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Ecology
Fracking for gas puts life-giving water at risk
May. 01, 2012Viewpoint
We believe that the endorsement of President Barack Obama and the other major presidential candidates for hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a process used to drill for natural gas, is a shortsighted energy plan. As recently seen in Colorado at the premier auction for unallocated water, the top bidders were companies that provide water to well sites for fracking, not the farmers who were once the exclusive bidders. Water is crucial to all life, and squandering it for hydraulic fracturing puts water at risk.
Water is life. Water has been called the arterial system of Earth, sustaining all forms of life as it flows through every system and species. Unfortunately, more people die from the lack of safe water every day than from any war or disease plaguing our planet. Furthermore, more children die every day from not having access to safe, clean water than from any disease or accident. The protection of and respect for water should be our No. 1 concern during this era of a global water crisis.
Editorial: The hidden costs of a gallon of gas are rising
Apr. 18, 2012
(Pedro Molina)
This month marks the second anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico that killed 11 workers and leaked 4.9 million barrels of crude oil, causing extensive damage to marine and wildlife habitats and to the area’s fisheries and tourism industry. The spill’s local impact still unfolds.
Filipino priest wins environmental award for work against nickel mine
Apr. 17, 2012
Gariguez Book Launch (courtesy of goldmanprize.org) Filipino Fr. Edwin Gariguez, a recipient of the 2012 Goldman Environmental Prize, presents "Mindoro Campaign: Defending People’s Rights, Protecting the Island Ecology," a book documenting the struggle of the Mangyan people and supporters against destructive mining. (goldmanprize.org)
MANILA, Philippines -- A priest whose work protecting the environment by leading a grassroots movement was named Monday as one of six winners of the 2012 Goldman Environmental Prize, which honors grassroots environmental heroes from Africa, Asia, Europe, the Islands and Island Nations, North America and South and Central America.
Shake the hand that feeds you
Mar. 15, 2012The unholy alliance between the nation’s industrial farming and food systems, dominated by fast food chains and big grocery stores offering processed, chemical-burdened food, wreaks havoc with the environment, our health, farmers and workers. Despite nutritionists’ warnings, every day 75 million Americans feasting at uniform franchises “supersize” their meals and undermine their health.
Country's debate over Keystone XL pipeline is far from over
Jan. 27, 2012
The Keystone XL pipeline is pictured under construction in North Dakota. (CNS photo/TransCanada Corporation handout photo via Reuters)
WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama's decision to deny a permit for the 1,700-mile Keystone XL pipeline to carry Canadian crude oil to Gulf Coast refineries should have surprised no one, not even the project's staunchest supporters.
The president promised he would nix the permit after Congress inserted a deadline for his decision in the bill extending the middle class tax cut passed just before Christmas. In denying the permit, Obama said it was not because the project wasn't needed but rather that the 60 days he was given to make up his mind was far too short to complete a second environmental review of the pipeline route, including a 92-mile stretch through the ecologically sensitive Nebraska Sandhills.
The first review by the State Department was called into question when the Environmental Protection Agency cited several shortcomings in the findings and critics of the process complained that officials rammed approval through with little consideration for environmental concerns.
The moral measure of climate crisis
Dec. 28, 2011Our Catholic institutions have always provided excellent elementary, secondary and college educations. We nurture our children’s spirits with prayer and good catechesis. We hope they will acquire a conscience for social justice while deepening their ecological awareness. Catholics have always had an admirable future focus. We need that focus on the future of our children now more than ever.
Catholics welcome climate fund
Dec. 19, 2011The last time the world turned its eyes to South Africa, the Netherlands and Spain required extra time to settle the 2010 FIFA World Cup championship.
A year later, extra time was needed once more in the African nation, as delegates to the United Nations’ climate conference in Durban worked an extra day and a half to finalize a new international climate road map to lower carbon emissions and aid poor countries’ response to climate change.
Catholics join hundreds in arrests over oil pipeline
Aug. 31, 2011
Rose Berger, a Catholic who is associate editor at Sojourners magazine, bows to her colleagues before being arrested during an Aug. 30 protest in front of the White House in Washington against the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. (CNS photo/Rick Reinhard)
WASHINGTON -- Maryknoll Father Jim Noonan hopes the five or so hours he spent in jail recently will be noticed by President Barack Obama.
A staff associate in the Maryknoll Office of Global Concerns, Father Noonan, 77, was among 65 people arrested Aug. 20 during the first day of a planned two-week protest to call attention to the environmental dangers he believes are posed by a proposed 1,711-mile pipeline to carry Canadian crude oil to refineries in Oklahoma and Texas.
Healing the split between spirit and nature
Jun. 06, 2011
(Dreamstime)
Earth and Spirit
Federico Fellini’s beautiful 1963 film “8 1/2” is an autobiographical story about a director, Guido, played by Marcello Mastroianni, who is trying to complete his new film. As he tries to escape pressures by entering a fantasy world, incidents in the film repeatedly link to childhood memories, showing how his Catholic upbringing shaped his life.
One scene involves an odd incantation. At a party, a magician performs with a clairvoyant who demonstrates her ability to read people’s thoughts. A skeptical Guido agrees to be a subject. The clairvoyant studies his face and then writes the words “ASA NISI MASA” on a blackboard. Fellini then cuts to a brief flashback of Guido’s childhood. “Asa Nisi Masa” is a bedtime chant the children would say, a phrase with the power to make the eyes of a wall portrait come to life.
A sea microbe humbles scientists and inspires reverence
May. 01, 2011
Prochlorococcus
Earth and Spirit
Meet the oceans’ Prochlorococcus -- the most important microbe you’ve never heard of. It’s given us a new understanding of how the Earth works creatively and cooperatively.
It’s one of the microorganisms that inhabit the well-lit upper waters of the planet’s seas and emit gas or gaseous compounds. One algae, Emiliana huxleyi, for example, emits dimethyl sulfide, which contributes to what we call the smell of the sea.
