On February 13, 2024, the Washington Post reported that corporate leaders of AI companies agree to limit election ‘deepfakes’ but fall short of ban. Today, February 14, 2024, WP reports "Russia, China, and other U.S. adversaries are using the newest wave of artificial intelligence tools to improve their hacking abilities and find new targets for online espionage, according to a report Wednesday from Microsoft and its close business partner OpenAI." Is corporate self-regulation sufficient to protect humanity from the negative aspects of Artificial Intelligence? What steps need to be taken to ensure that technology will serve humanity well? Here is a brief description of some efforts to have AI for good: The AI for Good Global Summit 2024: Accelerating the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, is scheduled for May 30-31, 2024 in Geneva, Switzerland. "The AI for Good Global Summit is the leading action-oriented, United Nations platform promoting AI to advance health, climate, gender, inclusive prosperity, sustainable infrastructure, and other global development priorities. AI for Good is organized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) – the UN specialized agency for information and communication technology – in partnership with 40 UN sister agencies and co-convened with the government of Switzerland." The AI Now Institute "produces diagnosis and actionable policy research on artificial intelligence." Founded in 2017, the AI Now Institute "develops policy strategy to redirect away from the current trajectory: unbridled commercial surveillance, consolidation of power in very few companies, and a lack of public accountability." Wikipedia says "AI Now Institute grew out of a 2016 symposium spearheaded by the Obama White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. The event was led by Meredith Whittaker, the founder of Google's Research Group, and Kate Crawford, a principal researcher at Microsoft Research. The event focused on near-term implications of AI in social domains: Inequality, Labor, Ethics, and Healthcare." Center for Humane Technology (CHT) (which produced the YouTube video above) is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit "working to align technology with humanity's best interests." Their work was featured in the 2020 docudrama "The Social Dilemma." CHT offers many free resources: Top Tech Podcast: Your Undivided Attention Free Courses: Foundations of Humane Technology; How Tech Affects Democracy; and How Tech Affects Kids & Youth Research Library: Ledger of Harms Partnership on Artificial Intelligence to Benefit People and Society (otherwise known as Partnership on AI) is a non-profit coalition formed in 2016. The Partnership on AI "brings together diverse voices from the AI community to address important questions about our future with AI. This non-profit organization has released PAI’s Guidance for Safe Foundation Model Deployment, a primer on AI safety. The Partnership on AI sees 2024 as a call to action. after a collective wake-up call in 2023. "Starting with the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals, we need to set our AI ingenuity and expectations high and engage creatively and inclusively with people and communities to get there." "Artificial general intelligence has the potential to benefit nearly every aspect of our lives—so it must be developed and deployed responsibly." ~ OpenAI Stuart Russell, in his 2019 book Human Compatible: Artificial Intelligence and the Problem of Control, suggests that "we can rebuild AI on a new foundation with machines designed to be inherently uncertain about the human preferences they are required to satisfy. Such machines would be humble, altruistic, and committed to pursuing our objectives, not theirs. This new foundation would allow us to create provably deferential and beneficial machines." Stuart Russell was one of the presenters in the Science of the Noosphere Master Class I took in the summer of 2023. In conversation with David Sloan Wilson and Terrance Deacon, Russell said this about preferences: "There are futures we want to avoid, such as extinction and enslavement and various other dystopias, and futures that we would like to bring about. And this concept of the noosphere is really important to that because we’re not born with these preferences, they result from our immersion in the noosphere. And so understanding the dynamics of that is extremely important because to some extent, our preferences about the future end up determining what future we get.” Journalist Robert Wright, a presenter at Human Energy's N2 Conference last November says, "Artificial intelligence is the crystallization of the noosphere.... if the age of AI is going to work out well, there will have to be at least some movement toward the goals they identified—a more unified global political community and more in the way of international affinity and sympathy." He thinks we should be "looking at AI in its broadest evolutionary context." So do I. I believe technology and artificial intelligence in particular can greatly benefit humanity if we as a society reward positive efforts to harness "AI for good" and provide sufficient global regulations and enforcement to minimize potential harms.

