FACT SHEET: ECOLOGY

by Don Boekelheide

1. Baseline information and problem statement

As a scientific discipline, ecology is the study of complex systems of relationships linking organisms to other living things and to the environment. Insights from ecology help us identify environmental problems and suggest effective solutions. To describe but three from a long, long list:

First, as living organisms, human beings require the ecological basics – food (energy), water, air, shelter and interaction. From the time the shared ancestor of chimps (Pan spp.)and humans (Homo spp.) lived some 5 million years ago, through the departure of the ancestral modern human population from Africa some 50,000 years ago, until roughly 10,000 years ago, human populations relied on and were subject to the same fundamental ecological laws as other mammals. Then, humans invented agriculture, and changed the relationship between populations and environmental constraints. At first, however, in spite of powerful impacts on global ecology, human agricultural ecology was limited by underlying natural ecology. Only in the past three hundred years, and especially the last century, has human technology seemingly transcended natural limitations. However, the costs of this “progress” may be high, indeed. Humans, still adapted to a paleolithic diet and need for exercise, now suffer health problems in “developed” countries like the US. Worse, if a great enough strain is placed on natural systems, and/or if petrochemical energy supplies or water run out, the current system could collapse, with catastrophic consequences.

Second, the natural ecosystem of the Charlotte area, the Carolina Piedmont, has supported human populations for at least 8,000 years. First Nations peoples were agriculturists, as were the Europeans and Africans who followed them. However, current “pro-growth” policies are not only eliminating the natural landscape, of mixed hardwoods and “Piedmont prairie” laced with meandering creeks, with unsustainable lawns and black-topped highways; they are even destroying the fertile farmlands that have sustained the region literally for centuries. The region’s self-reliance on food, not to mention its beauty and natural appeal, has been largely replaced with almost total dependence on imported foods – even for such items as fresh vegetables and dairy products. Public policy rarely questions this. Farming is seen as a quaint and disappearing antique, and woodlands as little more than an attractive backdrop to more upscale developments – and quite unnecessary for poorer folks.

Finally, our choice to destroy local habitat, soils, and local food production in favor of “growth” creates a host of new problems, with global and spiritual implications. To fuel our thirst for energy, our government pursues costly wars halfway round the world. We import food from California, Guatemala, Chile and New Zealand – burning more energy – food often harvested and processed by our sisters and brothers under horrific conditions. We drive further and further in bigger and bigger cars, cutting down more forests, paving more farms, and poisoning our air. Our world shrinks spiritually to a brutal wasteland of parking lots and strip malls, as we and our children become more and more uprooted from the natural world. In the end, the closest we get to nature is on a treadmill in the gym, watching nature shows on the video screen – at least, until the power runs out.

2. How is this a social justice issue?

Ecology may seem far removed from day-to-day social justice problems in Charlotte and other US cities. On closer examination, however, it is a central factor in some practical issues, and the potential long term implications are far too important to ignore.

Short-term, the loss of habitat and poor stewardship of natural communities has a disproportionate impact on poor communities. This is where the trees are cut and never replanted, where illegal dumping takes place, where whole communities are “ethnically cleansed” (as Brooklyn was in downtown Charlotte in the 1960s and 70s) to make way for roads and developments. The healing access to natural spaces is denied to poor children and families. Food security is worst for the poor – supermarkets have abandoned the inner city, so cheap imported foodstuffs benefit mostly the middle and upper classes. On a global scale, as our appetite grows, developing countries succumb to the temptation to cut down forests and plow dry savannas to “compete” in the “global marketplace”, displacing villagers and leaving soil dangerously subject to further degradation.

Long term, our current refusal to protect the ecological foundation of our prosperity will mean the end of our civilization, as Jared Diamond documents in Collapse. If that happens, at least we will all be quite poor – if we survive. Addressing our economic health is important, compassion for others is essential, but ecological questions are the true bottom line.

On a spiritual level, as Murray Bookchin has pointed out, our deliberate snub of ecologically sensible policies in favor of limitless growth reveals our hubris and desire to dominate. Ecosystems are based on balance and cooperative interrelationships. Reengagement with the natural world can help us critically examine, question and ultimately transcend our reliance on caste and wealth.

Finally, there is a egalitarian point of departure for ecological questions. We do not seek to “help” those “poor folks” through our awesome UU charity and generosity. Instead, ecology demands that _we_ ourselves change, that we transform our habits of mind and our relationships to one another and to the natural world. It demands a profound transformation.

3. how can our congregation be engaged to address this problem?

A good starting point is the UU Green Sanctuary movement. The key points are education, transformation, action and celebration.

o individuals and families

- education – learning about the ecology of their backyards, workplaces and schoolyards, creating habitat. Learn local ecology. Take courses in compost, food, etc

- transformation – changing behaviors that damage habitat and other living creatures

- action – growing food at home or in a garden, joining/creating an ecological buying club, creating a habitat garden (and removing lawn)

- celebration – Earth Day celebration, getting out in nature with the family

o the entire congregation

- education – RE and AE classes in ecology and ecological thinking, discussion groups, create an excellent example through landscaping. Urban ecology study and research group.
- transformation – changing behaviors that damage habitat and other living creatures through regular sermons on the subject, FUUN groups. Create a sustainability/ecology committee
- action – support a community garden; take a careful look at existing landscape and change as needed to become wildlife federation habitat.. Join the Green Sanctuary movement. Many more possibilities
- celebration – Earth Day celebration, quarterly “Green” church sermons, annual symposium (see broader community). Green music band.

o the broader local community

- education – sponsor annual symposium on applied/social ecology, classes on topics such as organic gardening and natural landscaping. Explore video and website.
– transformation – support the idea that it is “OK’ to behave in an ecologically-sound way through example, questions, etc
– action – create a farmers market (and or CSA), create neighborhood scale wildlife and plant habitat areas
– celebration – Earth Day celebration, plus garden, solstice and equinox parades and gatherings. Green music band, ecology music festival

o public policy (advocacy, lobbying)

- education - create school garden program at CMS for all schools, with support. Show/columns for local blogs, newspaper, etc.
– transformation – making it OK to talk about and pass environmental bills.
– action – positive bills and county guidelines supporting local farms, community gardens, etc
– celebration - Earth Day celebration and proclamation, other proclamations supporting communiy gardening, wildlife gardening.