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Get Informed
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“Rich” Oil Company Subsidies:
“Of the many gifts that the 99 percent award to the 1 percent – the various tax breaks and tributes that have helped push inequality in America to record levels – none are quite as annoying as the subsidies awarded the fossil fuel industry. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders introduced a bill this spring that would trim $20 billion a year from those payouts to coal and oil and gas companies. Barack Obama, modest almost to a fault, has identified $5 billion in handouts that he’d like taken away before this year’s budget is finalized. Whatever the number, the principle is crucial. Because if we can’t agree not to subsidize the fossil fuel industry, I’d submit we pretty much can’t agree about anything. For environmentalists, few things could be more important. Worldwide, it’s estimated that global warming emissions could be cut in half if all governments stopped subsidizing fossil fuel – something that won’t happen unless the U.S. takes the lead. …For one thing, there’s no group of industries that need the money less.
“Fossil fuel is the most profitable enterprise humans have ever engaged in, and by large margins. Exxon earned $41 billion last year, not quite as much as its $45 billion record in 2008, but still more money than any other company in the history of money ($1,300 a second, if you’re keeping score.) The Koch brothers are the third and fourth richest men in America, thanks to their network of pipelines. Subsidizing people like this is like setting up a special welfare program only for lottery winners….And it’s even nuttier when you think about why we subsidize things in the first place. We pick things we’d like to be able to do but aren’t good at yet.” For example, solar power and education. “But fossil fuel? We learned how to burn coal in the early 1700s, and oil and gas followed. We’re very good at these things now – too good, to judge by the fact that the planet’s temperature is rising fast….But it does make sense for one group of people – legislators. Having been given small presents (campaign donations) by fossil fuel companies, they in return bestow large presents on those corporations, using our tax dollars. Outside of Congress, huge majorities of Republicans, independents, and Democrats think it’s a bad idea; it’ll be interesting to see if that’s enough.”
(From Sojourners, May 2012)
NAFTA, Free Trade Export Obesity:
“A new report by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) in the latest issue of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health examines the link between the industrialization of agriculture in the U.S., and the liberalization of trade and investment rules in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and its ensuing effects on Mexican food environments and obesity records. IATP’s report names three crucial results of the industrialization of U.S. agriculture and the consequent overproduction and depressed value of commodities, particularly corn and soybeans. First, lower prices attracted livestock and dairy producers to begin using these commodities as feed – meat and dairy producers are now the largest end users of corn and soybeans – and inspired novel derivative products like high fructose corn syrup from corn, a hydrogenated vegetable oil from soybeans. These new and, most importantly, inexpensive derivative products led to the proliferation of a ‘plethora of processed foods, usually relatively dense in calories but low in nutritive value,’ according to the report. Second, overproduction and lowered domestic prices led the U.S. to seek new export markets for these commodities. This practice of ‘dumping’ U.S. grains (and more recently meat) undercuts domestic production in countries like Mexico. Third, a defining aspect of the globalization of agriculture has been the ‘increase[d] movement of food-related capital, technology, goods and services throughout the globe.’
“The passage of NAFTA in 1991, the report notes, essentially created an ‘obesogenic environment’ in Mexico. Agricultural trade flows since the passage of NAFTA have generally trended towards an increase in seasonal fruits and vegetables flowing north and an increase in inexpensive commodity crops, livestock, and low-quality, calorie-dense snack foods and soda products flowing south. For example, corn exports have quadrupled since the passage of NAFTA, and the average annual sales of snack foods increased by 38 percent from 1999-2001; the U.S. controls more than 98 percent of the import market for snack foods in Mexico. …In total, the coupling of increased low-nutrition, calorie-dense exports and massive amounts of FDI [foreign direct investment] from the U.S. to Mexico, enabled by NAFTA, represents the exportation of an unhealthy U.S. food system to Mexico, and the rise in overweight and obesity rates and the chronic disease that accompany it.”
