly quadrupled Virginia’s political contributions from 2018 to 2020. In 2020, General Assembly appropriaters as a whole received $225,000 from Dominion in the fourth quarter and $484,000 for the year; for Senate Commerce and Labor Committee members, those numbers were $145,000 and $466,500, respectively. Those contributions and the subsequent votes raise questions about who favors the Earth and people, and who favors profit and the utility companies.

To our readers: we invite you to use the comments section below not only to give your thoughts on what you read here, but to recommend things to read, watch, or listen to related to environment and social justice. Also of interest are your own activities or accomplishments in the environment/social justice realm.

SimpliRural: Fit By Nature

by Jay Allen

Hello, All!

While we are still in the throes of COVID-19, the book Fit by Nature by John Colver with M. Nicole Nazzard (published in 2011) was ahead of its time in advocating the replacement of gyms with Nature as our workout setting. Body-weight exercises abound, with natural objects becoming the tools of your trade.

There are four main tenets underpinning the value of this natural program working for you. First, this program, called AdventX, is a 12-week outdoor-fitness program. It is comprehensive, covering nutrition and safety. Working with a buddy or in a group is crucial.

Having a fun attitude is another tenet. If you expect to have fun and do have it, you are much more likely to stick with the 12-week cycles. As an aside, this writer was a “cross-fitter in my distant past. While I was impressed with my strength gains, the hypercompetitive nature of that regimen led to new injuries and the exacerbation of old ones.

The authors of the AdventX program emphasize that each of us controls the intensity of the workout and avoiding goals that take over control of our general life.

Variety is the fourth tenet of the AdventX training program. These exercises include a cardiovascular endurance workout, done at pace that would allow a conversation between you and a buddy. A cross-training workout combines strength training via body weight and cardio endurance thru movement that elevates the heart rate to a level safe for you. A “Cornerstone” (so named by the authors) of the program is the longest, once-weekly workout, to introduce and practice fundamental movements to avoid injury and promote movement efficiency.

Please contact me if you are in need of a workout partner!

To our readers: we invite you to use the comments section below not only to give your thoughts on what you read here, but to recommend things to read, watch, or listen to related to environment and social justice. Also of interest are your own activities or accomplishments in the environment/social justice realm.

SimpliRural: Exercise and Minimalism

by Jay Allen

I am coming clean(er) about my passion for this quest — clothes and books (skads of both) are becoming clutter in my home. And tonight I got hit upside my head realizing that the only minimizing I easily do is to keep potential and current friends at bay! More therapy is in my near future!

Switching to safer ground, here are some “hacks” from World’s Best Life Hacks—200 Ingenious Ways to Use Everyday Objects by Sarah Devos. These time savers will free up energy for “minimal” interests.

1, Use a firm (metal?) straw to core out a strawberry!
2. Try the magic of microfiber cloths to clean windows without water and soap!
3. Want to know how long your foot is without involving your foot? Measure from the crease of your elbow to your wrist!
4. Say goodby to puffy eyes by putting used, cooled tea bags over your shut eyes for 5 minutes.
5. Wonder how much is a single serving size of pasta? Use a 12-ounce beer bottle filled up to the neck.
6. When traveling, roll up clothes to save suitcase space.
7. Use a clothespin to hold a nail in place while the hammering it in place.
8. With your next paint job, add a teaspoon of vanilla extract to the paint can to freshen up the painted room.
9. Paint quality is not affected by this addition.
10. Next time you check fuses in a darkened basement, use a rubber band to attach the flashlight to your forearm.

To our readers: we invite you to use the comments section below not only to give your thoughts on what you read here, but to recommend things to read, watch, or listen to related to environment and social justice. Also of interest are your own activities or accomplishments in the environment/social justice realm.

New Year’s Resolutions

At the end of a year marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, protests and conflict over racism and social justice, and turmoil over the presidential election, we can find hope for the coming year in the vaccines now being distributed, efforts to reform policing, the election results being formalized, and the return of light as the winter darkness recedes.

Many of us make resolutions for the coming year, and we have a few suggestions in this month’s post. If you would like to share your resolutions, please use the comment section below.

• Become educated on climate change and energy production
• Incorporate exercise into your daily routine
• Help welcome refugees and create welcoming communities
• Help protect native species

Energy Transformation

by Vernon Gras

Climate change will likely have a sudden and huge effect on U.S. politics under the new administration. Virginia, with passage of its Clean Energy Economy Act earlier this year, has already taken steps to transform energy production from fossil fuels to renewables.

For Environment and Social Justice Committee members, and for our readers, I recommend several sources for updates on energy news and transforming our economy:

1) Ivy Main’s blog Power for the People VA, which focuses on Virginia, especially the General Assembly in Richmond.