Here's a list of some upcoming online and Rogue Valley in-person eco-spiritual activities that may be of interest to you. Check back as this post will be updated during February as we get additional information and a new calendar listing will come out in March. February 1, 2024, at 1 p.m. PST - Global Kinship is hosting a webinar with Duane Elgin, author, education, media activist, and social scientist, who will speak on Facing Adversity: Choosing Earth, Choosing Life. "Global Kinship, Exploring the Emerging Noosphere, addresses the phenomenon of the complexification of human creativity, technology, and consciousness that has evolved within our species - from the first "Aha!" moments of the earliest tribes to this rapidly rising consciousness and interconnectivity among humans around the world.' Register here. February 4, 2024 - Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon is having its 11th annual Oregon Interfaith Earth Summit in faith communities all over Oregon with the theme, “Hope for Our Common Home.” The first part of this hybrid event will be a plenary session on Zoom, with participants watching together from their regional locations across Oregon. Following the plenary, local hosts will facilitate in-person sessions focusing on relationship-building and learning with people of faith in their region. The cost is $25 general; and $10 student rate. Scholarships are available (select the “Scholarship” option on the registration form). Register at emoregon.org/event/earth-summit-2024. February 6, 2024, at 5 p.m. PT on Zoom - Earth Charter International will host a webinar on East and West Dialogue on Ecological Civilization. The speakers will include Mary Evelyn Tucker, Zhihe Wang, Jinfeng Zhou, and Julia Kim. Click here for more information and to register. February 9-11, & 18, 2024 - Unity Earth is convening a symposium Awakening to Humanity’s Sacred Mission. "to bring together like-minded organizations and individuals from around the world to explore what is next for our global network of evolutionary organizations... The international Symposium is a collaboration produced by Unity Earth in deep partnership with the Source of Synergy Foundation, Laszlo Institute, the Holomovement, Unify, Light on Light, SINE Network, Humanity’s Team, Good of the Whole, and other global organizations." Register here. February 15, 2024, at 8 a.m. PT - The Center for Earth Ethics is presenting a webinar: Values, Culture, Spirituality and Ecosystem Restoration: A Dialogue with UN Decade Advisory Board Members. In support of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration and global restoration efforts, the Center for Earth Ethics has hosted a series of high-level interventions and community-based dialogues. These events showcase the importance of incorporating values, culture, and spirituality (VCS) in anchoring and achieving ecosystem restoration. The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration has helped galvanize broad engagement in protecting, conserving, and restoring the natural world.. This webinar will delve into the multifaceted nature of restoration, emphasizing that it extends beyond the hectares restored. Crucially, it involves repairing the relationship between people and the land, water, and air essential for life. The session will also examine methods for meaningfully engaging a community and the role of values, culture, and spirituality in ensuring the success of restoration projects. Confirmed panelists include Thais Corral of Sinal do Vale, Tariq Al-Olaimy of 3BL Associates, Atari Mishra of We are Tomorrow, and Gopal Patel, the UN Decade Advisory Board co-chair. CEE’s Andrew Schwartz will moderate. February 27, 2024, from 6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. PT - SOCAN's monthly meeting at the Medford Public Library will bring "Updates from Salem & Home." "The climate catastrophe is approaching faster than many realize; across the planet, 2024 must be the year for meaningful climate action!" March/April 2024 through October/November 2024 - The BTS Center is offering a monthly gathering over Zoom for groups of six: Group Spiritual Direction Circles For Spiritual Leaders in a Climate-Changed World. This is "an eight-month opportunity for spiritual leaders to strengthen their holy hearing and sharing in group spiritual direction/companioning." Each two-hour session is centered on a prompt related to climate change, liminality, or uncertainty. The program fee is $200. For more information and to register click here. March 4, 2024 - Deeptime Network is offering an eight-week course: The Ecozoic Way in Religion, Ethics & Law: Understanding and Applying the Essential Teachings of Thomas Berry. The course, which starts March 4th, will be led by Herman Greene, JD, DMin, who is the Thomas Berry Scholar-in-Residence of the Earth Law Center and co-author and co-editor of the legal textbook Earth Law: Emerging Ecocentric Law—A Guide for Practitioners. Click here for more information and registration. Early=bird pricing of $240 until February 19th. March 17, 2024 - Spring Equinox celebration April 3, 2024 - 5:30 - 8:30 p.m. PDT - SOCAN's Master Climate Protector (MCP) is undergoing a transition to become a new course: Living with Climate Change in the Rogue Valley, offered through the SOU Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Sustainability. The class will be held on the SOU campus and available to SOU students for credit and community members at no or minimal charge. The first offering will be as an Independent study. Alan Jornet and Kathy Conway are coordinating the course, which they will offer together with guest presenters Ray Mallette, Liz Olson, Mike Vergeer, Juie Smitherman, and Ray Seidler. April 19, 2024, from 3:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. PDT - Earth Day 2024 at the Farm at SOU. Join Southern Oregon University and community partners for exhibits, live performances, bike rodeo, art, food trucks, and more, all in celebration of Earth. Here's a link for more information and to Register: https://cglink.me/2xE/r375209 April 22, 2024, from 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. PDT - Earth Day 2024 celebration at Rogue Community College

"A key to combating climate change is action." To this end, NETA offers a series of short documentaries called 50 States of Sustainability, "focused on dedicated people of all ages working hard at corporations, non-profits, startups, and in government to drive the United States towards a more sustainable future." One way of saving the family farm might be Agrivoltaics - producing food in the shade of solar panels and generating energy. In the YouTube video above the founder of The Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) reflects on the importance of energy saving energy, and learns from an Ohio 11-year-old about the importance of bees. From Wikipedia: "RMI is an organization in the United States dedicated to research, publication, consulting, and lecturing in the general field of sustainability, with a special focus on profitable innovations for energy and resource efficiency. RMI was established in 1982 and has grown into a broad-based institution with 220+ staff and an annual budget of some $52 million. RMI's work is independent and non-adversarial, with a strong emphasis on market-based solutions." RMI works to "identify the interventions and work to scale transformative change in the global energy system to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by at least 50% by 2030."