(From NewsNotes, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, May-June 2012)
The Case Against GM’s:
“There’s no consumer benefit to a genetically modified organism (GMO), says Jeffrey Smith, executive director of the nonprofit Institute for Responsible Technology (responsibletechnology.org) and author of Genetic Roulette (Chelsea Green, 2007). ‘…GMOs are simply soaked in poison. They’re either herbicide-tolerant or they have an insect-killing toxin in every cell of the plant, including the food portion. No one is clamoring for a daily dose.’ But few are clamoring to get away from them, either. In the U.S., we eat GMOs daily and without question, while 40 other countries, including the entire European Union, require some form of labeling on foods with GM ingredients. Is it OK for Americans to continue blindly consuming the products of genetic manipulation? After digging into the latest research, we at Green America say no – it’s dangerous to the environment, to farmers, and likely, to our health.”
There is some evidence that GMOs may be contributing to the rise of diseases in the US such as food allergies, irritable bowels, etc. “In 2009, AAEM (American Academy of Environmental Medicine) adopted the official position that all physicians should be prescribing GMO-free diets to patients. …In addition, there’s proof that GM food crops harm the environment, contributing to the emergence of herbicide resistant ‘superweeds’ and increased toxic pesticide use. They’re also contaminating nearby organic fields. …Green America and our allies are calling on the US government to require that GM foods bear a label, as they do in the EU, so consumers can make informed choices. …It’s up to us to start the non-GMO revolution, and take back the food we feed ourselves and our children.”
(From Green American, April/May 2012)
Climate Change Hits Home:
“Melting arctic sea ice is eating away at the polar bear’s home, while sea level rise poses a significant risk to coastal cities like Miami, Seattle and New York. Communities in the Northeast and Midwest U.S. are facing more frequent or severe rainfall events leading to flash floods, while across the world farmers in Nepal are seeing their crops suffer from a shifting monsoon season. And just as scientific models project prolonged drought and water scarcity in the American Southwest, unusually warm temperatures in Africa are threatening the eggs of marine turtles before they hatch. The Amazon is also facing increased instances of extreme drought, which withers crops and can lead to massive forest fires. Climate change poses a fundamental threat to the vulnerable species, places and people WWW seeks to protect around the world. More and more, U.S. cities are also feeling the costly, disruptive and dangerous consequences of a changing climate….
“Across the world, forward-thinking cities are already starting to prepare. Tucson, Arizona, is getting ready for a drier future by implementing ambitious water conservation initiatives. Chicago, Illinois, has incorporated permeable pavement into their urban design to reduce flooding from storm water runoff. And Florida’s Miami-Dade County, one of the urban areas most vulnerable to sea level rise in the world, is restoring and retrofitting coastal infrastructure based on detailed maps that indicate which regions are at the greatest risk of inundation.”
(From Focus, World Wildlife Fund, May/June 2012)
Child Slavery Continues:
“On April 16, the World Day Against Child Slavery, most Americans were probably more preoccupied with escaping the clutches of the I.R.S. than with helping children escape from slavery. That is unfortunate because as U.S. and European consumers directly contribute to the problem, they could contribute to its resolution. The Spanish Confederation of Religious reports that slavery is part of the daily lives of most consumers in the affluent world, who are unwitting collaborators in the theft of 400 million childhoods. The bananas consumers eat, the coffee they drink ‘might have been produced by the sweat of Latin American and African children,’ according to the confederation, and ‘the carpets on which [they] walk have been woven by little Pakistani slaves.’ Hundreds of other consumer goods are similarly produced by the illegal and compelled labor of children. The problem crosses all continents and borders. In India and Afghanistan, children work in construction; in Myanmar, in sugar cane fields. In China they prepare explosives and fireworks; and in the Democratic Republic of Congo, thousands extract minerals used for computers, mobile phones and many other of the developed world’s commonplace gadgets….”
(From America, May 7, 2012)
Fear of New War in Sudan:
“Church leaders in South Sudan fear that a new war will break out in the region soon unless the United Nations and African Union intervene. Tension between Sudan and South Sudan spiked after the temporary occupation of the oil-field town of Heglig by military from South Sudan. Other disputed territory includes Abyei, an area rich in oil on the border of the two states. On April 21 a Catholic church in Khartoum’s Al-Jiraif district was destroyed by a Muslim mob, and a Sudanese air force attack on the South Sudan city of Bentiu on April 23 killed three people, including a child, and wounded at least 10 others. South Sudanese troops overran the Sudanese army in Heglig on April 9, claiming the area under a 1956 agreement that the South believes set the border north of the town. Heglig had been used as a staging ground for military assaults by Sudan on South Sudan, particularly on the nearby city of Abyei, since May 2011.
