God is all about sustainable development and responsible care of our world - be it with solar energy OR with oil and being careful how it is utilized....as well as always seeking to find more efficient ways to take care of our world. And God is HIGHLY concerned with
Eco-Imperialism where other impoverished nations are not allowed to choose their own destiny and things imposed on them in the name of "sustainable development" are often keeping them starving while those doing the imposing actions are living quite well. There's an excellent book on the issue I have been thankful for, entitled
"Eco-Imperialism: Green Power, Black Death"
Industrialized country proposals to integrate environmental protection into the WTO trade regime constitute environmental imperialism - the imposition of industrialized country values and preferences on less powerful nations....for although conservation is a wonderful and important thing, it should be noted that environmental protection is a luxury that poor countries can ill afford - and even though wealthy countries have played a leadership role in the protection of the global environment, it is hypocritical when wealthy nations throw away their own waste into poorer nations (i.e.
electronic waste, oil spills, etc.) and then tell those nations they have to be careful. The same applies for i
ssues of waste within our own nation when it comes to impoverished
areas being dumped upon in order to make other places look
clean and nice for the wealthy
As it concerns religion, believers (at least people claiming faith in God) should always take seriously the issue of environmental stewardship. And I'm glad for others who do so -
Sustainable Traditions: Home (
here). Moreover, I'm very thankful for believers taking seriously the issue of what it means to "Go Green" and see it from the perspective of others who are actually making a difference with it.
One of the most inspiring examples for me will always be George Washington Carver (more shared here in #
1, #
20 and #
45 ) - an AMAZING believer who did much to literally revolutionize the world via agriculture..with very little materials to work with many times and a system that was designed to be against him/other blacks....in regards to Jim Crow and Slavery. He did what he could with what the Lord gave him to promote the Kingdom of God - and show the miraculous...and others were amazed just as they are today with what he did despite the system. For a good read on the issue, one can go to
The Green Vision of Henry Ford and George Washington Carver: Two ... - Page 203
For those communities impacted the most by things that others don't deal with, going "Green" is a big deal. People like Majora Carter have done stellar work in the Bronx, which has a reputation as one of New Yorks most dangerous boroughs and one of the most polluted. Grassroots organizations like
Sustainable South Bronx (SSBx) addressed both of those pressing needs with a single solution providing training and jobs that benefit the environment....as described by
Majora Carter, founder of SSBx, in her "Green the Ghetto" talk. I'm thankful for the ways that the organizations B.E.S.T. (Bronx Environmental Stewardship Training) Program provides residents with training for careers in ecological restoration, landscaping, green roof installation, hazardous waste cleanup and home weatherizing. All of those things are VERY RELEVANT when considering the ways that it impacts people in the hood.
It's already sad enough that we have
TOXIC Racism (i.e. placing waste in economically impoverished communities..especially minority ones and poor/rural white communities ) due to institutional discrimination...or choosing to push out communities in the event that the government finds a use for the land they live in/have chosen to adapt to. Seeking to have sustainable development/green energy is about survival rather than doing so as if it's one option amongst many. There's a significant need to address the deep/historical issues behind what keeps others from being able to grow/live healthy....including institutional systems in our government that have often fought against others seeking to grow healthy resources. The same thing goes for issues of the environment being damaged by many things which we use often (i.e. gasoline, fumes/pollution, toxic waste, run-off, etc.)