EarthBeat Weekly: A focus on solutions: What some DC Catholic properties are doing

A focus on solutions: What some DC Catholic properties are doing Your weekly newsletter about faith and climate change October 27, 2023   In May 2021, 76 trees were planted at St. Thomas More Academy in Washington D.C., through the Laudato Trees program and in partnership with local nonprofit Casey Trees. Later, 12 more were added to the campus. (St. Thomas More Academy/Gerald Smith) This past summer, EarthBeat participated in a journalism collaboration among faith-based publications who wanted to focus on climate stories. The result was the "Growing a Green Church" series, focused on churches' efforts to steward their property (buildings and land) effectively in the context of a changing climate.  With support from the Solutions Journalism Network and funding from the Fetzer Institute, the collaborative focused on initiatives to care for our common home that are already in action, and aimed to find out if they're achieving their goals, what challenges they have faced along the way, and how others might be able to scale or replicate their success. For Solutions Journalism Day — the 10th anniversary of Solutions Journalism Network, celebrated on Oct. 26 — we revisited EarthBeat's most popular story from the "Growing a Green Church" series with a brand new video including interviews and footage of the Laudato Trees program in Washington, D.C.   As NCR environment correspondent Brian Roewe reported in the original coverage: "Laudato Trees — a play on the name of Pope Francis' 2015 encyclical "Laudato Si', on Care for Our Common Home" — has sought out Catholic locations to plant American beeches and chestnut oaks alongside other native and well-adapted species, seeing potential in the church's expansive property footprint in the nation's capital." Watch the video here or by clicking on the screenshot below, and read the full report "Laudato Trees planting program enlists Catholic properties to help increase DC's canopy" here.    What else is new on EarthBeat: Caritas: Voices from climate change migrants can be 'blueprint for change' by Carol Glatz, Catholic News Service Too often the voices of people fleeing their homes due to climate change and extreme weather patterns are overshadowed by an abundance of scientific data and statistics, said a Caritas Internationalis official. Amazon cardinal says consumerist cultures must learn from Indigenous by Justin McLellan, Catholic News Service "The Amazon really is a symbol, a symbol of the need to change our mentality, to be less consumeristic, to chase after money less," said Cardinal Leonardo Ulrich Steiner, the first cardinal from the Amazon region.  California lets companies keep 'dangerous' oil wells unplugged forever by Aaron Cantú, Capital & Main An idle well fee program is masking vast cleanup costs while harming residents and the climate. A new California law just signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom aims to close loopholes that have allowed oil drillers to walk away from wells that are no longer profitable but remain harmful. Inspired by pope's message, USD faculty push for sustainable food systems by Kimberley Heatherington More than 25 University of San Diego faculty members have issued a statement echoing the pope's focus on climate change, challenging their campus to improve the climate impact and sustainability of its food systems.  What's happening in other climate news: New House Speaker Champions Fossil Fuels and Dismisses Climate Concerns — Lisa Friedman for The New York Times Federal officials say plan for water cuts from 3 Western states is enough to protect Colorado River — Kathleen Ronayne and Amy Taxin for The Associated Press Journalists and meteorologists must go further, and call rapid hurricane intensification a symptom of fossil fuels. — Emily Atkin for HEATED How Climate Change Drives Conflict and War Crimes Around the Globe — Katie Surma for Inside Climate News Impact of farming on climate crisis will be a key COP topic – finally — Fiona Harvey for The Guardian Final Beat: Motivated, annoyed, confused, sad, anxious, optimistic, suspicious — Americans report a range of emotional reactions to climate news and information, according to a new report by the Pew Research Center, published Oct. 25. But the most common emotional reaction to climate news is frustration that there is so much political disagreement on the issue: 79% of U.S. adults reported feeling this way. For more information on these survey results, and exclusive data on how U.S. Catholics responded, look for NCR staff reporter Aleja Hertzler-McCain's report next week at EarthBeat. Thanks for reading EarthBeat! Stephanie Clary Environment Editor National Catholic Reporter sclary@ncronline.org Instagram: @stephanieclaryncr Twitter/X: @scherp01   Featured Advertisers   Explore spirituality and social justice at Xavier University. Graduate theology degrees and certificates. Online options. Tuition discounts available. Need fresh ideas for your homilies?  More than 900 relevant and practical homilies at www.seedsforsowing.weebly.com