2) Les Grady and the Climate Action Alliance of the Valley ((climateactionallianceofthevalley.org) provide a weekly roundup of climate and energy news. Wider than a Virginia focus, it divides the U.S. and world energy news into Politics and Policy, Climate and Climate Science, Energy Potpourri, and a Closing Thought.

3) Timothy Whitcombe sends Climate Clips to a mailing list (search for va-climate-movement in Google Groups to be added to the list). The clips come primarily from newspapers and journals such as the Manchester Guardian (UK), the New York Times, NBC news, the BBC, Wired Journal, and others.

4) Three other sources nurturing and defending the need to stop climate change are the Sierra Club, the Environmental Defense Fund, and the National Resources Defense Council, which is perhaps the longest and most effective defender of Earth and its people, plants, animals, and natural systems in the courts. These three groups have lawyers and take saving nature, life, and the planet itself from relentless greed with equally relentless opposition, and they usually win. But they need money for such work, so please help them with some cash.

I recommend that you link up with all of the above sources. Yes, the Covid-19 pandemic is much closer to our conception of personal danger. And, speaking personally, it is closer and more dangerous. But all of the plagues in history did not succeed in eliminating human life. Climate Change, as the ever-growing fires, floods, storms, droughts, produced by CO2 have already indicated, can do so. Other abundant life forms have already disappeared. So can we.

Vernon W. Gras is George Mason University Professor Emeritus of English and Cultural Studies and established the Vernon and Marguerite Gras Annual Lecture in the Humanities. More information is on his website at vwgras.com.

SimpliRural: Exercise and Minimalism

by Jay Allen

This month we are looking at how exercise and Minimalism can coexist. We will start with an overview of a book called The Quick and the Dead, by Pavel Tsatsouline, a former Soviet Special Forces physical training instructor. His website is StrongFirst.com.

The author’s premise is that two or three weekly workouts of kettlebell exercises and power pushups can be a “stand alone,” total training regimen, leaving you with energy “to fight, work, play, and live.” I would think that kettlebell squats or other leg work would be needed.

The book gets technical about three different energy systems (creatine phosphate, glycolytic, and aerobic) and how reps of exercise should be strictly limited to periods of 5 to 30 seconds that ”beef up” the mitochondria. The latter grows muscle cells. There are charts and graphs that explain it all (though vaguely to my unscientific mind). The title of the book refers to the every-day drama of predator/prey engagement.

Wellness Specialist Lauren Parsons of New Zealand advocates we “Snack on Exercise”! Take a brisk walk or go up and down the stairs at the office. Do air squats at your child’s playground. Please check out her TED talk by that name here.

Best Regards, Jay

The Refugee Doll Project

By Jeanne Trabulsi

A program in Portland, Maine, called I’m Your Neighbor, intended to create welcoming communities for immigrants, inspired me to begin the Refugee Doll Project in Virginia. As the project website explains: “Refugee dolls are educational tools to be used in schools, libraries, and multicultural events to foster awareness of and appreciation for refugees. The dolls represent school children from the Islamic World, Central America, and Africa because refugees from these areas are heavily represented in the Commonwealth of Virginia.”

The project uses standard 18-inch dolls, and the website has information and sewing patterns for simple, modest clothing. The dolls form one component of a traveling library with 34 award-winning picture books based on the immigrant experience. Used in conjunction with these books and with lesson plans, the dolls help children internalize concepts such as “What it’s like to be different?” What’s it’s like to be different and new?” and “How to be Welcoming.”

The goal is for the traveling library to visit schools and libraries in Virginia. In addition, the project is a model for others to replicate in their own communities by working with local libraries and schools, donating dolls and books to them, or giving the dolls directly to refugee families.

Habitat Defenders

By Bridget Harrison

Invasive plants are a growing problem in Shenandoah National Park, but there is hope for control thanks to the efforts of the Habitat Defenders, a volunteer group that assists Natural and Cultural Resources staff in their efforts to control targeted species in the Park. Invasive plants pose a real threat to native species, outcompeting native plants and degrading preferred forage and host species of certain fauna. Removal of target species usually includes garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata), privet (Ligustrum sinensis, Ligustrum obtusifolium), bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus), and honeysuckle species (Lonicera morrowii, Lonicera maackii) by hand pulling or cutting and treating stumps.

In addition to removing invasive species, volunteers assist in the restoration process through revegetation. The Park has a native plant nursery, and volunteers help us collect seeds, transplant seedlings, and ultimately plant seedlings in areas where invasive plant treatments have been successful.

Volunteer opportunities average twice a month, usually from April through December. If you have an interest in helping with the Habitat Defenders program, please reach out to me via email at bridget_harrison@nps.gov, where I can sign you up for monthly email updates on volunteer activities. New volunteers are always welcome, and no experience is necessary.