“South Sudanese forces agreed to withdraw on April 20, but forces on both sides of the border appear to be preparing for more conflict. South Sudan seceded from Sudan after a referendum in January 2011 and officially became an independent nation on July 9. Auxiliary Bishop Daniel Adwok Kur of Khartoum, Sudan, said that tensions between Sudan and South Sudan, the world’s newest nation, could be defused if the United Nations and the African Union determined the proper border between the two countries. Bishop Adwok, who is from the south, said civilians in the disputed areas around Heglig, a small town in southern Kordofan State on the edge of rich oil fields, are being victimized by attacks from both sides.”
(From America, May 7, 2012)
Injustice in the Food Chain:
“In the U.S. food supply chain, 20 million workers labor in hazardous conditions for low wages. …The Chicago region, once a proud steel and manufacturing hub, is now a major portal for food and other commodities produced cheaply overseas, transported by rail from West Coast ports, and slated for destinations in the Midwest or on the East Coast. Ironically, the workers – more than 80 percent of whom are African American or Latino – who were displaced from good, union jobs when factories closed are now employed in bad, temporary jobs, moving goods made in China. The warehouse and storage industry, which feeds big-box retailers such as Walmart, relies on a pool of temporary laborers. This exempts employers from paying living wages or providing basic benefits and workers’ compensation; it also short-circuits worker attempts to organize into a union. Their costs of living are then displaced onto society. One in four warehouse workers relied on public assistance to survive, according to Warehouse Workers for Justice’s report ‘Bad Jobs in Goods Movement.’ …
“People of color are particularly concentrated in the lowest-paid sectors of the food chain: agricultural labor and retail service, according to “The Color of Food,’ a recent report by the Applied Research Center. At all stages of the supply chain – production, processing, distribution, and service – people of color make less than white workers. In the distribution sector …the typical yearly wage for a white worker is $42,234, while a worker of color earns only $27,452. For women, there’s an additional penalty: Women of color make 30 to 50 cents less for every dollar earned by a white male worker. Food chain workers are also particularly vulnerable to sexual harassment; for example, in a 2010 survey of women farm workers in California’s Central Valley, 80 percent reported experiencing such harassment….Much of the labor in the food system cannot be outsourced – a key leverage point for worker advocates. Across the country, warehouse and storage workers are contesting precarious conditions in which they labor.”
(From Sojourners, May 2012)
Racial Bias in Death Sentence:
“In the first case heard under North Carolina’s Racial Justice Act (RJA), a judge found that racial bias played a significant role in the death sentence given to Marcus Reymond Robinson 18 years ago. Robinson’s sentence was changed to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The RJA, passed in 2009, allows death row inmates in North Carolina to challenge their death sentences if they can prove that race was a factor in their sentencing. An editorial in the Winston-Salem Journal hailed the Robinson ruling and the RJA itself, ‘The RJA addresses racial bias in the pursuit and imposition of the death penalty. The evidence of that should be obvious to anyone who has been awake in this state in the last 30 years …in the Cumberland County case, justice prevailed.’
“Other members of the media said the RJA doesn’t take North Carolina far enough. The News and Record editorial board wrote, ‘Doing away with the death penalty and converting all death sentences to life in prison will save time and money. …There are more profound considerations: the chance of executing an innocent person; the unequal distribution of justice, when some murderers die and others live; and the changing attitudes of society.’ A New York Times editorial added, ‘The Supreme Court, 25 years ago, said it was the duty of the states to address racial prejudice in the administration of the death penalty. Only a small number have actually done so. The Racial Justice Act is a laudable effort and the ruling in this case corrects a gross injustice. But the persistence of racial bias in far too many states is a powerful reason that the death penalty should be abolished in North Carolina and throughout the country.’”