Photo by Torsten Dederichs dederichs.info via Unsplash Zoya Teirstein writes in the January 30, 2024 edition of Grist.: "Climate Change Has Killed 4 Million People Since 2000 — and That’s an Underestimate". This shocking headline gets our attention, but Grist often offers a positive vision of a sustainable future through the use of stories of solutions, progress, and action - Looking Forward, visions of a clean, green, and just future. Grist is "a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future." Grist bills itself as "The only newsroom focused on exploring solutions at the intersection of climate and justice." Grist reports on topics like Politics, Energy, Equity, and Solutions, and how they intersect with climate. Grist’s Imagine 2200: Climate Fiction for Future Ancestors short story contest "celebrates stories that offer vivid, hope-filled, diverse visions of climate progress." They offer hope that we can work together to build a more sustainable and just world. Grist's first climate fiction contest in 2021 Imagine 2200 featured "12 stories of intersectional worlds in which no community is left behind." Their second climate fiction contest in 2022 offered 12 "short stories that offer visions of abundance, adaptation, reform, and hope." Grist 50 is "an annual list of climate and justice leaders to watch." Fix combines creative storytelling with network-building and events. Their work "amplifies stories of hope and progress, shines a light on bright ideas and the people behind them, and brings together a growing community of visionaries — they call them Fixers — who are leading the way to a planet that works for everyone." You can support the work of Grist by becoming a member or making a donation on their website.

Welcome 2024! Here's a list of some upcoming online and Rogue Valley in-person eco-spiritual activities that may be of interest to you. Check back as this post will be updated during January as we get additional information and a new calendar listing will come out in February. January 4, 2024, at 4 p.m. PST on Zoom - Elders Climate Action is co-hosting with Environmental Voter Project (EVP) a panel presentation: Organizing Older Climate Voters. Join EVP's Executive Director, Nathaniel Stinnett, and a panel of experts. Register here. January 9, 2024, at 1 p.m. PST on Zoom - Deep Transformation Network is having its next DTN Monthly Live Event, offering the opportunity to engage with three luminaries associated with the Earth Charter.  RSVP to their monthly meetings to get it on your calendar January 11, 2024, at 10 a.m. PST on Zoom - The BTS Center is offering a taste of their Ecospiritual Leaders: Encounters with Wholeness. course. This will be an informal gathering with course instructor Kimberly Knight and course host Ash Temin. Register here. January 11, 2024, at 3 p.m. PST on Zoom - Global Ministries is offering an online gathering EarthKeepers Training Info Session w/Q&A to learn details and find answers to your questions about the upcoming March 2024 fully online training. More info here. January 11, 2024,  at 1 p.m. PST on Zoom - The Global Kinship group of Creation Spirituality Communities will have their monthly webinar featuring Stephanie Rearick who will speak on Mutual Aid for a Neighborly Global Economy. Register here. January 12, 2024 - The Oregon Legislative Information System will release information on bills pre-filed before the 2024 Oregon legislative session whereupon SOCAN will be able to preview them for the session starting February 5th and assess which they wish to follow and support, oppose, or seek to amend. Anyone interested in joining the team should contact Alan Journet. January 13, 2024, to June 16, 2024, from 9 a.m. -12:30 p.m. PT - Pachamama Alliance is offering a 6-month course: Cultivating the Visionary Self, a journey where individuals will work with their bodies through what Alixa García calls "Creativity Infused Somatic Practices," which helps move trauma through the body by consciously activating one's relationship with nature and the creative force. Click here for more information and to Register. January 15, 2024, at 5 p.m. on Zoom - Citizens Climate Education is offering a 5-part live Trainers program to learn how to help start a new CCL chapter in your community or another part of the state. They will provide: live sessions and recordings of the session; online resources; and CCL staff support. Email Tamara Staton, Greater Pacific Northwest Regional Coordinator by Friday, January 12th if you are interested. January 15, 2024, at 6 p.m. PST on Zoom - Members of the Global Kinship community meet for 30 minutes on Monday evening after each Tuesday webinar. At the gathering through meditation they "invite the focus and vision of the previous Tuesday's presenter to enter our consciousness, expanding the Noosphere." Register here to receive your personal perpetual link. Once you register, your link will remain the same. January 30, 2024, at 6 p.m. PST at the Medford Oregon Library - SOCAN is having their Monthly Meeting – Daunted by Climate Concern? Let’s Explore Our Options. Biologist and policy expert Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson presented at a TED Talk and will present a valuable visual tool for helping us each figure out how we can individually contribute to addressing the daunting climate crisis developed. March 1-16, 2024 - Global Ministries is now accepting applications for their Spring Earthkeepers Training; the application deadline is February 1, 2024.