Bridget Harrison is a Biological Science Technician and Habitat Defenders Volunteer Coordinator at Shenandoah National Park.

[Note: An interesting article from YaleEnvironment360, a publication of the Yale University School of the Environment, discusses: “How Non-Native Plants are Contributing to a Global Insect Decline”]

To our readers: we invite you to use the comments section below not only to give your thoughts on what you read here, but to recommend things to read, watch, or listen to related to environment and social justice. Also of interest are your own activities or accomplishments in the environment/social justice realm.

SimpliRural

by Jay Allen

Today we are looking at Simplicity through the perspective of the Shakers and laughter.

The Shakers began in England as an offspring of the Quakers and were first known as “Shaking Quakers.” Their name came from the practice of dancing and shaking wildly when caught up in the Spirit of God. Shakers believed in Original Sin, and practiced devout celibacy, even for marital couples. They had their zenith in the USA in the mid-19th century, but inhibiting the expression of emotional/sexual intimacy led to a declining census. The only remaining active Shaker community is at the Sabbathday Lake Village in Maine.

Beliefs of Shakers include gender equality, communal ownership of property, living separately from society, pacifism, and living off the land as simply and naturally as possible. Shaker furniture was valued for craftsmanship and plain design. In 1848, Shaker Elder Joseph Brackett wrote the now universally popular song “Simple Gifts.”

I wonder what a modern Shaker society would look like if spiritual, emotional, and sexual intimacy could have been integrated with one another. For more details, please refer to the book The Story of the Shakers, by Flo Morse and the website www.learnreligions.com/the-shakers-4693219. An interesting 2019 interview with Bother Arnold Hadd of the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village (the only active community today) can be found here.

The Simple Act of Laughter Can Enhance the Quality of Life

According to a Mayo Clinic study, the physical act of laughing causes more air intake, invigorating your heart, lungs, and circulatory system, leading to muscle relaxation and the elevation of endorphins and dopamine. This is all due to laughter, not humor! (The “H” word is a worthy topic for another time.) Does laughter require any practice or skill? Nooo! You can/should laugh for no reason! If you laugh in public, do so without any eye contact, as people may think you are laughing at them! More about the important benefits of laughter may be found in the article “8 Ways to Laugh More” in Experience Life magazine, May 2020.

Until next time, don’t worry about your laugh intake at Thanksgiving!

—Jay Allen

Progenitor of the Modern Environmental Movement

By Will Daniels

Is there another historical figure whose fame has diminished quite as much as Alexander von Humboldt’s? The 19th Century Prussian scientist, naturalist, humanitarian, and prolific writer was once second in recognition only to Napoleon, according to author Andrea Wulf in her 2015 biography The Invention of Nature: Alexander Von Humboldt’s New World. Von Humboldt epitomized the ideal—less possible in an age of specialization—of the unity of knowledge and the identity of the scientific and the esthetic.

Wulf’s book, one of the New York Times “Ten Best” of 2015, restores some of von Humboldt’s prominence. Another high-profile treatment of the great man is an exhibit at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, titled “Alexander von Humboldt and the United States: Art, Nature, and Culture.” The exhibit title and the sponsorship by the art museum, not Natural History, indicates the reach of his influence across 19th-century society. Although he spent only six weeks in the U.S. in 1804, his impact was deep, especially with President Thomas Jefferson.

Although the Smithsonian museums are now closed due to COVID-19, an excellent 35-minute preview of the exhibit by chief curator Eleanor Jones Harvey and other resources are available online here.

“Green Machine” Updates

Rappahannock County

* The lovely fenced Amissville garden donated to ESJ by a friend for the benefit of the Rappahannock Food Pantry is producing beautiful fall crops. Two deliveries of fresh greens to the Pantry have included leaf lettuce, spinach, chard, and collards, and are much enjoyed by local families. A neighbor near the garden has been assisting with tending the beds of plants.



We also donated two large boxes of children’s books. Pantry volunteers are sorting them by age and distributing them to the families with children. It’s wonderful for children to own several books just for themselves, when the needs for even basic necessities in their families during this pandemic year are so great.

* Road Cleanup: On Monday, November 9, members of the ESJ Committee met at my home in Washington, Virginia, to do our autumn roadside trash pickup on the 2.3 mile length of Tiger Valley Road. This is the third time we have gathered to do this. It was a gorgeous day!

We hope soon VDOT will erect a permanent sign indicating that Tiger Valley Road has been adopted by UUs of the Blue Ridge and Friends, because some neighbors who live on the road are interested in helping us.

