Climate & Water Justice

Water Bottle Plant - Not Helpful for Global Warming
Principles for Global Warming Legislation
Climate Change and Water Resources Protection Act
UULM Low Carbon Challenge!
In Support of Winnemen Wintu Tribe
Field Trip to Proposed Dam Site
The California Delta
Bottled Water
Water Justice Guiding Principals
Analysis of California Water Issues
Worship Resources
Links to Organizations

Global Warming Considerations for Water Bottle Plant

On July 28th, 2008, Attorney General Brown issued a powerful and compelling letter to Siskiyou County. This letter is an excellent point-by-point example of how new global warming policy must now enter into development decisions.

Brown dissects the County's proposed agreement to allow Nestle Corporation to build one of the largest water bottling plants in the US, and to take hundreds of millions of gallons of spring water and unlimited ground water from the McCloud River water shed.

The letter finds the initial Draft Environmental Impact Report (D EIR) "...so fundamentally and basically inadequate and conclusory in nature that meaningful public review and comment [is] precluded."

Letter from Attorney General Gerry Brown (1.5 MG PDF)

News Release from Protect Our Waters Coalition

Reps Write Principles for Global Warming Legislation

In an effort to help guide upcoming legislation concerning Global Warming, Three National Representatives active in the effort to stave off climate change, have written a short but important list of "Principals for Global Warming Legislation." The three Representatives are: Henry Waxman of California, Jay Inslee of Washington, and Ed Markey of Massachusetts.

With the possibility, indeed the probability, for watered-down bills and exploitive "solutions," the importance of an agreement on these simple principles can not be overstated. Carefully crafted, they can be used as a filter for proposed Global Warming legislation.

The goal is to have as many US Representatives sign on in support of these principles as possible, so that they can be adopted into the process of review.

Press Release

Letter from Representative Waxman containing the Principles.

Climate Change and Water Resources Protection Act

Assemblywoman Lois Wolk has introduced a bill that draws attention to the link between Climate Change and California Water. The supply and distribution of water is affected by climate change. Also"The inconvenient truth of water is that our abuse, pollution, misplacement, displacement and mismanagement of water is actually one of the causes of climate change."
- Maude Barlow (from an interview with Amy Goodman)

AB 2501 - Climate Change and Water Resources Protection Act of 2008

The UULM Climate Challenge

"Carbon Ring"
A group of people
who support each other
to lower their carbon footprint,
and then share their data with others.

The UULM-CA has officially kicked off our UULM Low Carbon Challenge!

Our goal? For California UUs to collectively lose one million pounds of household carbon emissions by Earth Day 2009. We have put together an eight session program complete with instructions, workbooks, inspirational pieces, youth actions, and more.

You and your congregation can get the materials, resource links, and updates at our new UULM Low Carbon Challenge page. Download information, instructions, and our UULM Low Carbon Challenge kit. If you have questions, feel free to call us at the main office (919)441-0018.

UULM-CA Voice in Support of Winnemem Wintu Tribe

"The Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry, CA would like to add our name to the growing list of those urging you to hold federal hearings to investigate and make whole the Central Valley Project Indian Lands Acquisition Act (CVPILAA).

The CVPILAA was authorized in 1941 to compensate the Winnemem Wintu tribe for their massive losses due to flooding of sacred tribal grounds as a result of construction of Shasta Dam. To date, this act has not been fully implemented and more devastation to the tribe is threatened by the Bureau of Reclamation’s proposal to raise the dam even more."

Read the complete letter to Congresswoman Grace Napolitano.

Climate and Water Justice Team - Field Trip Scrapbook

This summer the UULM Climate & Water Justice Team toured the proposed Colusa County Dam site on a tour led by Professor Eldridge Moores. The proposed project exemplifies the tightly woven issues of climate change and its impact on the availability of fresh water.

Our Scrapbook
Visit our scrapbook of the informative trip, with room for comradery, discussion, and inspiration.

A Discussion and Informative Links

The Great Delta Charrette

A charrette consists of an intense period of design activity.
-Wikipedia

In October 2006, the University of California at Berkeley's Delta Initiative hosted a two-day planning charrette to identify, on a preliminary basis, spatial patterns of land use, infrastructure, and levee modification that would create a "resilient Delta" in 50 years' time.

The final report summarizes the activities and results of the Delta charrette.

The Final Report (and contact links)

Bottled Water - Articles and Actions

Bottled Water, despite marketing buzz about purity, health, and being close to nature, is causing serious concern across groups ranging from economic justice and health advocates, to pollution and climate change activists.

This issue is a part of the water justice and climate change focus at UULM-CA. Its unintended consequences were virtually unknown a few decades ago, and the reversal of the water-bottle trend would have profound and positive affects.

UUs Lead Davis City Council In New Tune on Bottled Water

Sung to the tune of
“This Land is Your Land”:

As we were walking
we saw before us
A giant landfill
packed with plastic bottles
By the billions,
they’re NOT recycled.
This mess was made
by you and me.

So let’s recycle
those plastic bottles.
Or even better,
use a mug or glass.
Our world’s resources
are not endless.
Our earth depends
on you and me.

From all the taps
in our fair city
Comes fresh water,
tested clean and healthy
It costs a pittance
—it saves us money.
Let’s drink a toast
to you and me.

This past summer, Judy Moores, Co-Chair of the Green Sanctuary Committee of the UU Church of Davis, and a friend, John Mott-Smith, researched information on bottled water and submitted a resolution to the City Council for consideration.

