Write your senator and express your concerns about the additions to the Clean Energy Incentive Acts.

A coalition of 16 environmental organizations (and the League of Women Voters) is sending a joint letter(also below) to U.S. Senators indicating a joint position on the Baucus-Grassley tax extenders package (H.R. 6049). They write:

On behalf of our millions of members and activists, we urge Congress to pass the clean energy tax incentives included in the Energy Improvement and Extension Act of 2008 and strip the bill of incentives for dirty fossil fuels. Congress should take this opportunity to promote a new energy economy and begin the fight against global warming, and not reward the big oil and dirty coal industries.

The organizations are the Alaska Wilderness League, Audubon, the Center for International Environmental Law, Clean Water Action, Defenders of Wildlife, Earthjustice, Environment America, the Environmental Defense Fund, Friends of the Earth, League of Conservation Voters, League of Women Voters of the United States, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, The Wilderness Society, and the Union of Concerned Scientists.

The National Wildlife Federation, because of the “sweeping new federal subsidies for oil shale, tar sands and liquid coal refining,” “dirty fuels that will dramatically increase global warming pollution and threaten millions of acres of wildlife habitat,” is sending a letter in unambiguous opposition to Baucus-Grassley.

"I do not expect justice from a court of law to resolve my feelings over my mother's death. The death penalty does not provide resolution to victims. That is my life's work. The justice that I expect in this world is my own heart and voice resolved to do no evil. If I can resist evil and can reach out in love, then I have not been totally destroyed by the force that ended my mom's life." [BKL]

You have an opportunity to hear an extraordinary woman and her story  in NH during the months of December 2008  and January 2009, and maybe later in the year depending on her schedule.   Bess Klassen-Landis, the daughter of a muder victim who has gone on to to work nationally for the abolition of the death penalty, is available to speaking to your congregation or organization.  The article "Helping People Find Forgiveness Within Themselves"  from the Valley News, December 2007, is below.  Lindsay Dearborn (or another person)  of the NH Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty will  accompany Bess and represent NHCADP.

If you would like to host Klassen-Landis please contact Lindsay Dearborn This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it (603) 448-4172. Bess will speak with faith groups, legislators, professional associations  (defenders, prosecutors, police, mental health, etc.), civic organizations, prisons, community centers, student groups, universities, grasstops, grassroots…whomever you  identify.

Klassen-Landisias is now  setting up a national speaking tour, so NH is  lucky to have Dec. and most of Jan. wide open at this point.

 "Helping People Find Forgiveness Within Themselves"
Bess Klassen-Landis, a Vermont resident and member of Hanover Friends Meeting in Hanover, NH, was 13 years old when her mother was brutally murdered in their home in Northern Indiana.
 This year marks the 40th anniversary of her mother’s murder, an event that changed the way Bess saw and interacted with the world.
 During this year, Bess is traveling the country, sharing her story and the process of healing she has experienced and works on every day.
Her message focuses on forgiveness, hope and healing, and it is these journeys she considers the life work of murder victim family members and the way to gain true peace.

Last week, the Bush administration convinced the 45 countries of the Nuclear Suppliers Group to lift a 30-year ban on nuclear trade with India. This agreement does not include the common-sense restrictions and conditions mandated by Congress in 2006, including the termination of nuclear trade with India if that country again tests nuclear weapons. Now that an exception has been made for India, the message to the whole world is, "Nuclear rules are made to be broken." With the go-ahead from the Nuclear Suppliers Group, the administration is now pushing Congress to pass the deal it reached with India.

This is a critical time for the U.S. to take leadership in the international community for reducing nuclear arsenals - including our own. This agreement with India would do the exact opposite: violating international agreements and increasing India's capacity to produce new nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons are a threat to our national and global security. There are much better ways for the U.S. to build strong relations with India.

Click here to tell your senators and representative to oppose the U.S.-India nuclear deal.

Bill McKibben, The author of Deep Economy ,  draws the phrase "deep economy" from the expression "deep ecology," a term environmentalists use to signify new ways of thinking about the environment.  He suggests we need to explore new economic ideas. Rather then promoting accelerated cycles of economic expansion—a mindset that has brought the world to the brink of environmental disaster—we should concentrate on creating localized economies. Mckibben will speak and small groups will discuss what we in churches can do. This event is likely to take place in Hooksett, November 15; more information will follow!

(Manchester, NH – Sept. 1) Nearly 400 working men, women and their families joined prominent national and state leaders this morning for the annual New Hampshire AFL-CIO Labor Day breakfast at St. George Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Manchester.  Workers from throughout New Hampshire were joined by National AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker, Gov. John Lynch, former Gov. Jeanne Shaheen, Reps. Carol Shea-Porter and Paul Hodes to unveil the AFL-CIO’s plans for the largest-ever union member mobilization to turn around America.
“Working people are ready to turn out and vote for candidates who are ready to turn around our economy, our healthcare system – candidates ready to stand up for the middle class,”  MacKenzie said.  “We’ve accomplished so much over the years, working alongside our friends at the state and national level.  We are committed to turning this country around and restoring the respect and dignity to the millions of people who work hard every day to make ends meet and provide for their family.”