On January 9, 2024 The Guardian published an article, Emissions from Israel’s war in Gaza have ‘immense’ effect on climate catastrophe. referencing a study that shows the "first months of Israel/Gaza conflict produced more planet-warming gases than 20 climate-vulnerable nations do in a year", The study noted the asymmetry "during the first 60 days of Israel’s military response equivalent to burning at least 150,000 tons of coal compared with Hamas rockets fired into Israel during the same period generating CO2 equivalent to approximately 300 tons of coal." Globally, "militaries account for almost 5.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions annually – more than the aviation and shipping industries combined. This makes the global military carbon footprint – even without factoring in conflict-related emission spikes – the fourth largest after only the US, China and India." Steven Böhm and Sian Sullivan are editors of a 2021 online book, Negotiating Climate Change in Crisis which "brings together 28 essays by over 60 researchers from around the world, who are concerned about climate change." The collection includes a 2019 essay: The Carbon Bootprint of the US Military and Prospects for a Safer Climate by Patrick Bigger, Cara Kennelly, Oliver Belcher, and Benjamin Neimark saying "The US military is one of the largest institutional polluters in history, consuming more liquid fuels and emitting more climate-changing gases than most medium-sized countries... the US military operates more than 800 bases around the world through its ‘lily-pad’ network that renders all the globe a potential theatre of war." While "There have been attempts to ‘green’ aspects of its operations by increasing renewable electricity generation on bases... it remains the single largest institutional consumer of hydrocarbons in the world." The Climate and Community Project (CCP) is a US-based climate policy think tank calling for a "cease-fire now and forever... no climate justice without Palestinian freedom and self-determination."

Awakening of Humanity: The Dawning of a New Earth and Unitive Age - Holomovement As the Unitive Narrative is a new E-book by Drs. Kurt Johnson, Jude Currivan, Robert Atkinson, and Douglas King - four interdisciplinary authors (sharing cosmology, theology, evolutionary biology, comparative religion, monomyth, and spiral dynamics integral). From the authors: "This book offers a unitive reframing of the foundational elements, worldviews, and deeper ontological aspects of reality for understanding the universe as a true superorganism." "Integrating theological, cosmological, philosophical, universal wisdom traditions, and interspiritual perspectives, the authors arrive at a universal identity of humanity consistent with our individual and collective roles within the wholeness-in-motion of the entire creation as an invitation that this will lead to further dialogue and exploration in our re-membering who we really are and who we can evolve to become. " "In certain sections of the book, the collaborating authors intentionally favor wording and expressions of the first author Kurt Johnson (the theologian) to facilitate the express purpose of addressing theological narratives." The book is published online by Light on Light Press on ISSUU.

At SOCAN's January 30, 2024 meeting from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. PST at the Medford Public Library, 205 S. Central Avenue, attendees will discuss a short TED talk by biologist and policy expert Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson who has developed a valuable visual tool for helping us each figure out how we can individually contribute to addressing the daunting climate crisis. Rather than asking folks to try to solve the global problem alone, Johnson offers a relatively painless route to identifying personal tactics. Johnson’s plan involves asking ourselves: 'What brings us joy?' She then asks us to identify 'What we are good at?' Finally, we ask ourselves 'What needs doing (and falls within this intersection)?' Last year clocked in as the hottest year on record, placing us very close to the 1.5⁰ degrees Centigrade above pre-industrial conditions that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change identify as our safe upper limit for warming. Those of us concerned about preserving some semblance of life as we know it on our planet must ensure that 2024 is the ‘Year for Significant Action.’ Last year may also be the hottest year in 125,000 years, indicating that we have not yet turned the corner on addressing this looming and daunting crisis. Responding to the crisis by claiming that, ‘it’s all part of a natural cycle,’ that ‘it’s too late to divert the trajectory,’ or that ‘nothing I do makes a difference’ doom us to crossing tipping points beyond which there is no return. It’s time for us all to reinvigorate ourselves and focus on what needs to be done. Through hands-on engagement, SOCAN’s January Public General meeting will help us explore and identify what we can do.  The meeting will consider both individual actions that we can undertake and collective actions we can join that seek to move communities forward. If you are ready to revisit what you can do to make a difference, please join us on the last Tuesday of January 2024. From a press release by Alan Journet, Co-facilitator, Southern Oregon Climate Action Now; alan@socan.eco 541-301-4107; 541-500-2331

January 8, 2024, at 5 p.m. PST Process and Faith (a multifaith network for relational spirituality and the common good) will be offering a free zoom discussion of Ilia Delio’s latest book, The Not-Yet God: Carl Jung, Teilhard de Chardin, and the Relational Whole. Register here. "Entanglement is the inextricable and insuperable relationality of all that is, including God. If pantheism conjures up the collapse of God into matter, then entanglement holds everything together in a relational whole. There is no transcendence without immanence and no immanence without transcendence; there is no God without matter and no matter without God. God and matter form a complementary whole." ~ Ilia Delio Happy Holidays! This is a season of darkness and light. In the YouTube below Sheri D. Kling, Ph.D., Director of Process & Faith with the Center for Process Studies reviews the major holidays in late fall and early winter, noting their significance in each tradition: Diwali, Advent, Hanukkah, St. Lucia Day, Winter Solstice, Christmas, Epiphany, Kwanzaa, New Year’s Eve, and Lunar New Year.

