Sister Joan Talks About Need for a ‘Just Transition’ in Permian Basin

/in , , , , /by

An article in the National Catholic Reporter’s Global Sisters Report quotes several Catholic Sisters around the world, including Joan Brown, osf, executive director of New Mexico Interfaith Power & Light.  She talks about the major challenge in places like the Permian Basin in New Mexico.

Brown said the Permian Basin is “a climate bomb right now. It’s one of the highest-producing oil and gas regions in the world, so there’s a lot of pollution.”

There are concrete concerns to consider, too: More than a third of tax income for the state’s schools come from the oil and gas industry, Brown said.

“That’s something I don’t think that is often thought of is the implications that trickle down in all kinds of ways. It’s not just the worker; it’s the grocery shop person, it’s the education, it’s the school district,” she said. “Communities really need to be engaged in that.”

“The communities there feel that they’re a sacrificed zone and are continually a sacrificed zone,” Brown said. “They’re suffering from pollution now. Everybody else is using their energy. And yet with this transition, where are the jobs going to come from?”

The full article, entitled “In the face of catastrophic climate change, sisters join call for a just transition.” also contains great insights from other Catholic Sisters around the World.

Diné Organization Files Uranium Complaint with OAS Human Rights Agency

/in , , , /by

ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO, USA—Eastern Navajo Diné Against Uranium Mining (ENDAUM) announced this week it will file its Additional Observations on the Merits including written and video testimony and other exhibits to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) based in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, Oct. 21.

ENDAUM’s petition states that when the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) licensed Hydro Resources, Inc. (HRI) (now known as NuFuels, a subsidiary of the Canadian mining company Laramide Resources) to operate uranium mining in the two Diné (Navajo) communities of Crownpoint and Churchrock it violated human rights guaranteed in the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, including the rights to life, health, benefits of culture, fair trial, and property.

The U.S. NRC licensed an ISL uranium mine it knows will contaminate groundwater that is an important resource of drinking water and cultural identity to communities that suffer increased risk of death and disease from historic uranium mining and milling the United States government not only tolerated but promoted.

ENDAUM and the New Mexico Environmental Law Center (NMELC) will be holding a Gathering over zoom on THURSDAY, OCTOBER 21 AT 12:30PM MDT to Celebrate the filing and to be available to members of the media to answer any questions about this unprecedented reckoning for the U.S. government and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for past and future uranium mining and milling activities on Indigenous lands.

Read additional coverage in the Albuquerque based online news site The Paper

 

Sister Joan Brown: Global Faith Community Speaks Out ahead of Climate Conference

/in , , /by

Sister Joan Brown, osf, executive director of New Mexico Interfaith Power & Light wrote an opinion piece for the Gallup Independent about the commitments by faith leaders around the world to address climate change ahead of the the 26th U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland from Oct. 31-Nov.12.  The article is entitled “Did you miss a critical event this week?” Here is an excerpt:

Pope Francis and 40 faith leaders representing 84% of the world’s people who identify with a faith met and signed a climate appeal Oct. 4. Many of us missed this unprecedented event, just as we are missing the call to care for Our Common Home and take action to address climate change.

The appeal made at the Vatican addresses all governments participating in the 26th U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland…The strong document calls for decisive international action by governments implores leaders to “safeguard, restore and heal our wounded humanity and the home entrusted to our stewardship.”

Signed by the religious leaders of major traditions, it implores the world to listen and act. “Future generations will never forgive us if we miss the opportunity to protect our common home. We have inherited a garden; we must not leave a desert to our children.”

Read full article