Eco Catholic

"If one steps out on a starry night and observes one's inner state, one asks if one could hate or be overwhelmed by envy or resentment. ... Is it not true that no man or woman has ever committed a crime while in a state of wonder?" -- Jacob Needleman from A Sense of the Cosmos

What memories do you treasure from childhood? Growing up in Xenia, Ohio, our house abutted a farm. Whether it was exploring that farm, going down to the creek, making a snowman or riding my bike with friends, most of my early memories and those of my generation were of running around in the outdoors, climbing trees or hanging out at the lake. A sense of place was as real to us as the air we breathed.

But, as Tom Occhipinti, environmental education coordinator of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, points out in a recent paper, children born in the last couple of decades have replaced formative experiences in the out-of-doors with text messaging, the iPod, etc.

The Obama administration has delayed making a decision on the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada to the United States.

On Thursday, Nov. 10, the State Department explained that it wants to study an alternative route through Nebraska. According to a Friday New York Times story, the postponement will push any action well past the 2012 election and into 2013.

For additional information go to the websites of Tar Sands Action, The League of Conservation Voters, Audubon, CREDO Action and The Houston Chronicle.

More on the Keystone XL pipeline:

• Keystone XL debate's plotline thickens

The pro-environmental plotline thickens. And it's good news all around.

On Nov. 6, an estimated 12,000 protesters encircled the White House, urging President Obama to reject the proposed Keystone XL, a 1,700-mile oil pipeline that would stretch from Canada to Texas.

Among the numerous ecological objections to Keystone XL: If it were to leak, the pipeline could poison the 174,000-square-mile Ogallala Aquifer, which supplies drinking water to roughly two million people in the American heartland, reports the Huffington Post.

Meanwhile, as environmentalists rallied in D.C., several news sources and an independent labor study revealed that TransCanada, Keystone's owner, has exaggerated the number of jobs the project would create.

Earlier reports were touting 20,000. Turns out that's not exactly the case.

As more attention is brought to the proposed Keystone Pipeline that would bring Alberta Tar Sands Oil from Canada through the central United States to refineries in Texas, people of faith are looking for resources to help them understand the issues involved and who will be affected. Tipping Point: The End of Oil is a powerful new documentary produced by Clearwater Media. It serves as a primer for parish adult education, and justice and peace groups.

Tipping Point, first shown on CBC's Nature of Things in January, introduces us to the real stories of real people whose health and way of life have been tragically upended by the "biggest construction project on the planet." The movie begins with the story of the indigenous people of Fort Chipewyan, who live downstream from the Tar Sands and have been dying in disproportionate numbers from rare forms of cancers.

The Committee on World Food Security (CFS) met in Rome from Oct. 17-22 at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. One hundred and twenty countries of the world belong to the FAO. This was the 37th annual meeting of the committee.

It was the first time that civil society (nongovernmental organizations and grassroots organizations) had a voice at the meeting.