Congratulations, Humanity!

There’s a lot of bad news out there … but we shouldn’t miss this amazingly good news:

“For the first time, we have a truly universal agreement on climate change, one of the most crucial problems on earth.” – Ban-Ki Moon

“This agreement sends a powerful signal that the world is fully committed to a low-carbon future. We’ve shown that the world has both the will and the ability to take on this challenge.” – Pres. Barak Obama

But as one expert said, “Whether or not this becomes a true turning point for the world … depends critically on how seriously countries follow through.” There is no Plan B. That’s where each of us will have a part to play. As a national panel of religious leaders said in September, there are five specific steps each of us can take to seize this moment of opportunity, and not let ignorant and short-sighted interests sabotage the progress people of faith from the Pope to you and I are calling for:

1. Engage: Speak out – beginning in your house of worship – about climate change, beginning in your own congregation.
2. Energize: Pull together a group to explore ways to increase your energy efficiency – in your house of worship and in your individuals homes.
3. Divest/Invest: Pull investments out of dirty energy and shift them into ethically responsible investments.
4. Vote: Make climate change one of the top three issues in every election.
5. Educate: Educate yourself and spread what you learn to others through all your social media.

Want to take some first steps? Start here for links to amazing resources:
http://faithandclimate.org/
And whenever someone talks about the bad stuff happening out there, say something like this: “Well, at least we’ve taken a really positive step on climate change! That’s something to celebrate and get behind!”