News Items

The Forum regularly posts news articles of interest here from a variety of sources and news outlets. You can check back here or view the most recent ones from the homepage. We also archive these articles here, for those doing research, with news going back to 2006. Use the menu on the right to explore the archived articles.

News

Monterey, Calif., diocese enters 'new era' with sustainable energy program

October 3, 2016
By Marie Venner
National Catholic Reporter

Energy use has electrified a swell of Catholics this summer in the three-county Monterey, Calif., diocese, where new initiatives inspired by Pope Francis’ environmental encyclical seek not only wholesale changes in their parishes but the community as a whole.

Catholic institutions internationally announce divestment from fossil fuels

October 3, 2016
Independent Catholic News

Today, on the Feast of St Francis of Assisi, Catholic institutions and communities from all over the world celebrated the culmination of the month-long Season of Creation with the largest joint announcement of their decision to divest from fossil fuels.

Under Hawaii's Starriest Skies, a Fight Over Sacred Ground

October 3, 2016
By Dennis Overbye
New York Times

MAUNA KEA, Hawaii — Little lives up here except whispering hopes and a little bug called Wekiu.

Why We Are Singing for Water—In Front of Men With Guns and Surveillance Helicopters

We were water beings from the beginning. The river was our Grandmother and supplied everything we needed to survive.

By Linda Hogan
Yes! Magazine
October 4, 2016

When it comes to the environment, it is in giving that countries will receive

October 4, 2016
By Tomás Insua
Huffington Post

Even the most optimistic among us would not dispute that our world is currently in a desperate state. From climate change to armed conflict, from pollution to widespread inequality, humanity suffers from innumerable afflictions. While some afflictions are more recent phenomena than others, how we cope with this suffering, and how...

Can Americans find common ground on climate change?

Americans’ views on climate change diverge sharply depending on their political affiliations, says a new Pew Research poll. But two areas of consensus are emerging.

By Ellen Powell, Staff
Christian Science Monitor
October 4, 2016

Climate change is still very much a political issue, finds a new poll by the Pew Research Center. But the seeds of consensus are present, too...

Official Support for Standing Rock Sioux Tribe against DAPL

Organized by Standing Rock Sioux Tribe
September 29, 2016

THE STORY:

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe (SRST) has taken a strong stand against the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), a 1,134 ­mile long oil pipeline starting from the Bakken Oil Fields in North Dakota and ending up in refineries in Patoka, Illinois. It is proposed to transport over 570,000 barrels per day.

N.D. militarized police push back Water Protectors with armored vehicles, tear gas and rifles

September 29, 2016
By Navajo
Daily Kos

Regardless of where our Water Protectors travel in North Dakota to conduct a peaceful prayer event against the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline that threatens the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s drinking water, you would think that they wouldn’t be met with armored vehicles and assault rifles. But they were.

Citing Environmental Risks, Scientists Back Tribes in Dakota Access Fight

Meanwhile, a Reuters investigation finds pipeline spill detection system severely flawed

By Deirdre Fulton, staff writer
Common Dreams
September 30, 2016

Close to 100 scientists have signed onto a letter decrying “inadequate environmental and cultural impact assessments” for the Dakota Access Pipeline (...

The growing indigenous spiritual movement that could save the planet

September 30, 2016
By Jack Jenkins
ThinkProgress

When Pua Case landed in North Dakota to join the ongoing Standing Rock protests in September, she, like thousands of other participants, had come to defend the land.

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