— Ellie Clark

The Community Garden in Page County, sponsored by Valley Health, the Page Alliance for Community Action (PACA), and the Town of Stanley, Virginia, has been winterized. Several hundred pounds of produce (far surpassing the goal of 200 pounds) were harvested for the Page One food pantry, Page County Schools, and local residents. UUBridge members Will Daniels, Lisa McQuail, and Bridget Harrison were among the volunteers working on this project.
— Sue Daniels

To our readers: we invite you to use the comments section below not only to give your thoughts on what you read here, but to recommend things to read, watch, or listen to related to environment and social justice. Also of interest are your own activities or accomplishments in the environment/social justice realm.

Social Justice

“Nonviolent Protests in the Disinformation Age”: This online event is being hosted by the Page County Public Forum at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday October 28. Information on logging into Zoom for the forum can be found here. The Front Royal Chapter of Coming to the Table, which several of our members belong to, has designated the forum as its virtual meeting for this month.

Black Lives Matter Vigil: Several members of the congregation continue to participate in these vigils on Saturday mornings at Courthouse Square Plaza in Warrenton, beginning at 10:00 a.m. This weekly event will continue at least through the Presidential election. Russ Savage, our minister, has been a faithful volunteer—and sometime speaker—at these vigils. 


“The White Ally Toolkit”: The ESJ Committee highly recommends this and other communication methods originated by David Campt. He breaks down Civil Discourse in a clear and practical way with simple exercises that we can all integrate into our attempted communications with those who disagree with us: www.google.com/search?tbo=p&tbm=bks&q=inauthor:%22David+Campt%22&safe=active.

Promoting Regional Cooperation

Local businesses, community members, and government officials from Shenandoah, Page, and Rappahannock Counties are participating in cooperative efforts to promote tourism and workforce development. Lisa McQuail, who chairs the UUBRidge Environment and Social Justice Committee, has organized and participated in meetings and conversations related to these efforts.

On October 16, Jay Grant, Deputy Director of Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (VDHCD) (www.dhcd.virginia.gov) spoke to interested parties about Virginia Block Grants, which are administered through planning districts. COVID-19 emergency funding through the CARES Act and “Go Virginia” (govirginia.org) has provided the grants. Future funding will need to come from the next COVID-19 federal funding bill and funds allocated by the Virginia Assembly.

Grants for workforce development, housing, energy development, broadband, food security, entrepreneurship, and small business resiliency—could positively impact our counties and region.

Before COVID-19, Lisa had participated in discussions on possible regional grants and on developing a regional African-American History Trail and driving tours. A result of the October 16 meeting is a proposed “Route 211 Corridor” tourism project. If Fauquier County joined the effort, the corridor could extend from Warrenton, in Fauquier County, through Amissville, Washington, and Sperryville in Rappahannock County, on through Luray in Page County, and then through New Market and Timberville in Shenandoah County. 

Two COVID-19 safe tours (using walkie-talkies for people driving their own vehicles) also have been proposed:

• An African American History tour could begin in Culpeper and traverse Rappahannock County, Shenandoah National Park, and Page County, ending at the Shenandoah Valley African American History Center in Shenandoah County.

• Community Garden Driving Tours could feature gardens in Rappahannock, Page and Shenandoah Counties that provide produce to food pantries, such as Waterpenny Farm, which regularly donates to the Rappahannock Food Pantry and in Fairfax County, and the Stanley Community Garden in Page County sponsored by Valley Health.

Food security and community gardening funding will be on the agenda for the regional group’s next meeting. Other regional projects are anticipated in 2021 and, perhaps, monthly tourism projects could be developed in the future if there is interest.

Workforce Development: Cottage Industries in Jewelry and Sewing

Workforce Development is another category of Covid-19 funding available through the VDHCD. Sewing (masks and other projects) and jewelry-making efforts are underway and could be advanced through regional grant funding.

Current participants include five refugee women (one of whom is disabled), and a woman displaced by COVID-19 who is living in a hotel with small children and no daycare available. Three sewing machines have been distributed. Another refugee family has been advised on the purchase of a sewing machine. The goal is to formalize a business for these women and then market their items online or in local markets in time for the Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwaanza buying seasons. Susan Rocke of Shenandoah Moon in Luray has been teaching Lisa jewelry-making skills so that they can train low-income women.

Funding through the proposed regional group would at first go to the purchase and distribution of materials or for producing virtual ZOOM lessons, and—post-COVID-19 pandemic—perhaps to pay rent on a training space and on transportation to a central training facility. The grant could allow for trainers in jewelry-making, sewing, and needlecraft from the participating counties to be hired, with ESJ and other community members volunteering with the program.

—Lisa McQuail

More Gardening for Food

In late September, a generous Amissville resident graciously donated an established, raised-bed vegetable garden for a team willing to manage the garden and deliver the produce to the Rappahannock Food Pantry. The existing plants provided some zucchini, chard, and kale, which were welcomed by the pantry.