Oregon Climate Action Hub (ORCAH) is on a mission "to empower ALL Oregonians to take effective climate action." Their goal is "to build individual and community capacity. By amplifying what is already happening and inviting more people into action, we move toward a world where climate justice IS business as usual." From the Network For Good website: "Starting early in 2021, a small group of committed volunteers envisioned and piloted a website to connect friends, family, and neighbors with the amazing organizations facilitating powerful climate action across the state. We built ORClimateHub.org as a "one-stop shop" for climate action opportunities in Oregon, welcoming all those who are curious about what's happening, and especially those who are ready to take action." "With your support, ORCAH showcases the entire scope of work that is already happening in Oregon and the opportunities that exist to engage at any level. Together, we are creating a platform that supports effective collective action by helping users understand which action opportunities take the best advantage of the time, energy, and resources they have to offer." Their website map is organized to help one find solutions, events, and locations within Oregon. There you can find a listing of organizations to help you look for work, take action, meet up, change policy, learn more, collaborate, and find good news. Anyone can access ORCAH at any time as a Guest. Guests can see all posts and share or like posts via Facebook or share them via Twitter. If you sign up for an account, you become a User. Click here to find out how to use the site.

January 9, 2024, at 1 p.m. on Zoom - Deep Transformation Network is having its next DTN Monthly Live Event, offering the opportunity to engage with three luminaries associated with the Earth Charter: "Mary Evelyn Tucker, who was intimately involved with the genesis of the Earth Charter, is the founder and coordinator of Yale's Forum on Religion and Ecology. Along with John Grim, she was responsible for a 10-volume series published by Harvard on World Religions and Ecology. She has written and co-edited numerous other works on the intersection of faith traditions and ecological consciousness and is a co-creator of the Journey of the Universe project. Mirian Vilela, executive director of Earth Charter International, has been working on the initiative since 1996, coordinating primarily with UNESCO and other UN agencies. Over the years she has led and facilitated numerous international workshops, courses and seminars on Earth Charter-related values and principles. Sam Crowell, an Earth Charter Council member and leader in the dissemination of its principles for over 15 years, is professor emeritus of education at California State University San Bernardino and former director at the Center for Research in Integrative Learning and Teaching." The Earth Charter is "a document with sixteen principles that drive a global movement towards a more just, sustainable, and peaceful world. To support the movement, EarthCharter.org Education Center offers courses, resource materials, and network opportunities to turn conscience into action." "The Earth Charter is an ethical framework launched in The Hague in 2000 and endorsed by over six thousand organizations worldwide, including many governments. It was the product of a decade-long, worldwide cross-cultural conversation about common goals and shared values, emerging from the most open and participatory consultation process ever conducted in connection with an international document." "It seeks to inspire in all people a new sense of global interdependence and shared responsibility for the well-being of the whole human family, the greater community of life, and future generations. It is a vision of hope and a call to action." This event will be hosted by Jeremy Lent of Worldview Shift. RSVP to these monthly meetings now to get it on your calendar. You will be asked to join the Deep Transformation Network. Note: this gathering is normally on the first Tuesday of the month, but was changed in January because of the holiday. A fifth annual Earth Charter Conference will take place from April 12-14, 2024 at Rollins College, Florida, "This 3-day conference builds on four previous Earth Charter Conferences focused on education for sustainability and global citizenship, and for planetary well-being. It will bring together a global diversity of educators, activists, and Earth Charter educators, affiliates, and partners, to share good practices and research."

On December 19, 2023, Rogue Valley Times published a Guest Column by Alan Journet urging the City of Medford Oregon to approve a Climate Action Plan. This opinion piece is also published here with the approval of the author. "Across the nation, we are becoming increasingly aware of the threat climate change poses. We understand that ongoing climate change will cause more than merely increasingly intense hurricanes and more frequent and severe wildfires. Indeed, the climate trajectory we are following will, within decades, undermine natural ecosystems across the planet and the biodiversity they support. In addition, our agriculture, forestry and fisheries will be compromised. Ongoing climate change comprises a threat to life as we know it. Those who understand climate science are quite reasonably alarmed. Naturally, therefore, communities across the nation are developing plans to deal with this threat. Regionally, Ashland, Talent and Grants Pass have developed plans to address the climate crisis locally. Meanwhile, thanks to the foresight of the Medford City Council, the Medford Planning Department is developing a Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience Plan (CCARP). The Vulnerabilities report was reviewed by the council at a recent Study Session and will be presented to the council in January seeking approval. The fact that Medford is suffering increasing temperatures and reducing snowpack, along with adjusted rainfall patterns, is evident in data from the Weather Service. These trends, if continued, combine to pose problems for our ongoing water security and will stimulate ever more frequent and severe fires. The CCARP reports notes that particularly vulnerable to these climate trends will be the following sectors of our society absent substantial attention to the problem: Natural Systems. Projections for temperature and precipitation shifts may seem small to the non-biologist, but they are sufficient to undermine the health of natural ecosystems across the planet, and especially in SW Oregon. The demise of our Douglas firs, already evident to most residents, is a harbinger of the future of our forests. Many of our trees and other species will assuredly follow the same path. As noted above, our agriculture, forestry and fisheries will be equally compromised. Regional Economy. An economy heavily dependent on agriculture, forestry and tourism will be seriously negatively affected as the biological consequences identified above impose themselves on our region. Built Environment. The heat and cold extremes and increasing flood frequency will likely undermine much of our infrastructure. Public Health. Heta extremes and heatwaves already constitute a severe threat to area residents, especially those working outside. As airborne, waterborne, and vector borne diseases move northwards and flourish in our region, the health of all area residents will be challenged, especially the younger and older among us. Community. Rising temperatures, heatwaves and droughts challenge many residents both physically and psychologically. A resilient community will prepare itself to address these challenges. We applaud the Medford city council for acknowledging that the climate crisis will become ever more severe over time. Though some members of our community are clearly more vulnerable than others, Medford residents, as a whole, are vulnerable to the trends that climate change is imposing on us. We therefore encourage the city council to approve the Medford Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience Plan and support efforts that will allow residents to adapt to this ongoing climate trend. While promoting adaptations that allow residents to thrive as these climate changes is essential, we also recognize that, along with residents across the county, the city of Medford through its administrative activities, and its residents should undertake what steps we can to reduce our contribution to the problem. While reduced emissions of greenhouse gases in the city of Medford will not alleviate the global climate crisis, we should acknowledge that solving the crisis requires that individuals and communities across the globe collaborate to address it. We therefore encourage the city not only to do what it can to promote adaptation and resilience, but also take what steps are possible to reduce city and community contributions to the problem. If we wish Medford to thrive as climate change engulfs the region, we should promote adaptation and resilience, while simultaneously mitigating the underlying causes." Alan Journet of Jacksonville is the facilitator of Southern Oregon Climate Action Now’s Medford Climate Action Team.