The political season is reaching fever pitch, and  despite the current economic turmoil, the topic of the first Presidential debate (Sept. 26) will be foreign affairs and national security.  The moderator is Jim Lehrer of the NewsHour on PBS.

To reduce the nuclear threat and put us on a path toward a nuclear weapons free world, the next President must take bold and specific steps on disarmament and nonproliferation.  Fortunately, Senators McCain and Obama have both said they support steps to a nuclear weapons-free world.  But neither has been asked to explain how they would move the world in that direction.

This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it to Jim Lehrer requesting at least one debate question about real-world steps the candidates will take toward the nuclear weapons-free world.  We've provided sample text for your e-mail, but please personalize or replace it for more impact.

Consider placing a guest column in your local paper.  Dr. Michael McCally, Executive Director of Physicians for Social Responsibility, has already written a guest editorial and invites you to co-sign it and submit it to your local paper!    (or you might just read it for inspiration for your own column or a letter-to-the-editor).  Click here to see Dr. McCally's op-ed.

For further information on what the McCain and Obama campaigns say their candidates would do to address the nuclear weapons danger, see  http://www.armscontrol.org/events/20080617_Presidential_Debate

The International Committee of the Red Cross Access measure
would require that our government notify the ICRC with all
information including locations of detainees, and it would
require that the ICRC have access to all detainees.
1. Call or e-mail Senator Sununu. Ask him to support ICRC Access
to detainees, and tell him that you want him  to stop our
government from sanctioning and practicing torture. A letter template is  below.

His contact information: (202) 224-2841 (603) 647-7500 email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

2. Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper and email me
to let me know you’ve sent it. A template for this letter is provided with background information on the importance of ICRC Access to ending government-sanctioned torture.

Update on Legislation
Everyone supporting ICRC Access had hoped that an amendment requiring
ICRC access would receive a vote (and be adopted) during the Senate
debate on the FY 2009 Defense Authorization bill (which is being debated
on the floor this week). An ICRC access amendment (title SA 5369) was
offered to the bill, but so were over 200 others. An attempt to forge an
agreement on amendments failed, so the Senate proceeded to a cloture
vote at 3 pm on Tuesday. They got cloture, which means non-germane
amendments are now prohibited. ICRC access is probably ‘non-germane’
– although so far as we have heard, there hasn’t been a definite ruling to
that effect. If ICRC access is non-germane, then the amendment will fall.
If, however, it is germane, then it still has the possibility of getting a vote.

If ICRC access is not included in the Defense Authorization bill, then the
only other potential vehicle this year is the Defense Appropriations bill.
Unfortunately, we are running out of time before Congress goes into fall
recess, and they will probably not be able to pass a Defense
Appropriations bill prior to the recess. In that case, they will either pass a
continuing resolution that will fund the government until next year (in
which case ICRC access will not be included), or they will come back for a
lame duck session after the election (in which case there would still be an
opportunity to pass a Defense Appropriations bill – potentially with ICRC
access attached).

David Lamarre-Vincents reflects :
A month has passed since my intensive and emotional experience of Palestine and Israel. This Holy Land pilgrimage was a walk in the steps of the living Jesus encountered in the lives of Palestinian Christians, Jews and Muslims as well in the lives of Israeli Jewish nationals and Israeli Christian and Muslim citizens. The pain and sadness of being bombarded by new experiences has now passed. The question of how to deal with a totally new experience of violence and injustice lingers on.

 My pilgrimage to the Holy Land seventeen years ago was a traditional spiritual experience of walking in the steps of the historical Jesus.  Then, the Hebrew and Greek scriptures came alive by following in his steps.  From his birth in Nazareth, through his ministry in Galilee, to his suffering and death in Jerusalem, my faith took on new depth. Holy Scripture has ever since called up the heat and glare of the desert sun, the hustle and bustle of Jerusalem, the beauty of the verdant Galilee, the little details like the multicolored lilies of the field robed in splendor. The burden laid on my soul by that pilgrimage that has stayed with me was to be faithful to the present experience of the spiritual reality Jesus.

 Israelis and Palestinians share insight on the question of apartheid and hope for peace.

Washington, DC — David Lamarre-Vincent, Executive Director of the New Hampshire Council of Churches, has returned from a unique delegation to Israel and Palestine.  Mr. Lamarre-Vincent, along with thirteen other participants from around the US landed in Tel Aviv on July 28 for a two-week trip through the conflict zone. The delegates investigated the question of apartheid in the Israeli-Palestinian context while meeting with representatives of Israeli and Palestinian civil society, religious leaders, politicians, businesspeople, farmers, students, Human Rights workers, former combatants and more. 

