Last week, New York passed legislation — the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act — to pursue the nation's most ambitious set of climate challenges and goals, including cutting emissions 85 percent by 2050 and requiring utilities to get 70 percent of their energy from renewables by 2030. It will also pursue new wind energy projects, which aim to generate 9,000 megawatts with new turbines off the coast by 2035.
God, we pray for new, better, more just ways to power our world. We pray that we might put sustainability over convenience, be open to learning and adapting our approaches, and keep the integrity and health of the created world as a high priority as followers of you. We pray for policies which reflect these values to be more and more common.
The Trump administration is considering a virtual shutdown of refugee admissions next year — with some officials recommending cutting the number to nearly zero. The possible move comes after the Trump administration cut refugee admissions for the third year in a row to its lowest levels ever. According to the UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency, there are 65.6 million people who have been forcibly displaced from their homes. This current number of displaced people across the globe is the largest in modern history.
God, for the millions who are without a home, without safety, and without hope, we offer our prayers. And compel us to do more than pray for them — help us to find ways to show hospitality, to open our homes and lives, and to speak out against policies and actions which oppress vulnerable people. Raise up an outcry among your church against an ending of refugee resettlement.
Earlier this month Attawpiskat, a First Nation community located in northern Ontario, declared a state of emergency regarding the quality of their water supply. Their water comes from an inland lake containing organic matter that when treated creates THM, a compound that is often considered a carcinogen. The declaration prompted a visit from government officials who presented a $1.5 million plan to fix the treatment plan. In the meantime, locals have been using bottled water or carbon filters in their homes.
God, who promises us the water of life, we cannot understand living without access to water. When it is already marginalized people who go without the basic necessities of healthy living, we know there is a problem with the system. We pray that those in power will indeed correct this error, and we pray for a world in which all people have access to clean, life-giving water.
Seventeen Palestinians were forced out of their homes before dawn on Monday, so that the Israeli military could begin demolition on ten apartment buildings near East Jerusalem. The military claims the buildings present a threat to security because they are close to the route of the Israeli separation wall, which runs for hundreds of kilometres around and through the occupied West Bank. However, the action is receiving condemnation from Palestinian leaders and the European Union for violating international law and the Oslo Accords which grants authority of the area to the Palestinian Authority.
We lift in prayer the people who were displaced by this abrupt action. We know that there will be people who will open their doors, and disrupt their lives, to offer them shelter. These are Christ-like acts. Compel your church, too, to act as Christ would act — to open our doors, to judge fairly, to denounce violence and corruption, to speak against injustice and oppression, and to protect those made vulnerable by powerful people and punitive policies. Bring peace to Jerusalem, Lord.
News broke this week that the Trump administration is considering a shutdown or near-shutdown of the U.S. refugee resettlement program for next year. Urge your members of congress to hold the administration accountable to keeping this faithful, life-saving program intact!
This August, as both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate adjourns for their annual month-long recess, the OSJ and its regional mobilizers will be organizing in-district meetings to discuss immigration and climate change. Would you like to join one of these meetings? Contact Cameron Kritikos at ckritikos@crcna.org
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