On December 20, 2023 the Oregon Court of Appeals found that Oregon’s cornerstone Climate Protection Program was "invalid on procedural grounds" after the oil and gas industry and their allies challenged the rule. A coalition of environmental justice, climate, and business organizations intervened defensively in the case: Beyond Toxics Oregon Business for Climate Oregon Environmental Council Climate Solutions Environmental Defense Fund Crag Law Center Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) On December 20th the above issued the following statement in response to the ruling: “The oil and gas industry just delivered a lump of coal — literally — into Oregon’s Christmas stocking. Today’s Court ruling focused on a procedural technicality. The Court did not undermine the Environmental Quality Commission’s authority to set climate pollution reductions on the oil and gas industry. We look forward to supporting any agency actions to address procedural requirements without delay. Oregon must move forward to protect our communities, especially Black, Indigenous, people of color, low-income, rural, and other communities who have historically borne the brunt of climate pollution and economic disinvestment. We have faced wildfires that have wiped out entire communities, toxic smoke choking our lungs, deadly heat waves, and record-breaking droughts; we will not stop holding the oil and gas industry accountable for the impact it is having on our lives, our families, and our communities. Upholding the cornerstone Climate Protection Program is essential to prevent incalculable harm to Oregon families, workers, and local economies, now and in the future.” More information on the impact of the ruling is available from reporter Alex Baumhardt at the Oregon Capital Chronicle. OEC offers the following background: The Oregon Environmental Quality Commission adopted the Climate Protection Program in December 2021 following an extensive 18-month rulemaking and robust stakeholder engagement process. The Department of Environmental Quality received more than 7,600 public comments on the CPP rules, the overwhelming majority of which were in favor of the program. The CPP requires oil and gas companies in Oregon to reduce their emissions 50% by 2035 and 90% by 2050; establishes first-ever requirements for major industrial facilities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; and enables millions of dollars annually to be invested in clean energy projects that benefit environmental justice and other communities across Oregon. NW Natural, Cascade Natural Gas, Western States Petroleum Association, Oregon Farm Bureau, Oregon Business & Industry Association, Associated Oregon Loggers, and a dozen industry petitioners filed a challenge to the program in March 2022.

John B. Cobb Jr., is convinced that "humanity’s most urgent task is to live in harmony with and, thereby, preserve the ecosphere on which it depends for its continued existence." So, in February 2022 – the month he turned 97 – he helped to launch the Living Earth Movement. He was "troubled by the way in which the American goal to control the planet was (in a sense rightly) regognizing China as its greatest obstacle." According to their website: "The mission of the Living Earth Movement is twofold. The short-term priority is to get the U.S. and China to cooperate for the sake of all life on this planet. The second and equally important priority is to promote the foundations for a new kind of civilization in which humans would learn to value and cooperate with the rest of the ecosphere." "We need a world in which humans understand themselves as part of a living earth community. We call this an ecological civilization." ~ John Cobb For more information on ecological civilization and the formation of the Living Earth Movement read John Cobb and Jeff Well's booklet Is International Cooperation Possible? A Bold Appeal for a Living Earth. Download it here. Check out their Facebook page for information on upcoming presentations and activities. David C. Korten, a member of the Club of Rome, has also written an important 2021 white paper on ecological civilization. "Continued human viability depends on Emergency action to stop the damage, facilitate Earth’s healing, and advance the Emergence of an Ecological Civilization." ~ David Korten Center for Process Studies has a list of partner organizations promoting process thought around the world. Here are some more links: Claremont School of Theology - a progressive inter-religious theology school California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) - offering 33 graduate and undergraduate programs and certificates in psychology, philosophy, psychedelic therapies, human sexuality, consciousness CIIS’ Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness (PCC) - dedicated to shaping the leadership necessary for profound, progressive transformation of social institutions and individual consciousness Process and Faith - a multi-faith network for the common good Center for Christogenesis - seeks to deepen Pierre Teilhard de Chardin’s integration of science and spirituality by providing insights and practices to enkindle awareness of love at the heart of reality. Center for Ecozoic Studies - an education, imagination, dialogue, and action center for an ecological age. Center for Open and Relational Theology - a nonprofit organization that promotes and serves as a hub for people and organizations promoting open and relational theologies Church for Our Common Home - "a non-profit that provides artistic, religious, and psychological services to awaken to the moral and ecologic crisis as an invitation for spiritual growth and creating loving community with all of creation, caring for our common home, Mother Earth." They are located in Dallas Oregon near Salem. Earth Charter - turning conscience into action Emerge - a social systems change initiative led by Perspectiva Flagstaff College - a small, innovative, upper-division college located in Flagstaff, Arizona, Gonzaga University - a private Jesuit university in Spokane, Washington. Homebrewed Christianity - a podcast series established by process theologian Tripp Fuller Institute for American Religious and Philosophical Thought (IARPT) - a community of productive scholars with diverse theological and philosophical perspectives. Institute for Ecological Civilization - Organized by Philip Claton IEC works internationally to support systemic approaches to long-term sustainability by developing collaborations among government, business, and religious leaders and among scholars, activists, and policymakers." Institute for Postmodern Development of China (IPDC) - aims to create and promote new modes of development in China and the West. International Process Network (IPN) - a network of organizations and individuals dedicated to supporting, generating, and disseminating an international discourse on the meaning and implications of process thought.