(From Equal Justice USA, May 2, 2012)
A Faithful US Budget:
“As the current budget proposals took shape, a coalition of the nation’s largest and most prominent Jewish, Christian and Muslim congregations, denominations, institutions and faith-based organizations formed the Faithful Budget Campaign – working throughout the long months of budget debate to encourage members of Congress to adopt a ‘Faithful Budget.’ …For communities of faith, the budget has long been seen as a moral document, in which each proposal can be judged ‘not by the arbitrary fiscal support it provides, but rather by the human impact it holds.’ People of faith in the United States take a more community-focused approach understanding themselves ‘to be ‘one nation under God,’ not a mere collection of isolated individuals.’ …The Campaign urges Congress to make investments in high-quality, affordable education, sustainable jobs with living wages, and policies that help families build assets. … The United States’ tax system was established as a progressive tax system – based on the ability to pay – but over the last few decades, the tax structure has become less progressive and increasingly the middle class bears a greater portion of the burden.
“This results in a system that perpetuates inequality by rewarding behavior that generates financial security for those who already have it, while excluding those who are working hard at low-wage jobs and need help the most. An equitable, moral tax code should reward the efforts of low-income people to work and save at every level.’ Since well over half of the U.S. discretionary budget is dedicated to military spending, the United States is unable to invest in other areas that build substantial human security in our communities. …Faith communities have often stood in solidarity with vulnerable populations at home and around the world while working to change policies to reduce poverty and hardship. In this capacity at this time when so many are experiencing financial insecurity, people of faith call on ‘Congress to adequately fund critical human needs, social service, environmental protection, and humanitarian and poverty-focused international assistance programs, all of which ensure human security in its broadest sense.’”
(From NewsNotes, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, May-June 2012)
NY Bishops Urge Raise in Minimum Wage:
“Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan and New York State’s bishops are calling on the Legislature to increase the minimum wage, adding an influential source of support to a proposal that has divided lawmakers along party lines. In a statement …Cardinal Dolan, the archbishop of New York, and the bishops express concern that ‘it is becoming increasingly difficult for the working poor of our state to make ends meet’ and urge a ‘modest’ increase in the minimum wage, now $7.25 an hour. Referring to full-time employees who earn the minimum wage, the statement said, ‘Our sustained recession and painfully slow recovery have left many of these workers – often people of color and frequently the newest immigrants to our shores who therefore have the fewest support systems – on the brink of homelessness, with not enough in their paychecks to pay for the most basic of necessities, like food, medicine or clothing for their children.’
“The statement, which was obtained by The New York Times in advance of its release, comes as Albany lawmakers continue to debate whether to increase the minimum wage. …The Assembly speaker, Sheldon Silver, a Manhattan Democrat, is seeking to raise the wage to $8.50, and he has made the minimum wage his top priority this year. The current wage is lower than that in 18 states and the District of Columbia. But the Republican majority in the State Senate has insisted that raising the minimum wage would hurt the state’s business climate and therefore do more harm than good for poor New Yorkers….The statement form Cardinal Dolan and the bishops urges the parties to compromise. ‘It is our hope and our prayer that the two sides could come together for some sort of action to address the grave problems facing the lowest-wage earners in our state,’ the statement said. ‘We believe an increase in the minimum wage is a matter of fairness and justice, and we hope it can be addressed soon.’”
(From The New York Times, May 2, 2012)
Connecticut
Ends Death Penalty:
“In what he called ‘a moment of sober reflection, not celebration,’ Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy signed into law a bill outlawing the use of capital punishment in the state. The law, which takes effect immediately, makes life imprisonment without the possibility of release the highest punishment possible in Connecticut. The death penalty could be carried out, however, in the cases of 11 prisoners currently on death row in the state. Hailing the signing as a ‘historic occasion,’ Archbishop Henry Mansell of Hartford said, ‘The Catholic church opposes the death penalty and has been fighting for its elimination for many years.’ ‘Justice can be served and society can be protected from violent criminals without the death penalty,’ said the Connecticut Catholic Public Affairs Conference. ‘These goals can easily be met by replacing the death penalty with a lifetime sentence without the possibility of release.’ Connecticut is the 17th state overall and fifth in five years to end use of the death penalty. Californians are expected to vote in November on a death penalty repeal.”
