To bring attention to the urgent need for action on climate change, Interfaith Moral Action on Climate (IMAC) will be leading “A Pray-in for the Climate” in front of the White House on Tuesday, January 15th, the 84th birthday of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Leaders and individuals from Buddhist, Christian (Catholic, Evangelical and Protestant), Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and other faith traditions will gather to call for immediate and comprehensive action to address the greatest moral and social issue of our time: climate change. Events for the day include: — 11:00 am - Multi-Faith Service - New York Avenue …

Promised Land, the new movie starring Matt Damon, is a movie in part about fracking, the new and extremely problematic way of getting natural gas out of shale rock far below the earth’s surface. It’s a very good movie, with good acting, particularly by Damon in a very different role than, for example, his Jason Bourne trilogy. Instead of  being a kick-ass former CIA assassin on a mission to reclaim his memory and the truth about what was done to him, in Promised Land Damon is a conflicted, conscience-stricken, corporate hot shot “land man” using bribes and threats, when necessary, …

We are facing a Climate Cliff, and we need you - our religious and spiritual leaders, other believers and all people of good will - to join us in addressing its danger by participating in “A Pray-in for the Climate” in front of the White House on Tuesday, January 15, 2013, following the agenda listed below.    To date, the religious and faith leaders who have agreed to be with us include:            Rev. Richard Cizik, President of The New Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good             Rev. Bob Edgar, CEO, Common Cause; Former head of National Council …

“We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now…. Over the bleached bones and  jumbled residues of numerous civilizations are written the pathetic words: ’Too late’.” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The first public action of any kind, on any issue, after the November 6 election was on the issue of the climate; specifically, the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. On Nov 18 3,000 people marched around the White House behind a football-field long, mock pipeline on which was written, “no tar sands pipeline.” 350.org was the primary organizer of this action. At it, Allison Chin, President of the Sierra Club, …

 “We are now faced with the fact, my friends, that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there is such a thing as being too late. The tide in the affairs of men and women does not remain at flood—it ebbs. Over the bleached bones and jumbled residues of numerous civilizations are written the pathetic words, ‘Too late.’”             Martin Luther King, Jr., Where Do We Go From Here? Chaos or Community?  It has been just about three years since I’ve fasted on the climate issue, or …

It was worth staying up ‘til 2 am last night to hear Barack Obama’s victory speech. The brother sure can bring it when he is inspired. Now it’s time for the climate and progressive movements to do our job as citizens and demand that he do the same on climate. It’s time, long past time, for Barack Obama to break his own self-imposed silence on climate. When did this silence begin? A piece in last week’s Guardian newspaper reminded me of how far back it goes, to a meeting the White House organized for leaders of environmental groups in March …

Much of New Jersey, New York City and elsewhere definitely got hit very hard by Superstorm Hurricane Sandy yesterday: several feet of sand covering roads close to the ocean in Point Pleasant and probably elsewhere—50 or so homes burned down in Queens—extensive flooding of the lower Manhattan NYC subways—7 million or more customers without power—blizzard conditions in the Appalachians—and much more, without question. I live in NJ, about 12 miles west of Manhattan. We didn’t get much rain but we did get very high winds, probably 80 mph or so, and as my wife and I huddled together on the …

It is ironic, way beyond ironic really, that the Nation’s Capital—and the entire Northeast-- is staring down the barrel of an incredibly powerful storm about which a National Weather Service meteorologist has said, “"I’ve never seen anything like this and I’m at a loss for expletives to describe what this storm could do." Perhaps this weather scare that may well be much more than just a scare is God’s revenge for the refusal of the U.S. government to take action on the climate crisis. Or maybe this is His way of inserting the climate issue into a Presidential election campaign …

“Should we fail to act now on the climate front, the world will likely become so nasty and brutish that the possibility of rebirth, of achieving something new and beautiful, will simply vanish, and we will be left with nothing but the burden of climate chaos and societies’ endless responses to it.”                                                          America the Possible, p. 13  One thing I’ve learned over the 44 years that I’ve been a progressive activist and organizer is that I gain strength from seeing other people change and grow. In some cases these have been young people whose exposure to the truth about …

Four years ago, when Barack Obama was running against John McCain for the Presidency and when the climate crisis was not as severe as it has become, both Obama and McCain were in agreement that 1) it existed and 2) action should be taken on it. As importantly, they both spoke about this issue throughout the campaign. Obama’s program back then, put forward in early August 2008, projected 1 million plug-in hybrid cars by 2015, a commitment to energy efficiency, investing in an upgrade of the national utility grid, weatherizing one million homes annually, a 100% auction—with no freebies for …