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2008 is the United Nations' Year of planet Earth. On Saturday, October 11th, the Congregation of the Humility of Mary hosted the second annual Earth Charter Summit, an event striving to:
- highlight local awareness of humanity’s global impact;
- inspire personal consideration of how we interact with each other and our environment with a goal to make everyone's existence better and more sustainable; and
- promote action in the key areas of Economic Equity, Social Equity and Human Rights, Ecological Integrity, Democracy, Nonviolence, & Peace.
The Earth Charter is an international agreement which was conceived in 1987 at UN Environment & Development Conference and launched in Hague in June 2000. To view the Charter document, go to http://www.chmiowa.org/documents/earthcharterdocument.pdf
WVIK recorded this year’s keynote speakers from the Quad Cities Earth Charter Summit. You can listen by clicking on the links below.
Colin Beavan
Colin Beavan aka "No Impact Man" <http://www.noimpactman.com> always considered himself an environmentalist, but in August 2006, he decided to challenge his own notions of what one man, and his family, can do to impact the world on a daily basis. He made it his quest, along with his wife, young daughter and the family dog, to make it as real and personal as possible. The exercise was to reduce their ecological footprint. Colin's goal was to better understand how "Saving this planet depends on finding a middle path that is neither unconsciously consumerist nor self-consciously anti-materialist."
"My experiences living with lower resource consumption show that using less doesn't have to feel like deprivation, and illustrate that, often, living a lifestyle that is better for the planet is better for the person and the culture, too. As much as I've come to believe in the incredible power of a life lived in integrity with one's values, and seen evidence of the differences each of us can make, I'd also like to think we have the power to make those same choices and benefits available to everyone."
Dr. Jerald Schnoor
Jerald Schnoor has testified before Congress several times and written extensively on the impacts of acid deposition on lakes and forests, water quality in the agricultural Midwest, carbon sequestration by forests as greenhouse mitigation measures, and on the sustainability of biofuels and our energy future. Recently, he chaired the panel for the National Research Council on the Water Implications of Biofuels Production.
Professor Schnoor and his students have pioneered phytoremediation, the use of plants to help clean the environment. They have “cleaned-up” petrochemical sites, explosives-contaminated bases, and other industrial locations.
Dr. Schnoor is a member of the National Academy of Engineering (elected in 1999) for his research using mathematical models in science policy decisions. He serves as Editor-in-Chief of the leading journal, Environmental Science and Technology, and his research interests include water quality modeling, phytoremediation, environmental observatories, and global change.
LOCAL ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCATES
Cathy Bolkcom
Cathy Bolkcom is a lifelong activist and community organizer. Along with many others, she organized Progressive Action for the Common Good, a grass roots Quad Cities citizen action group which promotes progressive values. She served as the first president of the PACG Board and chair of the PACG Civil Rights Forum. She is active in local peace activities and believes that social and economic justice are at the very heart of protecting our planet.
Father Bud Grant
Father Bud Grant received a PhD in environmental ethics from the University of Iowa and teaches ethics at St. Ambrose University in Davenport where he is advisor to GREENLIFE - an environmental club and PAX - a social justice group. He is a consultant on environmental issues and believes in the need to educate the community to become responsible participants in sustainable environmental practices in which all creation flourishes.
Lunch Panel
"Had Enough? Improving our Environment Through Our Food Choices"