The delegation was co-sponsored by Interfaith Peace-Builders (IFPB) and the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation (USC).  This delegation is the 28th such experience organized by IFPB since 2001, successfully educating more than 400 North American citizens about the Middle East and deepening their understanding of its conflicts through eye-witness experiences.

7 pm on Monday, November 15, in the Manchester City Library at 405 Pine St. in Manchester.

They're calling it “clean” coal and nuclear power, but what both Barack Obama and John McCain are talking about is giveaways to industry that won't bring the results we need-- real solutions that would reduce our carbon emissions and create good new jobs in this country.  And with the effects of the climate crisis already taking a toll  around the world, we have no more  time to waste.
This fall is a critical opportunity—the biggest election year in decades. With the candidates fighting for every vote, we've got a great chance to show that there are voters in swing states who want serious, just solutions to global warming. All through the fall, before and after the election, we'll be pushing our leaders to adopt a three point platform:
• Cut our emissions 25% by 2020 and 80% by 2050, the levels scientists say are necessary.
• Invest in creating 5 million green jobs and pathways out of poverty while we transform our economy to be cleaner and more efficient.
• Stop investing in the problem: no new coal plants.
Respond to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it with questions or to RSVP.

As summer draws to a close with  record fuel prices on the horizon, there's at least one action for you and your congregation to consider: taking the New Hampshire Carbon Challenge (click there).
The NH Carbon Challenge works to educate, inspire and support sustained reductions in residential energy consumption.They assist households AND their communities (whether a church, school, town or business) reduce their energy consumption, 'linking" households together to show the collective impact of neighbors, friends, and congregations working  to reduce their energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Hundreds of households throughout New Hampshire and western Massachusetts have taken the Challenge already and are saving on average $860 a year per household.

Sympathy, the Enemy of Compassion Ramallah, July 31, 2008

Today once again we listen. Omar Barghouti and Dr. Gabi Baramki speak of their hopes for the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI). Sam Bahour, a Palestinian businessman (here by way of Youngstown, Ohio) speaks of his hopes for Palestinian business.  Representatives of Al Haq speak of their documentation, monitoring, and advocacy for cases of human rights violations by either Palestinians or Israelis and finally Tala Abu Rahme and Sanabel Hassan speak from their lives as twenty something women growing up Palestinian in the West Bank.

Today was a day to listen to the dire straits lived daily by Palestinians. It was a day to listen to their hopes for support for economic boycott, divestment and sanctions against what they experience as an apartheid regime. Their lives are dictated by daily Israeli government intrusions that seem to be arbitrary and simply based upon a division of people in this land based upon their humanity.

Their call was for the preparation of civil society in Palestine and Israel as well as the U.S. for reception of their stories of oppression.

Bird's Eye View of the Holy Land: Different Realities on the Ground -- Jerusalem, July 30, 2008

Two days listening to young Israelis and Palestinians of generosity of spirit and good will have shown us the world here from their perspective. We speak of the reality on the ground and getting perspective by having a bird's eye view.  Here one must ask: is this view through the eyes of an Israeli bird or a Palestinian bird? The reality on the ground shifts tremendously based upon the eyes through which the world is seen.
Four Israeli students from Hebrew University, three of whom have served earlier in the military, speak with all the love and passion for peace they can muster. If you are looking for black and white solutions ... one state – two states – whatever, look elsewhere. Here the world is defined by finer and finer shades of gray. Complexity built upon even greater complexity.

What does a career diplomat in Vienna, bus driver in Jerusalem, poor Palestinian homeowner and tour guide have in common? They all ask that American visitors listen to their stories, witness with their eyes and feel with their hearts the reality of life in the Holy Land, then return to the United States and simply tell their stories.

Nowhere in the US media does one have the opportunity to find the lived reality of Israeli and Palestinian life. It is not newsworthy. At most one hears of the geopolitics of heads of state and maneuverings in reality and rhetoric.I came to simply witness the grassroots stories of Israel and Palestine. In only a day themes have merged. 

 (To read more from the other travellers in David's group, click here.)

Application Deadline: July 25, 2008

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) is committed to tackling childhood obesity and the threat it poses to the health of our nation’s children and families. Our goal is to reverse the epidemic of childhood obesity by 2015 by promoting healthy eating and physical activity in schools and communities throughout the United States.

To assist this effort, RWJF is seeking proposals from faith-based coalitions to advance community policies or environmental changes that aim to increase access to healthy foods and/or opportunities for physical activity among children. We are particularly interested in efforts that reach children at greatest risk for obesity, including African-American, Latino, Native American, Asian American and Pacific Islander children who live in low-income communities or communities with limited access to affordable healthy foods and/or safe opportunities for physical activity.

For more details and application information, click here.