Several Afghan refugees now living in the Shenandoah Valley joined ESJ members Lisa McQuail and me to plant seedlings of lettuce, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, and spinach. With rain and a little watering, the vegetables grew well, and it was soon time to protect the plants from danger of frost. Waterpenny Farm provided ground-cover cloth, and now the garden has been tucked in for the winter. We would welcome more gardeners to join our team, perhaps some folks from the Amissville area.

— Ellie Clark

To our readers: we invite you to use the comments section below not only to give your thoughts on what you read here, but to recommend things to read, watch, or listen to related to environment and social justice. Also of interest are your own activities or accomplishments in the environment/social justice realm.

Election Day – November 3, 2020

The 5th Principle of Unitarian Universalism is the right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large.

The election this year will decide the presidential contest between President Donald J. Trump and former Vice President Joseph R. Biden. Virginia voters also will choose between U.S. Senator Mark R. Warner and challenger Daniel M. Gade. Seats in the House of Representatives are being contested, among them District 5, which includes Rappahannock and Madison Counties, and District 6, which includes Page County.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, registered voters in Virginia have several voting options this year. Information on voter registration (including registering online), locations of polling places and absentee balloting can be found at: www.elections.virginia.gov or by contacting your county registrar’s office. No reason is needed to vote an absentee ballot by mail or in person in 2020.

Two proposed amendments to the Virginia Constitution are also on the ballot. Details can be found here: www.elections.virginia.gov/proposed-constitutional-amendment-2020

1. Redistricting Commission: Allows creation of a 16-member commission tasked with redrawing election district boundaries and details the selection process for commission members.

2. Motor Vehicle Property Tax Exemption for Disabled Veterans: Permits one automobile or pickup truck to be free from state and local taxation, provided that is owned and used primarily by or for a veteran of the U.S. armed forces or the Virginia National Guard who meets specific disability criteria,

Important Dates

October 13: Deadline to register in Virginia or to update voter registration information.

September 18 through October 30: In-person, absentee voting is already underway at county registrar’s offices. Those votes will be included in the total count on Election Day.


Absentee voting by mail:

October 23: Deadline to request absentee ballot to be mailed to you.

October 31: Deadline for in-person absentee voting at registrar’s office.

Mail-in ballots: Must be postmarked by November 3 and received by noon on November 6 at the local registrar’s office

November 3: In-person voting at assigned polling locations. The polls will be open from 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Absentee ballots may be dropped off at polling place until 7:00 p.m.

— Sue Daniels

SimpliRural: How Simplicity Supports Healthy Parenting

By Jay Allen

Starting from the belief that each of us uniquely possesses a special gift to use in living our life, the decision to be or not to be a parent can be corrupted by societal pressure to procreate. For most of us, it is much easier to become a parent than it is to be an intentional, knowledgeable one.

Constructs of Simplicity help us to value experience over materialism. The opportunity to “raise a child” provides an impetus for personal growth so our evolving maturity will inform us to be the “good enough” parent that our child needs us to be. As a new parent realizes that ordinary stuff that now involves a child becomes time-consuming in ways they could never could have imagined, the notion of multi-tasking is relegated to the irrational. Seeing and experiencing a toddler’s delight in using food as a gravity experiment rather than a source of nourishment leaves a parent in awe!

New parents quickly learn how intensely their child interacts with the environment that we find ho-hum. Day after day of this onslaught leaves parents fatigued. So we find ourselves needing to take better care of our physical needs.

Please refer to the book Simplicity Parenting by Kim John Payne, M.Ed., with Lisa M. Ross for more insights.

Informingly Yours,
Jay

What About Nukes?

Last month, we touched on systemic approaches to tackling the warming of our planet—carbon taxing or pricing, removing carbon from the atmosphere, and reflecting sunlight back into space (also known as geoengineering). These approaches reflect the truth that we have not yet reduced annual carbon emissions worldwide, and business as usual will not enable us to meet the warming limit of the Paris Agreement (2.7 degrees F).

A nuclear plant emits no carbon while in operation—could it be another answer to carbon pollution? While not a popular option with the public or most environmentalists, some in the environmental community have grudgingly admitted that it will be very difficult to limit the damage of global warming without nuclear’s large contribution—20 percent of all power generated in the U.S. comes from 96 reactors in 58 plants.

Although only two of those reactors have come on-line since 1996, two more are under construction. The age of most reactors means that many are nearing decommission. Without new replacements, the power generated by the plants will have to come from natural gas, a relatively dirty fuel, or renewable sources that have yet to be built out.

