Climate Change

We bring our prayers to Creator God, who both "takes up our pain and bears our suffering" and will "let justice roll down like a river."

We bring our prayers to Creator God, who both "takes up our pain and bears our suffering" and will "let justice roll down like a river."

The Coastal Link pipeline and the planned Kitimat LNG terminal was heralded as the biggest private sector investment in the history of Canada. Prime Minister Trudeau and B.C. Premier Horgan celebrated this investment milestone in a major news conference in October 2018 as an example of getting resource and economic development right - in collaboration with resource and pipeline companies and First Nations along the route.   

Last week, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) arrested peaceful participants of a blockade of a road on traditional Wet'suwet'en nation  territory, based on an injunction order that was issued last month to TransCanada Pipelines. The Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs were blocking access to the land because they have not given their consent to the natural gas pipeline, or two other proposed pipelines coming through their lands. The land is unceded by the Wetsu’wet’en.

“Earth’s climate is now changing faster than at any point in the history of modern civilization, primarily as a result of human activities,” 13 U.S. federal agencies declared in the Fourth National Climate Assessment. It was issued on Black Friday, November 23. You can read it at https://nca2018.globalchange.gov.

On Monday, October 8th, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a group of scientists convened by the United Nations to guide world leaders, released a report that depicts the immediate and long-term consequences of climate change, which include a world of worsening food shortages and wildfires and a mass die-off of coral reefs as soon as 2040 — a period well within the lifetime of much of the global population. The report is clear: the consequences of human-induced climate change will be felt with greater severity and much sooner than we previously thought.

After retiring from teaching Chemistry and Environmental Science at Redeemer University College, Dr. Henry Brouwer is now the Eastern Canada Regional Climate Witness Project Coordinator of the Christian Reformed Church. In the wake of a flurry of historic climate change news in Canada, Dr. Brouwer agreed to share his expertise with Do Justice.

Have you seen one of those glamorous ads promoting a rail trip through the Canadian Rockies? We’ve been talking about planning such a rail vacation for several years and it came together for us this summer.

We had a wonderful time making stops to visit friends and relatives who lived in Canada. It also ended up being the subject for a documentary on climate change!

In the hundreds of conversations I’ve had about climate change, hope, and stewardship, the talk inevitably turns to politics. Rightly so. There is a lot we can do in our own homes, but we also look for guidance and direction from our governments: local, provincial, and federal. Recycling and waste recovery programs tend to be local, whereas larger programs like green energy generation and carbon taxes are left to the provinces or the federal government.

As we sat in the fireside room at A Rocha’s property, Sir Ghillean Prance, a small group of volunteers and I (a stay-at-home mom) we felt a sense of awe that this man, who had been knighted by the queen for his work as a botanist, was so down to earth and hope-filled. One thing he said has stuck with me. When asked what gave him hope over his long career –he knew about and was working towards combating climate change already 20 years ago – his answer was: “Christ’s resurrection and human ingenuity”.