This is part 3 of a three part report on a major Earth Day conference held in Madison WI on April 20-21, 2010.  I am using that conference as  an eavesdropping opportunity:  What is the larger environmental movement discussing today?  Rather than go talk-by-talk, I’ve pulled out four major themes from my pages of notes.  Here are the last two:

3.  It’s all about us and how we treat each other.

It was, frankly, surprising to note the number of times during this conference we were told that we should be – and most of the early leaders of this movement were – concerned about people as much as about nature.  Nelson himself was as much concerned with conservation of urban resources as with environmental resources.  Leopold’s “land ethic” was based on a concern not only for the health of the land but for the health of the people who live on it.

The wider environmental movement has had its radicals in the past – those who are quite convinced that human beings are not much more than a fungus running wild on the surface of the globe, and that most natural places would be better off without us.   The problem with this approach is that even these radicals are human beings themselves – and I don’t see anyone rushing to the front of the line to check out.

If the speakers at this conference are to be considered representative of the mainstream environmental movement – and I think this is a reasonable assumption – we would have to conclude that the movement as a whole not only recognizes a place for human beings in the world, but also sees the connections between environmental values and human values.   Doroceta Taylor reminded us that the long history of the oppression of minorities in the US is a history of environmental abuse of those peoples.  Even recent history like the building of interstate highways through our cities shows an uncomfortable pattern.  It was not white suburbs that were generally leveled for these new highways, but thriving minority communities.

Novelist Margaret Atwood addressed the question of ecojustice by asking for new language:  Using the term justice, she suggested, conjures up an image of judgment and law and a host of negative connotations.  Why not substitute ‘ecomercy’ for ‘ecojustice’?  Whoever is wrong – and all of us have plenty to be guilty about – perhaps we can start best by being merciful to each other.  If a wealthy person were to see reducing consumption as a conscious act of mercy toward those who have less and need more, might that not help a bit?

Conservation of natural resources and urban resources is one and the same.  Preservation of ecosystems and human societies cannot be separated.  These themes ran through almost all of the presentations of the conference, perhaps best summed up by the speaker who said, “The problem is us and how we treat each other.”

Surely the connection to Creation Care is clear?  The heart of a Christian approach to environmental problems is to recognize that ‘environmental problems are sin problems.’  The problem indeed is us – but the solution is God.  This more than anything else is what we can bring to this movement.

4. Even business agrees.

One of the most enduring fallacies surrounding today’s environmental crisis is that we have to choose between prosperity and environment.

“Green business is good business” was repeated over and over – by the business leaders among us.

We had a couple of top ones at this conference, the most prominent of which was Fisk Johnson of S.C. Johnson.  This premier consumer products company (Saran Wrap, anyone?) is a remarkable family company (Fisk represents the fifth generation) that takes environment seriously.  They cut CFC’s from their products three years before the government made everyone else do it and have pioneered a “Green List” of environmentally friendly chemicals that has some of their competition a bit upset with them.  “You’re going to change the whole industry!”  “You bet.”

But Johnson sounded almost sounded plaintive in expressing his frustration at making changes at the consumer level:  Even if a company is committed to doing the right thing, it isn’t so easy when consumers won’t go along.  By way of example, he tossed several rolls of toilet paper into the audience.  Paper made with recycled fibers is better for the environment but paper made with new fibers is softer – much softer.  Guess which one we consumers prefer to buy.  “What price softness” was his question.

Johnson’s best line:  “We need to change the social norm from keeping up with the Joneses to being greener than the Joneses.”

Robert Kennedy Jr. reminded us that those countries who have moved to ‘decarbonize their economies’ by moving away from fossil fuels as much as possible are among the most prosperous economies in the world today.  This very short list includes Norway, Sweden, Germany and Iceland.

How does the Creation Care movement interact with the world of business?  Business people go to church.  Or they would do if the church is doing its job of reaching into its communities.  If churches are committed to and are preaching love for God’s creation, this ethic and passion will penetrate the boardroom and will show up on the factory floor.

We started this series with an analogy.  We’re all citizens of a town about to be engulfed in flood waters.  We need to work with each other to save our homes.  It doesn’t matter what our faith-affiliation is when sandbags are waiting.  Applying this to the environmental crisis, we who are Christians have a perspective on the problem and a toolkit that is not available to the rest of our community and we need to use these in two directions:  We need to persuade our fellow Christians that the crisis is real and that our town needs us – many of them are still asleep in their beds even as the water rises.  And we need to reach out to the larger environmental movement to let them know that we’re here and we’re ready to work.

So let’s get going!

Related posts:

1. Earth Day at 40: What is the Environmental Movement Thinking These Days?
2. A Hymn for Earth Day (and Easter)
3. An engineer, a priest, a pilot and a salesman
4. Water, water everywh…? Not exactly
5. When Science and Faith Shook Hands

Other Links to this Post

1. Our Father's World » Earth Day at 40 (part 3): Its all about Us | the world cares.com — April 24, 2010 @ 7:48 am

2. S. Matheson — April 24, 2010 @ 2:45 pm

3. Sophia R. Matheson — April 24, 2010 @ 2:45 pm

4. morelmushroomer — April 24, 2010 @ 2:47 pm

5. Sporting Dude — April 24, 2010 @ 2:49 pm