Need an encouraging boost? Check out our Interfaith Climate Tracker

Updates from 45 faith groups around the world

by Bill Mitchell

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bmitchell@ncronline.org

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God knows that anyone concerned about the climate crisis could use an occasional infusion of good news. One of my favorite paths to an encouraging word begins with a scroll down the EarthBeat homepage to our Interfaith Climate Tracker.

The Tracker updates 24 hours a day with the latest news from 45 groups around the world that are working on climate issues from the perspective of faith, many faiths, in fact.

It's not that these groups are drawing a happy face on the sobering prospects that lie ahead for us without significant action to slow global warming. But they do document the good and difficult work that's getting done on multiple fronts.  

Here are a few examples from the last day or so:

One reason we decided to highlight what these groups are doing is that, as political and scientific leaders have pointed out, politics and science are insufficient by themselves to move people to the level of disruptive movement it will take to head off a climate disaster.

Gina McCarthy, who headed the Environmental Protection Agency under President Obama, helped make that case for EarthBeat readers here. Philip Duffy, a physicist who heads the Woods Hole Research Center, helped organize a coalition of scientists and faith leaders around climate issues two years ago. Earlier this year on EarthBeat, he congratulated Pope Francis for getting the science and urged him to step it up on the action front.

Check out actions underway by people of various faiths on the Tracker, which you can also access directly on Twitter.


Here's what's new on EarthBeat this week:


Here's some of what's new in other climate news this week:


Upcoming Event:

On July 7, Christian Climate Action will convene a virtual event focused on "the racial lens through which we view climate change and plan action."

One advantage of so many events moving online is their accessibility to a wider audience. If you'd like to expand the audience of your next virtual climate event, please post it here.


Closing beat:

Since our launch Oct. 30 of last year, we've been doing what we can to raise awareness of EarthBeat. So we certainly welcome this tweet from Julia Lous-Dreyfus to her 1.1 million followers:

At some point next month, I'll be moving to a new role at NCR. That means we need a new EarthBeat editor. If you're interested – or know of someone who might be – please read the job description and follow up! The deadline for applications is June 30.

We hope you'll forward this week's newsletter to anyone you believe might want to subscribe. They can do so here.  As you know, neither EarthBeat nor NCR restricts access to coverage with a paywall. Instead we depend on readers like you to sign up for a voluntary membership. If you'd like to join their ranks, please join NCR Forward for as little as five bucks a month.

Thanks for reading.

Bill Mitchell

NCR Climate Editor

bmitchell@ncronline.org

This story appears in the EarthBeat Weekly feature series. View the full series.

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