Two OSFR members are featured speakers in this important Climate Action Assembly, which brings together prominent environmental leaders from all points in the state. Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson and John Moran will speak and hold workshops at this gathering.
Comments by OSFR historian Jim Tatum.
-A river is like a life: once taken, it cannot be brought back-
Third Annual Florida Interfaith Climate Action Network Assembly
WATER IS LIFE
April 28, 2017, 9AM – 9 PM
First United Methodist Church, 142 E Jackson St, Orlando FL 32801
http://firstchurchorlando.org/
This third year’s assembly will lift up how the theme “water is life” is reality in Florida, from the precious Floridan Aquifer* to the river of grass flowing into the Everglades to the rising seas along the beaches, and the estuaries threatened by runoff and salinization, plus the growing threat of fracking. Florida development projects a population increase of 15 million people by 2070, nearly doubling the current 20 million. Florida is already experiencing water issues; imagine 35 million residents fighting for clean water.
This Assembly will give participants a working knowledge of Florida’s critical water system issues and will provide opportunities for participants to collaborate in networks with others to protect Florida’s water.
Registration at www.interfaithflorida.com
ASSEMBLY OUTCOMES
- Furthering a FL Water Ethic / Earth Charter / UN Sustainable Development Goals
http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/
- Nurturing Bio Regional Collaborations
- FL Legislative Contributions
- Ongoing networking via FL-CAN (Climate Action Network) http://fl-can.qiqochat.com/
AGENDA
9 AM Registration, Check-in, Table Tours and continental breakfast
Gathering Room/Fellowship Hall – first floor
9:30 AM Assembly Begins Rev Dr Russell Meyer
Contemporary Room – second floor
10 AM John Moran, Springs Eternal Project
Voice and visions in support of FL’s unique and irreplaceable springs –
the largest and most impressive array of freshwater springs on the planet http://springseternalproject.org
11:15 AM Cameo presentations on workshops (5 minutes each)
- Everglades – Daniel Blaeuer PhD, FL International University
- Sabal Trail Pipeline – Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson, Sierra Club
- Water Quality/Quantity – Traci Deen Esq, Center for Earth Jurisprudence
- Ban Fracking – Michelle Allen, Food & Water Watch
- Legislative Alerts – Doug Miller, FL Anti-Fracking Coordinator, Rethink Energy Florida
- Climate Adaptation in Vulnerable Communities –Jan Booher, Unitarian Universalist “Rising Communities”
- Health Consequences– Maria Sgmabati MD, FL Physicians for Social Responsibility Board
- UF/IFAS (Institute of Food & Agricultural Sciences’) Sustainable FloridiansSM – Ramona Madhosingh-Hector, Pinellas County Extension
- Sea Level Rise – Rev Dr Russell Meyer, St Pete College’s Suncoast Sea Level Rise Collaborative
12:15 PM Lunch, Table Tours in Gathering Room/Fellowship Hall – first floor
1:00 PM Workshop Sessions: Deep Dive into Water Issues Affecting Florida
(Three 75-minute sessions with presenters. some presented only twice)
5:30 PM Bio-regional dinner gatherings in Gathering Room/Fellowship Hall
6:15 PM Florida Water Stories: Miccosukee Simanolee Bobby Billie, Archaeology, and Conservation
8:45 Farewell
Keynote w/ Lunch Registration (half day) $30
Full Day Event Registration $65
Display Table $15
Registration at www.interfaithflorida.com
Saturday, April 29, is the People’s Climate March Day
March in your home town or join us in Orlando!
The Florida Interfaith Climate Action Network assembly is a meeting space for faith and community groups active in seeking a sustainable and resilient environment. Our climate is undergoing duress. The effects impact human well-being and bio-diversity. In the network, participants tap their faith traditions to help strengthen the eco-system we all share. Faith-based Statements on Climate Change – a collection by Citizens Climate Lobby volunteers
*The Floridan Aquifer – source of our springs and our drinking water – is closer than we think. Like a great hidden sponge, that mass of wet rock beneath our feet is the foundation of Florida’s ecological and economic well-being. Out of sight, it delivers its bounty too often out of mind. The Floridan Aquifer is the everyday miracle we value too lightly. It’s all connected. What we put in our water, we put in ourselves. Those are words we live by.
Questions to Kleitsch@verizon.net or 727-550-9660