States are struggling over whether to get maximum life from nuclear plants, or to let them be shut down. In 2018, New Jersey passed legislation authorizing a 300-million-dollar per year subsidy for three aging nuclear plants, reasoning that the power was necessary as a ramp to clean energy, which, if successful, may take a couple of decades.

Nuclear power provides nearly one-third of the energy used in Virginia. The Virginia Clean Economy Act mandates 100 percent renewable electric energy by 2050, but according to Carbon Zero Virginia, that goal is unrealistic. It will not be met unless an exception is made for clean, but not renewable, nuclear power.

Some energy experts—and a few environmentalists—see nuclear power retaining its current share into the foreseeable future, and even expanding that share. They say that the new generation of reactors alleviate the safety concerns of the type of reactor involved in the Fukushima, Japan, disaster. The waste problem remains, but they consider it less dire than the global effects of warming.

However, a challenge to nuclear power advocates emerges from studies that cast doubt on the central benefit claimed for nuclear power—that it is a carbon-free energy source. While that claim is true while the plant is in operation, the carbon footprint of any energy technology has to include the entire life cycle of a facility. Carbon emissions mount when construction, uranium mining and refining, decommissioning, and other operations are considered, making nuclear power unattractive compared to solar, wind, and hydroelectric, according to some of these complex studies.

In the shorter term, electricity from nuclear power will be with us. It will continue to be reflected in individual states’ reports of the percentage of energy coming from clean sources. Whether, in the longer term, nuclear power maintains or even grows its slice in the energy pie-chart, is unknown at this point.

[Note: UUA has passed resolutions and statements expressing concerns over the dangers of nuclear energy—including potential radiation exposure, disposal of nuclear waste, and terrorism. The UUA website also has links to UUA-International blog posts such as “We Can Save Earth” expressing other viewpoints.]

— Will Daniels

To our readers: we invite you to use the comments section below not only to give your thoughts on what you read here, but to recommend things to read, watch, or listen to related to environment and social justice. Also of interest are your own activities or accomplishments in the environment/social justice realm.

Racial Healing

“I believe this is a time when healing can actually take place.” Rev. Audre King

On August 26, the Page County Public Forum presented an online webinar “Racial Healing—Making our Community Stronger through Racial Harmony.” Moderated by Clyde Humphrey, it attracted 55 people, including other UUBRidge members.

The deaths of Black citizens at the hands of police, demonstrations for racial justice nationwide and locally, the fate of civil war monuments, and other issues, including a racially offensive social media post by the mayor of Luray, have shown the need for honest reflection, dialogue, and action on the issues of racism and social justice.

The forum provided a starting point for that work. Speakers included Rev. Audre King of the West Luray Recreation Center, other ministers, young activists, former leaders of the Warren–Page County and Fairfax County NAACP chapters, and representatives of Coming to the Table and the Fairfax Communities of Trust—a citizens’ group working to build and strengthen relationships between public safety agencies and the communities they serve.

Speakers and participants discussed how to move forward. We need to overcome ignorance and defensiveness, be willing to learn from those whose lives are impacted, listen and encourage dialogue among those with different viewpoints, teach that Black history is American history, provide education and diversity training for government officials, law enforcement, and citizens, and support Black communities and individuals according to their expressed needs.

A recording of the forum can be viewed at: https://1drv.ms/u/s!Ai8W4N9wTMHcik_OKAgyILMvRrQ0?e=w4fa5l

—Sue Daniels

Anti-Racism and White Allyship

For those interested in learning how to help overcome racism, online courses, such as the one depicted here from the White Ally Toolkit website, are available. “Transforming Our Legacy,” begins September 1, but the website also offers other courses, books and some free materials as well.

Coming to the Table and the Racial Equality Resource Guide also provide resources for workshops, webinars, and materials.

The ESJ committee appreciates recommendations to share on this blog. You can use the comment field below.

SimpliRural

By Jay Allen

Do you ever wonder why the pace of life feels like a blur sometimes?

Here are two “factoids” from the forward of The Joy of Simple Living by Jeff Davidson:

As of 2000, the state of Connecticut had a greater population than the entire world of 200 B.C.; and, also in 2000, 85 percent of all scientists who have ever lived were alive!

The press of information, complexity, choice and features feels relentless. I fear most of us readily spend time thinking how to cover everything that our roles demand of us, rather than making choices that are in harmony with our values.

Temporarily (or permanently!) sacrificing one hour of television watching weekly will provide planning time to make inroads towards a simpler, more meaningful week.

Mr. Davidson provides tips involving time organization for errand running (Monday or Thursday evening will work better than weekends), a reminder that a sleep routine will help you take better care of yourself, and how to purchase items thoughtfully.

Until next time, remember that simplifying your life does not make you a “simpleton!”

