UCM’s Climate Action Team (CAT) has put together this list of inspiring, educational resources for us all. These resources are intended to help us each better understand climate change, and how we can each be better stewards of our planet.
If you have feedback on these resources, and/or additional ideas of resources you’d like to share, please contact Anne Sarcka.
*CAT would like to thank Catherine Lowther, Harris Webster and the current members of CAT for their involvement in developing this resource list; recently updated December, 2024
Websites, Articles and Talks
- Planetary Boundaries – A TED talk by Johan Rockstrom, director of the Stockholm Resilience Center
- Greta Thunberg speaking at the UN Climate Change COP24 Conference
- Climate Change Psychology: Five Insights
- The Ethical Principles of Climate Change
- Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network Educational Resources
- The Climate Fight: A Report from the Front, a talk that Bill McKibben gave on February 18, 2021 about where we stand in the climate crisis
Books
- The Weather Makers: How Man is Changing the Climate and What it Means for Life on Earth, by Tim Flannery
- Climate Change: What Everyone Needs to Know, by Joseph Romm
- Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming, by Paul Hawken, Project Drawdown Website
- The Climate Change Empowerment Handbook
Additional Organizations/Local Groups working on Climate Action
- Interfaith Power & Light – A Religious Response to Global Warming Vermont Interfaith Power & Light – (VTIPL) Vermont’s Chapter of Interfaith Power & Light
- United Nations – Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: Most Recent Climate Report
- Unitarian Universality Ministry for Earth (UUME)
- The Nature Conservancy (Vermont Chapter)
Links to recordings of Worship Services related to Climate Change
Climate Justice Revival: Reimagine Together, Sunday, October 6, 2024 – The Unitarian Church of Montpelier joins with hundreds of UU congregations in hosting a “Climate Justice Revival!” Through worship, laughter, learning, reflection, lamentation, and joy, we can feed our spirits and move forward nourished and connected with love at the center of our climate actions. Together, we can move from a deadly era of extraction to a flourishing era of connection.
Music Sunday: Earth Songs, Sunday, May 19, 2024 – This year’s Music Sunday service includes contemporary choral music and classical piano music honoring the wisdom of the earth, our home. UCM Choir with Music Director Donia Prince, and Eliza Thomas, piano.
Looking Up at the Sky, Sunday, April 7, 2024 – The universe is a source of mystery and wonder. Scientific inquiry and the exploration of all that exists beyond this planet brings us new knowledge and inspires awe. Let us marvel at what science reveals and appreciate our place in the cosmos. Music will include selections by vocalist Marc Gwinn.
Caring for our Home: All Ages Service, Sunday, March 17, 2024 – Transformation is possible when we focus our care on the places we call home. We can all be stewards of the planet and the places we love . . . Music will be provided by Eileen Shine and Elena and Vic Guadagno performing Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi,” and the UCM choir and congregation singing the South African song “Bambelela.” Everyone is invited to come to the sanctuary 10 minutes before the service, where choir members will be teaching the parts to Bambelela, a joy-filled South African song of collective resolve. We will all sing together later in the service!
Reciprocity in All Relations, February 28, 2021 – Nature shows us that, in the words of Robin Wall Kimmerer, “All flourishing is mutual.” How can we build the foundations of mutuality and reciprocity into our care of one another and our planet?
Belonging to the Earth, Rev. Joan Javier-Duval, October 13, 2019 – Indigenous wisdom emerges from deep connection to and reverence for the Earth. The earth itself can be our teacher and a powerful source of belonging. How might we incorporate this wisdom into our daily lives? This sermon is the first in a year-long series, “Theologies for Our Time,” based on the six sources of Unitarian Universalism. Music provided by Callum and Isla Robechek, piano and fiddle; and the UCM Choir (.pdf of sermon available here)
