Earth Day

AGU’s Earth Day Community Poem Video
Compiled by Aileen Cassinetto & David Hassler

The American Geophysical Union‘s Earth Day video, compiled by Aileen Cassinetto & David Hassler, in partnership with Wick Poetry Center at Kent State University, Poets for Science, Nurture Nature Center, AGU Science and Society Section, WE ACT, and EarthDay.org, based on the anthology, Dear Human at the Edge of Time (co-edited by Luisa A. Igloria, Aileen Cassinetto, & Jeremy S. Hoffman) and the “Dear Human” Poets for Science initiative.

Empires and Falling Skies
Aileen Cassinetto & C. Sophia Ibardaloza
In The End of the World Project, edited by Richard Lopez, John Bloomberg-Rissman and T. C. Marshall (Moria Poetry, 2017); also in Galatea Resurrects (April 2018), edited by Eileen R. Tabios

“The Curse of Akkad” details the fall of the world’s first empire. A century before the poem was written, however, an imperial political structure was in place, and society was thriving. Its center lay south of modern day Baghdad, and its rule extended to northeastern Syria, where the Khabur River meets the Euphrates, supposedly the most fertile land in northern Mesopotamia. But by 2200 BCE, based on archaeological evidence, the empire had collapsed, and its settlements completely abandoned.

Around the same time, in Old Kingdom Egypt, political and economic structures were fragmenting, characterized by dynastic instability, civil wars, dispossession, and the absence of a centralized government. Interestingly, it was also around this time that the Nile exhibited signs of decline—such as changes in water chemistry, which caused widespread famine, and dislocation, and may have greatly contributed to the systemic failure and the eventual dissolution of the Old Kingdom.

Analyzing climate data, paleoclimatologists have deduced that the collapse of these civilizations coincided with reduced rainfall, severe droughts, and decreased agricultural yield. Abrupt climate shifts also impacted other civilizations, such as the Harappan civilization in South Asia around 1900 BCE, the Moche civilization in northern Peru around 700 CE, the Tiwanaku civilization in the Andes around 1100 CE, the Mongol empire in the late 1200s, and in the 1500s, the English colony on Roanoke Island.

The mighty Roman empire at its peak ruled 75 million people in three continents. This period coincided with the “Roman Warm Period” when climate was most favorable and most stable, as recorded in tree rings. But by the 6th century, it was clear that Rome was falling. The period was marked by climate variability (such as major volcanic eruptions followed by colder temperatures), plague pandemics, political turmoil, invasions, economic dislocation, migration, and a declining population.

Stalagmite and sediment records from the 9th century show protracted dry periods in the Lesser Antilles to as far as southern France, and in Mesoamerica and Asia. So severe was the drought at the time that data strongly suggests it contributed to the fall of the Tang Dynasty as well as the collapse of the Mayan civilization.

As the American Century draws to a close (i.e., analyses by the National Intelligence Council in Global Trends point to [the unprecedented] “transfer of global wealth and economic power from the West to the East”), here’s where we’re at: the building of the Dakota access and Keystone XL oil pipelines were permitted, streams are reopened to mining waste, water protection is rescinded, plans to reduce CO2 emissions from power plants are dismantled, the Interior Department and the EPA’s Climate Change websites have been deleted, the EPA’s science advisors were dismissed, federal protection of whales from fishing nets was removed, the Climate Advisory Panel has been disbanded, and regulations on toxic air pollution loosened, among other things. We have also opted to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord, “the world’s first comprehensive climate agreement.” Scientific evidence and current trends, meanwhile, unequivocally indicate that the world’s climate is changing—global temperatures and sea levels are rising and the oceans are warming. And the sky really is falling.

Empires are fragile things. Archaeological evidence suggests that a three century drought may have caused the collapse of Mesopotamian settlements. In the end, all that is left of the world’s first empire is a mound—specifically, three feet of wind-blown sand, and fragments: a bronze head, a stone slab, the lower part of a copper statue, cylinder seals. And a poem, exactly 281 lines long.

Aileen Cassinetto is the author of two poetry collections and four poetry chaps through Moria Books’ Locofo series.

C. Sophia Ibardaloza is an artist and writer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is the illustrator and co-author of the poetry collection, BLUE.

REFERENCES:

Biello, David. “Rise and Fall of Chinese Dynasties Tied to Changes in Rainfall.” Scientific American, November 7, 2008. Accessed February 8, 2018.