A quartet of UUs sang this delightful song to help reach minds and hearts of the council members.

On October 23, 2007 the resolution was passed unanimously by the City Council of Davis. It noted that city tap water is readily available in every city facility, and that since only about one in five bottled water containers is recycled, these bottles are one of the fastest growing sources of municipal solid waste in the country.

Davis City Council Bottled Water Resolution

Water Bottle War

"The water wars rage unabated here in the northeast corner of California, where conservationists are fighting the Nestlé Co. over their plans to tap into a source near what is arguably the state's most pristine large river."

Read Complete Article
San Francisco Chronicle, by Glen Martin
Nov 5, 2006

Poor still pay for water -- to Coke, Pepsi and other private companies
NC Times
By Mark Stevenson - Associated Press

Multinationals -- Pepsi, Cadbury, Nestle, Danone and Coca-Cola -- supply most of the bottled water in Mexico, now the world's second-largest consumer.

Sales of bottled water in China jumped by more than 250 percent between 1999 and 2004. They tripled in India and almost doubled in Indonesia, according to a study released by the Earth Policy Institute, a Washington-based environmental group.

Worldwide, the industry is now worth about $100 billion per year.

"Bottled water containers labeled with images of pristine natural environments are rapidly becoming a major threat to the environments and to our health."
-Inside the Bottle

Read Complete Article

The Selling of a Commodity
by Mary Nelson (of the uulmca water team)

Buy a quick one-liter bottle of water for $0.99 to $1.49 to drink on the go and that equates to $3.75 to $5.64 a gallon—numbers that make even today's gas prices look cheap.

Complete Article

UULM-CA Water Justice Guiding Principles
Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry, California

As Unitarian Universalists who believe in:

• justice, equity and compassion,
• respect for the inherent dignity of the individual and the interdependence of all life,
• the free and responsible search for truth and meaning,
• and the essential role of transparent democratic processes in reaching just and responsible decisions,

We affirm the following Guiding Principles:

• Water is essential for life, and holds spiritual meaning for many.
• Access to clean water for basic human needs is a fundamental human right and is essential for human health and dignity.
• The health, integrity, and stability of ecosystems must be respected and preserved.
• Water is a public trust and part of the global commons; it should not be treated as a commodity.
• Public control and regulatory oversight are necessary to ensure the public's interest is protected.
• All people, including those in low-income and marginalized communities, must have meaningful input into water management decisions in their own communities.
• Water conservation, responsible use, and stewardship should be a top priority for all.

" To see water as a source of life, not merely resource, is the challenge of a new synthesis of science and religion in our times."

-by Mary Evelyn Tucker, 2001

Committee Covenant:
Our work will be conducted in a spirit of open inquiry, assuming the goodwill of our colleagues. We will do our best to listen beyond our assumptions for glimmers of truth that may challenge our own thinking. We will speak our own truth with respect for others.

Water Justice Guiding Principals (printable version)

Analysis of California Water Issues

Environmental Justice Coalition for Water recently released "Thirsty for Justice: a People's Blueprint for California Water" analyzing the diverse water issues affecting California's communities of color and low-income communities. This is an excellent resource which UULM would like to recommend to our congregations for further study!

Worship Resources

Who Owns the Water?
By Rev. Darcey Laine, 2007

Selected passages from the Rev. Thomas Starr King's Writings on God, Humans, and Nature, including "Living Water from Lake Tahoe"
(116K PDF file)

Water: Sacred and Profane
by Mary Evelyn Tucker (Excerpt from a talk given at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America, Nov. 7, 2001)
(20K PDF file)

A Guided Meditation on The Interdependent Web
by the Rev. Craig H. Scott
(52K PDF file)

Gathering the Waters of Our Lives:
A responsive reading for Homecoming Sunday
by the Rev. Lindi Ramsden
(41K PDF file)

Waters of Summer
a poem by the Rev. Dori Jeanine Somers from her book Pineapple Sage
(7K PDF file)

This site is under construction, and we welcome the submission of more worship resources.

Links to Organizations

Environmental Justice Coalition for Water
The Environmental Justice Coalition for Water's (EJCW's) mission is to educate, empower, and nurture a community-based coalition that will serve as a public voice and be an effective advocate of environmental justice issues in California water policy. EJCW recently issued “Thirsty for Justice: A People’s Blueprint for California Water” a comprehensive overview of the environmental justice issues in California water.

Water for All: Campaign to Keep Water as a Public Trust ( a project of Public Citizen)
As the world's water becomes scarce and corporations seek to exploit this scarcity for profit, people around the world are losing ownership and control of water resources on which they depend. Water is a human right; to the extent one has the right to live, one has the right to water. Public Citizen's Water for All Campaign is dedicated to protecting water as a common resource, stopping water privatization and bulk water sales, and defending access to clean and affordable water around the world.

Water Education Foundation
Provides educational materials for adults and youth, hosts “Water Tours” offering a first hand look at some of the regions critical to the debate about the future of water resources in California, publishes the magazine “Western Water” and offers an annual briefing in Sacramento for policy makers and stakeholders.

Planning and Conservation League
For more than 30 years, this California nonprofit lobbying alliance of individuals and conservation organizations has worked to protect California’s environment.

The PCL Action Center tracks environmental bills in the Legislature.

The PCL Investment Strategy for California Water sets forth priorities to provide water quality, environmental restoration, social equity, a strong economy, viable agriculture and preservation of open spaces, as well as integrated resource management.

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