[EcoDharma] Living Earth

[Meishin]

Gassho
Meishin
STLah

[Kokuu]

Dear all

Apologies if it has been mentioned before but I just discovered this virtual sangha of environmental engaged Buddhists: https://oneearthsangha.org/

I am just exploring them at the moment but David Loy is involved which seems to me a good sign both of their depth of dharma knowledge and commitment to environmental activism.

They have an Ecosattva course to explore issues and actions we can take as engaged Buddhist (https://oneearthsangha.org/programs/...a-training/v3/) and you can do that as a group so I wonder if that might be something we could organise here at Treeleaf for interested folk? I think the registration fee is $150 but there is a group discount.

Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday/lah-

[Naiko]

Hi all,
I just saw notice of an online talk by David Loy, Wednesday, May 5th, 7:30pm Eastern Time/US-Canada.
"How Can Buddhism Help Us Respond to the Ecological Crisis?"
A Talk and Discussion with DAVID LOY
Wednesday, 5 May 2021, 7:30-9PM US ET
Via Zoom. Registered required here: https://columbiauniversity.zoom.us/.../tJ0odO...
The ecological crisis—which includes the climate emergency but is much bigger than that—is the greatest challenge that humanity has ever faced. What does Buddhism offer, if anything, that can help us understand and respond appropriately? Most of all, what does the eco-crisis mean for how we understand and practice Buddhism (or follow any spiritual path) today? What is the role of the bodhisattva/ecosattva today?https://www.facebook.com/events/3900...eate&ref=notif
Gassho,
Naiko,
st-lah

[Doshin]

Thanks Naiko. I listened to David give a similar talk on Earth Day. I will listen again to learn more.

Doshin
St

[Heiso]

Dear all

Apologies if it has been mentioned before but I just discovered this virtual sangha of environmental engaged Buddhists: https://oneearthsangha.org/

I am just exploring them at the moment but David Loy is involved which seems to me a good sign both of their depth of dharma knowledge and commitment to environmental activism.

They have an Ecosattva course to explore issues and actions we can take as engaged Buddhist (https://oneearthsangha.org/programs/...a-training/v3/) and you can do that as a group so I wonder if that might be something we could organise here at Treeleaf for interested folk? I think the registration fee is $150 but there is a group discount.

Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday/lah-

Thanks Kokuu, that looks really interesting, I'll take a look.

Gassho,

Heiso

StLah

Sent from my RMX2001 using Tapatalk

[Tairin]

A little off topic but I thought this article might resonate with the contributors to this discussion.

https://theconversation.com/billionaire-space-race-the-ultimate-symbol-of-capitalisms-flawed-obsession-with-growth-164511

Tairin
Sat today and lah

[Doshin]

A little off topic but I thought this article might resonate with the contributors to this discussion.

https://theconversation.com/billionaire-space-race-the-ultimate-symbol-of-capitalisms-flawed-obsession-with-growth-164511

Tairin
Sat today and lah

A good read. Thank you.

Doshin
St

[Heiso]

Very interesting, thanks. There is something really chilling about deciding we're going run out of resources on this planet so let's go find another one. And of these billionaires spending fortunes on vanity flights while people lose their homes to not only covid but the impact of climate change.

Gassho,

Heiso

StLah

[Jundo]

For want of a better place to post this, awards for nature photography were announced ...

This is captioned "Kuwaiti photographer Majed Ali's shot of a mountain gorilla enjoying the rain won the "Animal Portraits" category." However, if that ain't a gorilla cousin sitting Zazen, then (I resisted the temptation to make an "I'm a monkey's uncle" reference) ...

https://us.cnn.com/travel/article/wildlife-photographer-award-winner-2021-scli-intl-scn/index.html

Or maybe it is just enjoying the rain. Or maybe it is all the same.

Gassho, J

STLah

[Jundo]

Sadly, there seems to be a solid factual basis behind this report, with real geopolitical concerns, and rare minerals disputes are already causing military tensions ...

... although, also sadly, the report does remind me also of the kind of news reporting and science muddling that the petrochemical and auto (and tobacco etc.) industries have sponsored when they want to put the breaks on changes ranging from lead paint to seatbelts to cigarette smoking ... so I am a little cautious too ...

The big hurdle to jump-starting solar, wind energy and electric cars

Although our planet's surface is blessed with an endless supply of sunshine and wind, we have to build solar panels and wind turbines to harness all that energy -- not to mention batteries to store it. That will require vast quantities of raw materials from beneath the earth's surface. Worse, green technologies rely on certain key minerals that are often scarce, concentrated in a few countries and difficult to extract.