Every Tuesday from January 9 2024 until Feb 20 2024 from 4-5:45 p.m. PST Creation Spirituality Communities will present Cosmogenesis: Our Common Story - "a  7-week exploration of our inspired origins, a survey of contemporary cosmic consciousness, and envisioning a flourishing future." Join Penny Andrews, with special guest Matthew Fox for one session and Brian Swimme for another session. Grounded in the expansive deep time perspective, each week will cover a different aspect of the Universe Story. Sessions are recorded and are available to watch for paying students. This is a required course for students in the certificate program with tuition of $240 or $120 for auditing. Register here. You will need to sign in to the CSC TrainerCentral site.

In Charles Darwin's 1859 book On The Origin of Species, he poetically says "There is a grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers having been originally breathed by the Creator into a few forms or into one..." Evolutionary biologist David Sloan Wilson pays homage to Darwin in his 2019 book This View of Life, and dares to elaborate on Pierre Teilhard de Chardin's 100-year-old notion of Noosphere that envisions the emergence of a global consciousness and self-regulating superorganism called the Omega. Wilson asserts that the Darwinian revolution won’t be truly complete until an "evolutionary worldview" is applied more broadly—to everything associated with the words “human,” “culture,” and “policy.” Wilson uses the phrase "evolutionary worldview" more than "evolutionary theory" because a worldview can tell us how to act - "the Omega Point is not only a scientific possibility, but also one worth working toward." (p. 222) An evolutionary worldview provides a "general explanatory framework that identifies why best practices work and how they can be spread across all domains of knowledge and policy applications." (p.230) "An evolutionary worldview encompasses the length and breadth of human experience in addition to the biological sciences." p. 112) The first step in conscious evolution toward viewing the whole planet as a single organism is to challenge the current orthodoxy and adopt the right theory." The book is aspirational "If we can become wise managers of evolutionary processes, we can solve the problems of our age at all scales—from the efficacy of our groups to our well-being as individuals to our stewardship of the planet Earth." I strongly recommend you consider adopting this view of life.