A Systemic Response to Climate Change

According to an international climate assessment funded by NASA and the European Space Agency, ice losses from Antarctica have tripled since 2012, causing sea levels to rise faster than at any time in the past 25 years. (June 2018 article, NASA images)

As I looked some time ago at recycling in the U.S., I realized that, while citizens are urged to take responsible actions to lessen waste, the producers take on little responsibility for reusing or recycling their products. The plastics industry formulated the famous, or infamous, numbering system on plastic containers, and then left the actual recycling to an underfinanced and overburdened partnership between cities and private recycling businesses, many of them overseas.

The same inequality of responsibility is evident regarding the complex issue of climate change. As individuals, we are urged to change our habits, perhaps installing rooftop solar panels, making our next vehicle a hybrid or electric, or foregoing private vehicles altogether and taking public transportation where possible. These are desirable actions—but they will not enable us to limit global warming to an average of 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit over preindustrial temperatures, the target determined by the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Even that seemingly small increase would greatly challenge our ability to adapt to the results of rising temperatures. Meeting that goal will require large-scale, systemic solutions, both regulatory and technical in nature. Sorting out which approaches are most feasible politically, philosophically, environmentally, and technically is difficult.

At least three systemic solutions to the problem of a warming climate are being studied:

1. Taxing (or pricing) carbon is a regulatory approach that has been talked about for two decades. The idea is that emitters of carbon pollution would be taxed on their emissions, the proceeds being used to defray the environmental costs of the pollution. Producers would be incentivized to reduce emissions in order to avoid paying higher fees. The approach has been backed by both conservatives and liberals as a market-oriented, self-administering solution. Recently, though its effectiveness in getting us away from hydrocarbons has been questioned. 


2. Carbon removal. The IPCC now says that in order not to exceed 2.7 degrees F, we must remove carbon from the atmosphere. Reducing emissions alone will not, at this point, enable us to meet the target. Some people worry that carbon removal means that we can continue to pollute without worry, because we can “vacuum” carbon from the atmosphere. But in reality, carbon removal is an expensive process, feasible only if we strictly limit the additional carbon we put into the atmosphere. The two processes go hand-in-hand. Unfortunately, there are no proven ways to rapidly remove carbon on a large scale and affordably. 


3. Geoengineering (or climate engineering), the third systems approach, is also technical—and controversial. The growing urgency of the climate problem and the dearth of progress has led more scientists and policy makers to consider this as at least a stop-gap to give us time to decarbonize the economy. Peter Wadhams, a prominent researcher of Arctic warming and author of A Farewell to Ice, advocates further research into ways of directly cooling the planet through solar radiation management. Reducing the intensity of the sun’s rays by reflecting more of their heat back into space, is the aim. Theoretically, clouds could be sprayed with water vapor in order to brighten them. Or, tiny particles in aerosol form could be injected into the stratosphere, intercepting sunlight higher in the sky and returning enough of it into space to offset the warming from our CO2 emissions.
Geoengineering might be surprisingly cost-effective. The idea is probably as unpopular, though, with climate change activists as it is with climate change deniers. Its relatively few advocates say that resistance by the former group shows a lack of awareness of how bad things really are.

These discussions can be hard to join for nonspecialists like me, but there are resources that provide a wealth of information on climate science, energy, and policy for interested citizens. Two of them are listed in the right hand column of this page. The Climate Action Alliance of the Valley, based in Harrisonburg, puts out a bimonthly newsletter chock full of news on climate and climate science, energy, and policy, with links to articles on these subjects. Another great source is Power for the People, a blog by Ivy Main of the Sierra Club, which focuses on Virginia.

— Will Daniels

To our readers: we invite you to use the comments section below not only to give your thoughts on what you read here, but to recommend things to read, watch, or listen to related to environment and social justice. Also of interest are your own activities or accomplishments in the environment/social justice realm.

Amid Twin Crises, Two Milestones for Clean Energy and Climate Justice

In the midst of both health and social crises, how might we assess our progress toward greater climate justice and a clean energy economy? We have needed to make the fast-moving pandemic and the urgency of justice reforms in the wake of George Floyd’s murder our top priorities, and we as a country have focused less on the climate crisis even in the middle of a presidential campaign.

One direct, negative result on climate action has been the hit absorbed by the solar industry in Virginia and across the nation. The industry relies on close personal contact between homeowners and others upgrading for energy efficiency and is exactly the kind of business activity and employment that has been most impacted by the pandemic.

A positive result for the climate is an anticipated reduction of around eight percent of greenhouse gas emissions this year. This silver lining is not so bright, as atmospheric carbon dioxide levels still will edge upward, and a rebounding economy will again set us on a path of increasing emissions unless quick action is taken to decarbonize the economy.