Butzer, Karl W. “Collapse, environment, and society.”

PNAS 2012 March, 109 (10) 3632-3639. Accessed February 8, 2018.

Conniff, Richard. “When Civilizations Collapse.” Yale University. Accessed February 8, 2018.

Greshko, Michael et al. “A Running List of How Trump Is Changing the Environment.” National Geographic, February 1, 2018. Accessed February 8, 2018.

Harper, Kyle. “How Climate Change and Plague Helped Bring Down the Roman Empire. Smithsonian.com, December 19, 2017. Accessed February 8, 2018.

McCoy, Alfred W. “The Decline and Fall of the American Empire.” The Nation, December 6, 2010. Accessed February 8, 2018.

NASA. “Global Climate Change.” Accessed February 8, 2018.

“The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature.” Accessed February 11, 2018.

The House That Progressives Built: Working for a More Tolerable Planet
Paul Cassinetto and Aileen Cassinetto
Fellowship, Fall 2010

Coming from a generation often viewed as individualistic, we were urged early on to “build wealth”. Politically, one of us is very liberal, the other, center-left, which is not surprising given that we have very different historical and cultural references. We both agree, however, that our economy and our security are inextricably linked with our ecosystem.

A century ago, Progressives of every form and leaning sought to establish the underpinnings of a good society based on human welfare. Today, we are faced with double-digit unemployment and fears of a double-dip recession. In California in November, we will put to a vote Proposition 23, a measure which will temporarily suspend the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB 32) until the State’s unemployment rate drops below 5.5%.

To move the economy forward, we need to create jobs. This does not imply, however, that environmental regulations prohibit jobs or have caused people their jobs, in the first place. According to the AB 32 fact sheet, the clean technology sector is the fastest growing industry in California in terms of jobs and venture capital investments. A clean energy economy is, therefore, feasible. The costs of a polluted environment, on the other hand, far outweigh the benefits of creating oil industry-related jobs. There is also the bigger picture to consider: continued climate change alters the ecosystem which will, in turn, further devastate the lives and livelihoods of the poor, and inevitably threaten international peace.

In 2009, Congress passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act (H.R. 2454) which, among other things, sets a cap on the nation’s production of greenhouse gases. The bill is to be voted on in the Senate. Some of America’s leaders a century ago were also reformers who strongly believed in social justice. Today, we need progressive, decisive leadership to stand up for us as well as with us. We need our leaders to work within a moral framework that takes into account both the planet and the poor.

More importantly, to create sustainable development solutions for a clean energy economy, we need to act and think like a community, one that is built on cooperation, trust, bottom-up, grassroots coordination and unity. We need to learn that protecting our environment also means looking out for one another. 350.org, 10:10, Billion Trees and Google.org are some campaigns that help in educating and mobilizing people to work on climate and energy solutions. The Social Gospel Movement in the early 20th century provided a moral drive in addressing the social problems of the day. Present-day faith communities (keeping in mind the establishment clause of the First Amendment) are in a position to raise awareness about our responsibility to the planet and to each other based on our interconnectedness.

Henry David Thoreau believed that a tolerable planet is worth more than a house. Seven generations later, more houses dot the landscape of the same old planet. Tolerable or not, it’s still our one and only.

Aileen is a poet, first generation immigrant, daughter and granddaughter of first generation immigrants in California, and great-granddaughter of a US national who immigrated to Colorado during the Philippine colonial era. Paul is an IT Director, 4th generation Californian on his father’s side and 6th on his mother’s side. They live in the San Francisco Bay Area, near their extended families and communities.

First published in 1918, Fellowship is the oldest, continuously-produced interfaith peace magazine in the United States. Published semiannually, this acclaimed journal has featured original essays by many of the foremost peace and justice movement strategists and leaders in the 20th and 21st centuries, including Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Zora Neale Hurston, A.J. Muste, Muriel Lester, Thich Nhat Hanh, Barbara Deming, Hildegard Goss-Mayr, Thomas Merton, Joanna Macy, Gene Sharp, Cesar Chavez, Anne Braden, James Lawson, Daniel Berrigan, and countless others. Through analytical insights, spiritual visions, personal journeys, and more, Fellowship helps people of faith commit themselves more deeply to a nonviolent, compassionate world.