Perspectives on Social Issues
(April 2008)

Bottled Water: Catholic Groups Join Concerned Organizations
"Concerns about bottled water are bubbling up in Catholic organizations, adding clout to a growing number of cities and secular organizations worried about the issue -- with women religious strongly in the lead. Numerous women's religious orders are banning bottled water at their motherhouses, retreat houses and conference centers, and some are substituting refillable water bottles for the throw-away kind at sponsored events.

“Religious Orders Bring Clout to War on Bottled Water" by Laura Lloyd, Nation, National Catholic Reporter, Jan 11, 2008.

Our Fate, our Common Wealth, Is in our Hands
"The 21st century will overturn many of our basic assumptions about economic life. The 20th century saw the end of European dominance of global politics and economics. The 21st century will see the end of American dominance too, as new powers, including China, India and Brazil, continue to grow and make their voices heard on the world stage. Yet the century's changes will be even deeper than a rebalancing of economics and geopolitics. The challenges of sustainable development -- protecting the environment, stabilizing the world's population, narrowing the gaps of rich and poor and ending extreme poverty -- will render passé the very idea of competing nation-states that scramble for markets, power, and resources....

[T]he idea that has the greatest potential to change the world is simply this: by overcoming cynicism, ending our misguided view of the world as an enduring struggle of 'us' vs. 'them' and instead seeking global solutions, we actually have the power to save the world for all, today and in the future. Whether we end up fighting one another or whether we work together to confront common threats -- our fate, our common wealth, is in our hands."

“10 Ideas That Are Changing the World: 1. Common Wealth" by Jeffrey D. Sacks, TIME Magazine, Mar 24, 2008.

Economically Poor Suffer Greatest Impacts from Climate Change
"The very poor, who typically depend most on natural resources, bear the brunt of losses from climate change. The World Health Organization estimates that 150,000 deaths each year are caused by global warming, largely due to diarrhea, malaria, and malnutrition, and expects increased risks in poorer tropical regions. The housing of the poor is often located in the most environmentally stressed and risky areas. Houses constructed of mud, bamboo, straw and other inexpensive materials are vulnerable to the type of extreme weather events expected to occur with increased frequency and intensity. The poor cannot get insurance against the risks to which they are most vulnerable. Climate change is likely to worsen hunger. Many undernourished people rely on subsistence farming for their diets; and the productivity of small, rain-fed farms in Africa is expected to decline due to droughts."

“Protecting the Poor from Climate Change" by Stephen Smith, World Ark, Nov/Dec 2007.

Bishops Stress Linkage between Saving the Amazon and Option for the Poor
"At a time when Latin American church leaders are increasingly under fire for their defense of the environment, the May 2007 conference of bishops in Aparecida, Brazil, may be remembered as much for its call for stewardship of creation as for its reaffirmation of the option for the poor. The two go hand in hand, according to Archbishop Pedro Barreto Jimeno, the Jesuit prelate of Huancayo, in the central highlands of Peru....

“Church Leaders Defend Environment Despite Risks" by Barbara Fraser, NCR, Jan 25, 2008.

Chemical Contamination in our Bodies
"Three toxic chemicals used in everyday products were found in five Michiganders and 30 other people across the country who participated in a nationwide biomonitoring project, according to a new report issued by a coalition of public interest groups that includes the Ecology Center. 'I just turned 18 and itís simply not fair that my body has already built up toxic chemicals,' said project participant Payton Wilkins of Detroit.... Test results, announced in early November, show four phthalates and seven PBDEs in Wilkins' body, as well as bisphenol A in his urine.

"Toxic Chemicals from Everyday Products Found in Michiganders" by Ted Sylvester, From the Ground Up, Ecology Center, Fall 2007.