A Personal Perspective on Global Warming

By Edward O’Connor, Chair, Board of Education, Southern Province, Moravian Church in America; Member, Steering Committee, NC Interfaith Power & Light

I grew up on a farm in central Wisconsin that bordered a two-mile long lake.  Our house was on a point of land that jutted out into the center of the lake.  A similar point from the other side formed a “narrows,” giving the lake the shape of a peanut shell.  Since my great-grandfather had pioneered there in the 1840’s, our family observed that the level of the lake rose and fell in a twenty-one year cycle.  When the water was low, the narrow portion of the lake was only knee deep; when the water was high, it was necessary to swim across.  In the 1970’s, however, the water went down and has not come back up since.  That was the time when potato farmers around the lake began irrigating.  The pumping kept the water table low and broke the ancient cycle.  That was a vivid example for me of how a natural cycle can be altered, quickly and drastically, by human activity.
 
When I became chair of the Commission on Church and Society for the Southern Province of the Moravian Church in 2002, we determined that a top priority would be climate change.  I represented the Commission as a member of the Steering Committee of the NC Council of Churches Climate Connection program (now called NC Interfaith Power and Light - NCIPL).  A series of events initiated me from a novice to someone who could serve as a resource for our churches.  First, we sent to all Moravian Churches in the Province a packet that contained a Moravian doctrinal statement “Caring for Creation,” the National Council of Churches’ study manual “It’s God’s World:  Christians, Care for Creation and Global Warming,” and the Environmental Defense publication “Understanding Climate Change for North Carolina.”  Individual churches began using these resources and educating members.  For example, Grace Moravian Church in Mount Airy held two programs on global warming and energy savings using this material.
 
Then, in 2005, I served as Local Arrangements Chair for the Climate Connection Earth Day program on “Faith Communities and Global Climate Change.” This also opened my eyes to a number of resources.  As a result of that program, I was asked to speak on global warming at several Moravian churches.  As a career teacher, I knew that preparation was essential and found authoritative information in a variety of publications:  National Geographic, September 2004, on “Global Warming;” Ross Gelbspan’s Boiling Point, especially for the political perspective; Lester R. Brown’s Plan B 2.0, an economic perspective; James Gustave Speth’s Red Sky in the Morning:  America and the Crisis of the Global Environment, a thorough review of the scientific perspective; and Tim Flannery’s The Weather Makers, an historical perspective with suggestions for action.  I mention these resources because some of us are inclined to
say, “How can I speak on this subject when I am not an expert?”  The fact is that we can all become well informed with resources that are readily available.  We are not starting from scratch; it is not a mystery.  And, it is urgent.
 
In the workshops I offer which are based on the NCIPL “Hope Workshop” format, I encourage participants to talk about what creation means to them and then go on to define the terms “global warming” and “global climate change.” We discuss what the experts say about the phenomenon, describe the greenhouse gas effect (with charts from “It’s God’s World”), present facts on changes that have already occurred, present the National Council’s video “God’s Creation and Global Warming,” talk about advocacy and energy conservation and efficiency, and distribute practical guides to energy savings such as NCIPL’s “Ten Simple Things To Do To Reduce Global Warming.”
 
I believe that a number of circumstances are coming together to make the public more aware and receptive to the need to reverse global warming.  Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth has reached millions of people.  Newspaper editorials are showing greater understanding of the problem.  There is a growing commitment to “green” buildings and alternative fuels.  We all can add to the momentum.