The news is not all bad. At least two developments have been very promising. We can be proud that the General Assembly passed the Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA) in April. The VCEA will set energy standards designed to make the state independent of fossil fuels by 2050. And, the abandonment of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) by Dominion Energy and Duke Energy was announced on July 5. The most compelling reason these energy giants quit the project after spending 3.5 billion dollars on it, is likely the opposition by a coalition of diverse groups whose quality of life would have suffered from construction and operation of the natural gas pipeline: Dominion and Duke found it too costly to battle legal challenges. Another reason is that markets for the natural gas that the pipeline would carry have not materialized. And—tying in with the VCEA—Dominion came to believe its bottom line would benefit more from investment in the clean energy mandated by that major piece of legislation than from investment in gas transmission.

The ACP illustrates the ways in which small communities, in this case rural ones with little wealth or political influence, are often asked to bear the brunt of energy projects that benefit distant cities and large corporations. The small town of Union Hill, Virginia, a majority African American community, was designated as the site of a large compressor station. The community came together to oppose the injustice of forcing it to accept a facility it did not want. Indigenous people along the proposed route also worked to defeat the project, and opposition came from white communities as well.

Among faith organizations, the Unitarian Universalist Association has been a leader in working for climate justice. The pipeline battle illustrates that adverse environmental effects from energy projects frequently fall disproportionately on the less affluent and powerful among us. The disparity is apparent globally when we consider that wealthy, developed nations that have contributed the most to global warming often deny that we have the major responsibility to combat it.

— Will Daniels

Reflections on the General Assembly

When Russ told us about the General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) a few months ago, I had no idea how busy my world was going to become! I had heard great things about the Southeast Unitarian Universalist Summer Institute and how much fun it has been, so I signed up. I knew being a delegate would be a real learning experience. 

The virtual General Assembly ran from June 24 to June 28. The theme of the long weekend was “Rooted, Inspired, and Ready!” The Zoom events I attended were interesting and thought provoking. I felt as though I would have enjoyed chatting with others about the classes. It was difficult to choose which of the offered sessions to attend—they all sounded intriguing! I learned terms like “UU the vote” and “vote love, not hatred” in a preview of how UUA may approach the coming November elections.

Author and ESPN senior writer and NPR correspondent Howard Bryant discussed ideas from his book Full Dissidence—Notes from an Uneven Playing Field. This brilliant man spoke from his heart about the racial inequities in daily American life. I was impressed by two retiring assembly co-moderators who discussed how difficult and unprecedented a year 2019–2020 had been for them as leaders.

For Friday fun night, I chose to watch a hilarious show of drag queens and cross dressing, and each act was funnier than the last. Their skits and clothing and special effects were outrageously extravagant entertaining!

On Saturday, I enjoyed a morning worship service with wonderful music and speakers. The main speaker that evening was journalist and author Naomi Klein, the Gloria Steinem Endowed Chair in Media, Culture and Feminist Studies at Rutgers. She has written No is Not Enough: Resisting the New Shock Politics and Winning the World We Need and more recently On Fire: The (Burning) Case for a Green New Deal.  Her words inspired my climate activist soul.

Sunday morning brought a beautiful worship service with music that had me madly writing down the names and words to the songs to bring home to our Singers and Players. The speaker Rev. Joan Javier-Duval asked us “How do we ready ourselves for what is being asked of us? How do we keep moving even when we don’t feel ready?” Both were timely questions amidst the pandemic and Black Lives Matter.

I learned that parts of some of the services can be obtained on video, as well as all of the various classes I missed. Perhaps Russ and I will be able to bring you parts of the weekend we found most inspiring. I was so pleased to see the diversity of cultures, lifestyles, and respect for each living being that our denomination is known for, and why I am a member of UUBRidge.

— Ellie Clark

Know Justice, Know Peace

On June 28, a crowd estimated at 500 gathered at Eldon Farm in Rappahannock County to support peace and justice and the Black Lives Matter movement. UUBRidge was well-represented in the audience, and Rev. Russ Savage and Rachel Bynum, who serves on the Rappahannock School Board, were among the many inspirational activists and speakers, who included clergy members, students, political office holders and candidates, and others.

Russ spoke of injustice past and present and recited the names of some of the African-Americans killed by police in recent years. Rachel talked of working on the land and thinking of those unnamed, enslaved people who had lived and worked there. Nan Butler Roberts provided insight into a chant commonly spoken during recent demonstrations for racial justice: “No Justice, No Peace” becomes “Know Justice, Know Peace.”

A video of the live-streamed event can be found here.

Rev. Russ Savage

Rachel Bynum

— Sue Daniels

To our readers: we invite you to use the comments section below not only to give your thoughts on what you read here, but to recommend things to read, watch, or listen to related to environment and social justice. Also of interest are your own activities or accomplishments in the environment/social justice realm.