Bill Watterson, creator of the revered comic strip Calvin and Hobbes, released in October 2023 a new graphic novel The Mysteries — his first published work in the 28 years since Calvin and Hobbes ended. In the YouTube video above Watterson narrates his collaboration process with artist John Kascht. As Polygon notes, "Kascht’s realistic style and methodical, researched process clashed almost irreconcilably with Watterson’s intense need to keep things sketched and improvised... After a year’s work, the pair dumped everything they had created and started over, realizing that juxtaposing their clashing styles within one image created interesting results with a “weird energy.” “Things clicked when we gave up,” Kascht says." “Working through differences toward a common purpose is practically an act of defiance these days, and I’m as proud of that as of any other aspect of the collaboration,” Watterson says." My recent experiences with Human Energy's Science of the Noosphere Master Class and the N2 Conference are examples of the creative mashup between scientific and spiritual worldviews, working through differences toward a common purpose. The N2 Conference defined itself as "Beyond the Individual" - "an international, interdisciplinary conference fostering creative collaboration for intentionally and ethically steering the future evolution of global consciousness." There was more congeniality at the D2 Conference than in the Master Class, partly because a few disrupters in the Master Class were noticeably absent (because of self-selection) from the D2 Conference, and partly because of actual face-to-face conversations rather than online meetings. However, However, I believe the synergy was primarily due to the intentionality of diverse people, engaged in a common search to find out how to accelerate the rapid expansion of the Noosphere. At D2 we felt part of something bigger than ourselves as individuals and there was an openness to learn from others' points of view. Appreciation and mutual respect were shared among those in the Conference. Diversity evolved into unity because of intentionality. Speaking about both the diversity and unity of the presenters, Robert Wright expressed the sense of collaboration at the D2 Conference: "A number of them I had been keeping in different parts of my brain: David Sloan Wilson I had filed under evolutionary science; Kevin Kelly is a techno-visionary; and Brian Swimme expressed a kind of cosmic spirituality... and now, here they all are in the same room. And that's the kind of synergy that this Conference is all about!" At the N2 Conference there was lots of discussion about how to best communicate a "Third Story." Dr. Clement Vidal identified the psychological resistances and affordances to the idea of the Noosphere by the public at large. Francis Heylighen has been developing a mathematical model to link the philosophical idea of the Third Story as an alternative to traditional religious and scientific stories. Storytellers such as Jennifer Morgan have written age-appropriate children's books to communicate understanding of the universe and evolution. Emily DeMoor presented alternative literary narratives that may be used in secondary-level English language arts courses. Ellen Rigsby talked about college students' understanding of the concepts of the noosphere and the need for developing the human capacity to steer evolution to deal with problems that affect all of humanity. John Cressler presented the challenges and successes of nurturing the Noosphere on college campuses. Film-makers were concerned about using concepts, words, and images that are clearly understood. Teilhard scholar and theologian Ilia Delio uses the word "myth" to identify the importance of science-appropriate worldviews, suggesting religion needs to be updated from ancient Greek and medieval assumptions to be consistent with current scientific understandings. “A myth is always a true story because it narrates a sacred history, not necessarily a factual history, but one that has meaning and value for human life. Myths are true in that they have the symbolic and imaginative power to make us aware of the unity of reality in its greatest depth and breadth” ~ Ilia Delio Collaboration in "steering the future evolution of global consciousness" is the goal of Human Energy. Other organizations such as Pachamama Alliance are seeing the need to share a "New Story"- Love, Wonder, and Climate Action: Crafting a New Narrative, On November 15, 2023, they had a webinar with Alixa Garcia, Robin Wall Kimmerer, and Bill McKibben about the importance of expressing the awe, wonder, and the sheer miracle of being alive in this vast universe.

November 30 - December 12, 2023 - in person only in Dubai- The United Nations Climate Change Conference COP 28 Pre-sessionals took place from 24 to 29 November. The overview schedule of the conference is now available. The detailed calendar of events will be published daily throughout the conference. December 7, 2023, at 1 p.m. PT on Zoom - Spirituality Communities is having their monthly webinar Global Kinship, Exploring the Emerging Noosphere addressing the phenomenon of the complexification of human creativity, technology, and consciousness that has evolved within our species. Register here. December 9, 2023, from 3-6 p.m. PT - SOCAN will have a Solstice Gathering to celebrate the season and to enjoy good food, drink, and company. Bring an appetizer or dessert to share and your choice of beverage. Nonalcoholic spiced cider will be provided. Register here. December 10, 2023, from 1 to 3 p.m. - Ashland Climate Collaborative is having a Photo Day at the Plaza entrance to Lithia Park. Photo at 2 p.m. sharp. Everyone who cares about meeting our climate goals is invited. Please RSVP here so they can bring enough goodies. December 20, 2023, at 4 p.m. PT on Zoom - UU Ministry for Earth will celebrate the Winter Solstice early with music, reflection, meditation, and spiritual grounding. They will be featuring the work of the Energy Democracy Project. The service is part of the larger arc of Clean Energy as a Human Right being led by Side with Love. Register Here For. the Zoom Link. December 26, 2023 - SOCAN will NOT be having its Monthly Meeting this month. January 13, 2024, to June 16, 2024, from 9-12:30 p.m. PT - Pachamama Alliance is offering a 6-month course: Cultivating the Visionary Self, a journey where individuals will work with their bodies through what Alixa García calls "Creativity Infused Somatic Practices," which helps move trauma through the body by consciously activating one's relationship with nature and the creative force. Click here for more information and to Register.

Rabbi Rami M. Shapiro formed the One River Foundation with Frank Levy as "a global community of spiritually independent seekers, creatives, activists, and holy rascals teaching "Perennial Wisdom" as an antidote to the tribalism, ignorance, illiberalism, racism, misogyny, xenophobia, homophobia, and apocalyptic fantasies tearing our communities apart, and inhibiting the thriving of person and planet." They do this "through their One River Wisdom School in Nashville TN and their books Perennial Wisdom for the Spiritually Independent: Sacred Teachings—Annotated & Explained (2013) and The World Wisdom Bible (2017) Richard Rohr wrote the Foreword to Rami Shapiro's 2013 book. referring to Perennial Wisdom as "collective unconscious, globalization or the One Spirit of God. One way to summarize the essence of "perennial wisdom" is: There is a Divine Reality underneath and inherent in the world of things; There is in the human soul a natural capacity, similarity, and longing for this Divine Reality; The final goal of existence is union with this Divine Reality. Matthew Fox wrote One River, Many Wells: Wisdom Springing From Global Faiths in 2000. Thomas Berry notes that out of the world's spiritual literature, and "with reference to the discovery of an emergent universe by contemporary science, he has, it seems, created a new mythic context for leading us out of our contemporary religious and spiritual confusion into a new clarity of mind and peace of soul, by affirming rather than abandoning any of our traditional beliefs.”