(From National Catholic Reporter, May 11-24, 2012)
Poor Economy Increases Domestic Violence:
“A new survey by the nonprofit Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) has found that police departments across the country are encountering more instances of domestic violence related to the poor economy, USA Today reports. More than half of the 700 law enforcement agencies polled for the survey reported seeing a rise in ‘domestic conflicts’ related to the economy during 2011, according to USA Today. That’s a sharp increase from the numbers reported in a similar 2010 survey, when 40 percent of agencies reported seeing an increase in such cases. …In turn, the poor economy has reduced the amount of resources available to victims of domestic violence, according to a recent survey conducted by the Mary Kay Foundation. In a poll of 730 domestic violence shelters across the country, nearly 80 percent reported seeing an increase in women seeking abuse [resources] at the same time funding for prevention and assistance programs had decreased. Nearly three in every four domestic violence victims reported staying in an abusive relationship because they could not afford to leave, according to the survey.”
(From The Huffington Post, May 2, 2012)
Pope: Don’t Worsen Economic Inequality:
“Laws and government policies should not make economic inequality worse; rather they should help people live more decent lives, Pope Benedict XVI told diplomats. ‘The quality of human relationships and the sharing of resources are the foundation of society, allowing everyone to have a role and to live in dignity in accordance with their aspirations,’ he said. The pope spoke May 5 to five new ambassadors to the Vatican, who were presenting their letters of credential. …In a speech to the group, the pope said today’s modern means of communication make it very quick and easy to know what is happening around the world – both good and bad. Being much more aware of people’s material and spiritual suffering should lead to a new call to action ‘to respond, with justice and solidarity, to anything that threatens humanity, society and the environment,’ he said. Armed conflict, famine, pandemics and people flocking to cities have exacerbated both old and new forms of poverty, and the global economic crisis has caused an increasing number of families to face growing financial insecurity, he said. When poverty and extreme wealth exist side-by-side in society, it gives rise to a sense of injustice, which can spark rebellion, he said. ‘It is, therefore, appropriate that nations ensure that social laws do not worsen inequalities,’ but help people to live decently, he said. True human development respects human dignity and lets people take control of their lives, he said. Initiatives using micro-credit or ‘equitable partnerships,’ for example, ‘show that it is possible to harmonize economic goals with social needs, democratic governance and respect for nature.’”
(From Catholic News Service, May 4, 2012)
A Faith-Based Budget:
“In an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network’s David Brody last month, Rep. [Paul] Ryan, R-Wis., the author of the House Republican budget endorsed by Mitt Romney, said his program was crafted ‘using my Catholic faith’ as inspiration. But the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops was not about to bless that claim. A week after Ryan’s boast, the bishops sent letters to Congress saying that the Ryan budget, passed by the House, ‘fails to meet’ the moral criteria of the Church, namely its view that any budget should help ‘the least of these’ as the Christian Bible requires: the poor, the hungry, the homeless, the jobless. ‘A just spending bill cannot rely on disproportionate cuts in essential services to poor and vulnerable persons,’ the bishops wrote. In fact, Ryan would cut spending on the least of these by about $5 trillion over 10 years – from Medicaid, food stamps, welfare and the like – and then turn around and award some $4 trillion in tax cuts to the most of these. To their credit, Catholic leaders were not about to let Ryan claim to be serving God when in fact he was serving mammon. …The rebuke of Ryan is a credit to the Catholic leaders, because they are displaying their doctrinal consistency even as politicians embrace church teachings selectively. … The bishops, in opposing Ryan’s budget, called for ‘shared sacrifice by all, including raising adequate revenues.’”