This is no reason to stick with dirty fossil fuels. But few people realize the huge resource demands of renewable energy. A recent report from the International Energy Agency warned: "The transition to clean energy means a shift from a fuel-intensive to a material-intensive system."

Consider the low-mineral requirements of high-carbon fossil fuels. A natural gas power plant with one megawatt of capacity -- enough to power over 800 homes -- takes about 1,000 kg of minerals to build. For a coal plant of the same size, it's about 2,500 kg. A megawatt of solar power, by comparison, requires almost 7,000 kg of minerals, while offshore wind uses more than 15,000 kg. Keep in mind, sunshine and wind aren't always available, so you have to build more solar panels and wind turbines to generate the same annual electricity as a fossil fuel plant.

The disparity is similar in transportation. A typical gas-powered car contains about 35 kg of scarce metals, mostly copper and manganese. Electric cars not only need double the amount of those two elements, but also large quantities of lithium, nickel, cobalt and graphite -- over 200 kg in total. (The figures here and in the previous paragraph exclude the biggest inputs, steel and aluminum, because they are common materials, though they are carbon-intensive to produce.)

All in all, according to the International Energy Agency, achieving the Paris climate goals will mean quadrupling mineral supplies by 2040. Some elements will have to rise even more. The world will need 21 times as much cobalt as it consumes now and 42 times as much lithium.

This will not be easy. Geography is a big part of the challenge. Roughly 70% of the world's cobalt is mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a war-torn nation with minimal environmental protections and a history of exploiting child labor. Sixty percent of so-called "rare earth" elements such as neodymium, used for magnets inside wind turbines and electric vehicles, are extracted in China.

https://us.cnn.com/2021/10/12/opinio...der/index.html

Gassho, J

STLah

[Doshin]

Half Earth Day

This event is Friday (In US) October 22. There are a variety of presentations, panel discussions and world notables in Biodiversity Conservation speaking (eg Sir David Attenborough, E.O. Wilson)

https://half-earthday2021.brandlive.com/half-earth

Doshin
St

[Kokuu]

This event is Friday (In US) October 22. There are a variety of presentations, panel discussions and world notables in Biodiversity Conservation speaking (eg Sir David Attenborough, E.O. Wilson)

https://half-earthday2021.brandlive.com/half-earth

Thank you for sharing, Doshin. E O Wilson has been a huge inspiration to me.

Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday/lah-

[Doshin]

Half Earth Day follow up….

I viewed many of the presentations yesterday and learned they will be posted on Vimeo. I will provide a link when they do so

Half Earth refers to the concept of protecting half the earth to ensure the continuance of a majority of the species we share this planet with. This does not mean excluding humans but focusing on maintaining healthy functioning ecosystems. EO Wilson published a book several years ago with the title Half Earth.

I hope to post some highlights and links to the talks later for those interested. There were several presentations that highlighted the link between biodiversity and climate change. Not just that biodiversity is affected by climate change but how biodiversity has also mitigated impacts of climate change. They are interdependent which is no surprise to those who study the dharma.

I learned a new acronym from the talks. It summarized the threats to biodiversity…HIPPO

Habitat destruction
Invasive species
Pollution (mostly aquatic systems)
Population growth
Over harvesting (commercial fishing and hunting)

As to impacts of climate change? It exasperates many of these threats if not all.

Doshin
St

[Doshin]

Thank you for sharing, Doshin. E O Wilson has been a huge inspiration to me.

Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday/lah-

Yes…I remember when his book Sociobiology came out in the 1970s and how controversial it was. Some vilified him. One of my graduate courses focused on the book. I have heard him speak at a few conferences over the decades He has made many contributions to biology and conservation.

Doshin
St

[Tairin]

Half Earth Day follow up….

I viewed many of the presentations yesterday and learned they will be posted on Vimeo. I will provide a link when they do so

Half Earth refers to the concept of protecting half the earth to ensure the continuance of a majority of the species we share this planet with. This does not mean excluding humans but focusing on maintaining healthy functioning ecosystems. EO Wilson published a book several years ago with the title Half Earth.

Please do post once you have the links. My brain is struggling with the Half Earth concept. Is it intended to feel more achievable and less overwhelming than trying to save the whole Earth?


EDIT: I went off to educate myself and very quickly found this https://www.half-earthproject.org/discover-half-earth/ which very nicely explains some of the math behind the concept.


Tairin
Sat today and lah