Clean Transportation
Photos are "Women at the Bus" by Claus Tom and Transit Equity Day Logo from Labor Network for Sustainability
A United Methodist Insight Column
United Methodist Women are proving to be some of the most active faith-based climate change advocates in the 12-million-member global denomination.
UMW will hold its third webinar session on clean transportation from 3–4:30 p.m. ET Wednesday, Jan.19 with the theme “Women on the Move: Equity & Climate Justice in Public Transit.” The event will explore the intersections among gender, race, climate justice, and public transit, how those issues specifically impact women and how to support transit equity locally and nationally.
UMW also will provide resources for participating in the Feb. 4 Transit Equity Day honoring the birthday of Rosa Parks, whose defiance of the racially segregated bus system in Montgomery, Ala., touched off one of the first major civil rights actions of the 1950s and '60s.
Transit webinar speakers
Guest speakers for the webinar will be:
- Dr. Regan Patterson, environmental justice consultant, author of WEDO’s “Gender, Climate, and Transport in the United States”
- Bakari Height, transit planner, Labor Network for Sustainability
- Nancy Smith, Massachusetts State Conference, NAACP Transit Environment Climate Justice Committee
Omicron surge by the numbers – maybe
From the Associated Press: … “the omicron wave is making a mess of the usual statistics, forcing news organizations to rethink the way they report such figures.”
The number of coronavirus cases, fueled by the highly transmissible Omicron variant, soared over the holidays and into the first weeks of January. Yet those counts don’t fully reflect the overall impact, because they don’t include folks who test themselves at home or are infected but don’t know it or don’t show symptoms. If we could figure out those numbers, Omicron’s impact would be even more staggering than it already is.
Consequently, The Associated Press says it has told reporters and editors not to emphasize case-counts in COVID-19 stories because the numbers have become unreliable. This decision puts United Methodist Insight in a quandary, because we’ve been reporting infection and hospitalization numbers as guides for churches to determine the opportunities and risks to their ministries. The best we can offer at this point under these new circumstances is to say that whatever numbers we gather, estimate that the situation is even worse and err on the side of superabundant caution.
The Guardian reports: “Federal health authorities in the US are now comparing the pandemic to a 'natural disaster', warning that the Omicron Covid-19 variant is so contagious it is likely most people in the US will be infected.”
“’I think it’s hard to process what’s actually happening right now, which is [that] most people are going to get Covid, all right?’ Janet Woodcock, the acting head of the Food and Drug Administration, said at a Senate hearing [this week]. ‘What we need to do is make sure the hospitals can still function … [that] transportation, other essential services are not disrupted while this happens.’”
Our favorite infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, also said this week that he expects everyone will contract coronavirus eventually, much like the flu, except we don’t know when the ‘Rona will become endemic like influenza. (We forget that the flu virus kills, too.) The difference will be that those who are vaccinated and boosted will suffer milder symptoms with less likelihood of hospitalization and death, while those who remain unvaccinated will be at much higher risk – 10 times as high for hospitalization and 20 times higher for death from COVID-19, especially if there are complicating risk factors such as diabetes, obesity or age, according to public health experts.
The most reliable number – and even this one is likely under-reported – is the death toll from COVID-19. As of Jan. 12, some 843,000 Americans have died from coronavirus and its complications, according to news reports.
We all know by now what to do to protect ourselves, so I’m not going to repeat the litany again. As Nike says, just do it.
1,000 jobs coming in clean energy
United Methodists in need of jobs and churches considering climate-mitigation projects will want to keep an eye on the U.S. Department of Energy.
The Washington Post’s Climate 202 newsletter reports that the Energy Department will create a “Clean Energy Corps” and hire 1,000 additional workers for climate change and clean energy jobs.
Says the newsletter: “People who join the Clean Energy Corps will pursue projects aimed at accelerating the deployment of clean energy and cutting planet-warming emissions. For example, participants will jump-start an initiative to build thousands of miles of electric transmission lines to carry wind and solar power to communities nationwide.
“The effort marks the latest sign that President Biden is harnessing the powers of the federal government to meet his ambitious climate goals, as Democrats' Build Back Better Act remains stalled in Congress.
“’It’s truly a remarkable time to be at the Department of Energy as we set off to implement the historic $62 billion in clean energy investments from the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law,” said Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm. ‘The launch of our Clean Energy Corps is the latest definitive step along our path to making transformational changes to America’s energy sector and ensuring a clean energy future for all. We’re calling on people of all backgrounds and career levels who understand the urgency of tackling climate change now, and are eager to join the team that is best positioned to do so.’”
And now, a global economic crisis
A new report from the World Bank predicts that the pandemic is reversing the income gains seen in poorer countries over the past two decades, according to Axios chief economic correspondent Neil Irwin.
This World Bank forecast matters for The United Methodist Church for lots of reasons. First, it means that falling incomes can lead to more human suffering that will call upon church resources such as the United Methodist Committee on Relief. It also means that resources and support for local churches and international missions, such as acquiring food, medical care, construction services and the like, will be harder to obtain.
Overall, the World Bank’s Global Economic Prospects report cited COVID's more lasting and severe economic impact in poorer countries as Axios reports:
- “They're less likely to have effective mechanisms to obtain and rapidly distribute vaccines.
- “They have less access to debt markets, and therefore less capacity for large-scale government borrowing to cushion economic pain.
- “Inflation is more of a problem. For rich countries, higher food prices are an annoyance; for poor countries, they can cause mass starvation.”
It’s sweltering in the Global South
We may be struggling through waves of snow and ice in the United States, but south of the equator it’s sweltering from climate change.
The Washington Post’s Matthew Cappucci reports: “Buenos Aires hit 106 degrees amid [a] severe South American heat wave. The temperature was the second-hottest ever recorded in the Argentine capital in 115 years and comes as a severe multiday heatwave grips parts of central South America.
“Excess strain on the power grid from the heat left 700,000 people in Buenos Aires without electricity. Heat waves are among the deadliest weather phenomena, and they are becoming more frequent and intense as a result of climate change.”
Keep in mind, millions of United Methodists south of the equator, such as in Zimbabwe, are enduring these summertime heat waves right now. Let’s remember them in our prayers for those facing extreme weather.
Media Mentions as of Jan. 13, 2022
MLK Day march in West Chester canceled due to COVID-19 surge - Journal-News
United Methodist Church holds vigil for Bronx fire victims – News 12 Bronx
Spiritual Side: Going back to drive-in worship at Trinity United Methodist - The West Volusia Beacon
Dresden, Tenn. church finds cornerstone box after Dec. tornado - KFVS12
People's United Methodist honors COVID-19 victims - Portland Press Herald
Africa joins race for COVID treatment pills | World | pressofatlanticcity.com
New website illustrates and interprets how religion intertwined with events of January 6 ... – Baptist News Global
Cynthia B. Astle serves as Editor of United Methodist Insight, which she founded in 2011 with sponsorship from St. Stephen United Methodist Church.