(From Chicago Tribune, May 1, 2012)
Church Promotes Peace in South Korea:
“Fifty miles off the southern tip of South Korea lies Jeju Island, one of the world’s most beautiful islands, known for its glorious rocky coast, coral reefs and sacred vista. … The United States has asked South Korea to build a major naval base there for U.S. Aegis destroyers – U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carriers that carry cruise missiles. These missiles, kept on U.S. destroyers and submarines at the proposed Jeju Island naval base, could be used someday to destroy Chinese ICBMs. But contrary to all expectations, a magnificent campaign of daily nonviolent resistance against the base has grown in the last five years. What’s even more inspiring is that church leaders are at the forefront of the campaign. …The base is being built near Gangjeong Village. These heroic villagers have maintained an impressive public stand against nuclear weapons, U.S. imperialism, environmental destruction and basic injustice. They’ve been arrested, imprisoned and had their land and civil rights taken from them. … They are demonstrating one of the most brilliant instances of active, engaged nonviolence on the planet, but they have to: South Korea, at the request of the Pentagon, is about to destroy one of the world’s natural wonders. …
“One of the most astonishing aspects of this ongoing protest is the active involvement and public leadership of priests and nuns. Five years ago, the bishop of the Diocese of Jeju Island issued a call urging all priests and nuns to stand with the people of Gangjeong Village. Thousands of priests and nuns have been involved. One day, 80 nuns were arrested. At another protest, 3,400 of the nation’s 4,000 priests joined in. …some priests have slept on the rocks for months at a time; others have been arrested for obstructing construction equipment. Others have celebrated Mass on the coast as a sacred site. Every day, they join the villagers in speaking out, sitting in, fasting, praying and taking nonviolent risks to stop the destruction of this holy seascape….The brave people of Jeju Island, including their heroic priests and nuns, need our support and prayers. For more information, go to http://www.savejejuisland.org/Save_Jeju_Island/Welcome.html and http://www.onearth.org/ .”
(From National Catholic Reporter, May 8, 2012)
The Power of Religious Peacebuilding:
“As the violence in Libya escalated to all-out war last year, an interfaith group of African religious leaders, including Muslims and Christians, visited the conflict zones in an effort to facilitate a negotiated end to the violence. As war in Colombia raged on and war clouds hovered over the border between Sudan and South Sudan, Mennonites worked diligently for peace on the ground in both situations. As Islamic separatist movements and the Filipino government vied for control in Mindinao, religious peacebuilders were present and talking to both sides. In Israel and Palestine, Christian Peacemakers Teams and Ecumenical Accompaniers move on a regular basis through zones of real or possible violent confrontations to reduce by their presence the likelihood of violence. Peacebuilders who are ‘motivated and strengthened by religious and spiritual resources’ and who have ‘access to religious communities and institutions’ are present and active in just about every situation of actual or anticipated violence in the world.
“Clearly, religion can be a force for peace as well as it can provide motivation or ‘cover’ for violence.” (Quotes are from Heather DuBois in the article Religion and Peacebuilding in the Spring 2008 Journal of Religion.) Religious actors also tend to be engaged long term and in different facets of the peacebuilding process, thus their efforts are more stable. Because they are often either members of the affected communities or have well established institutional links with affected communities, they are able to provide ‘channels of information and/or resource distribution in the absence of state-sponsored alternatives.’ … religious peacebuilders can make a significant contribution to peacebuilding by teaching ‘the peaceful doctrines of their traditions.’”
(From NewsNotes, Maryknoll Office of Global Concerns, May-June 2012)
SJB Friars Commit to Refugees, Migrants and Victims of Human Trafficking: The
Franciscan Friars of St. John the Baptist Province based in Cincinnati, Ohio, held their 2008 Chapter
at St. Meinrad Archabbey in Indiana May 19-23. Of the many proposals passed, the Chapter delegates
affirmed a resolution to learn more about the issues of migrants, refugees and victims of human trafficking
in order to better be able to respond to their needs. The resolution says:
“We, the Franciscans of St. John the Baptist Province, commit ourselves to increase our
awareness of issues surrounding refugees, migrants and victims of human trafficking in order to develop
more proactive Franciscan responses on the provincial, friary and personal level.”
SJB Friars Commit to Non-violence: The
Franciscan Friars of St. John the Baptist Province based in Cincinnati, Ohio,
held their 2005 Chapter at the University of Dayton, May 23-27. Among the many
proposals that were passed, the Chapter delegates affirmed a resolution
introduced by their JPIC Office in which they committed themselves to
“continued conversion to a life of Franciscan non-violence in support of a
consistent ethic of life.” The complete resolution follows.
“As Franciscans, we affirm the sacredness of all human life
and the inherent value of all creation. In a world where violence is rampant, we wish to be a sign of hope,
actively promoting the preservation of life, peace among people and nations,
justice for all and reconciliation. We commit ourselves to continued conversion to a life of Franciscan non-violence
in support of a consistent ethic of life.”
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