[Green] Minutes from June GSC meeting; VENUE CHANGE

Tue Jul 12 14:47:58 CDT 2022

Hi Green friends,

Attached, please find the minutes from the June GSC meeting as a Word file, and pasted below for those who have trouble receiving Word attachments from me. 

Also, Nancy Luthy politely asked if the Board of Trustees could displace the GSC from the parlor this Sunday afternoon, and I agreed. So, let’s meet in the Sanctuary and via Zoom at 12:30. 

Finally, a draft agenda is not included here. I’ll send that separately, and as soon as I develop it—soon, I hope. Please stay tuned!

—dawn

First Unitarian Universalist Society of Marietta
Green Sanctuary Committee Meeting
12:30 p.m., Sunday, June 26, 2022
Exclusively on Zoom platform

In attendance: George Banziger, Vic Elam, Jim Grecni, Dawn Hewitt, Ginnie McNeil, and Maggie Meyer. Mike and Adeline Bailey were able to join late.

Dawn Hewitt called the meeting to order at 12:30 p.m.

Minutes of the May meeting  were approved without amendment.

Honoring Indigenous People (HIP) events planning.

The planning committee will next meet on Tuesday, June 28, at 7:00 p.m. on Zoom.

Powwow at Hanibal Locks, Saturday, July 2: A carpool has been set up. Dawn has volunteered to drive, and  Maggie and Steve Meyer will ride with her. Rev. Kat and LeRoy will also drive, with Jane Tumas-Serna riding. Space available for a couple more.

Three Sisters Dinner, Saturday, July 16, 6:00 p.m.: Help is needed with publicity, cooking, setup and cleanup. Jim Grecni and Debra Miller volunteered to help with set-up .

Braiding Sweetgrass Discussion Group: Final discussion July 10, 12:45 p.m. in the Social Hall.

Fact Ohio Update:  Ginnie McNeil reported that the group has been developing a 3-5 year static plan, the first one in 10 years of for the organization. They have engaged with national company for consulting. They have a Gunn Foundation matching grant. Ginnie interviewed George Banziger to gain input. Fact Ohio is interviewing people around the state to help with planning and goals. In the throes of planning. Ginnie is impressed. Fact Ohio has been involved with Reimagine Appalachia, and one member of Fact Ohio has a Faith Toolkit. She hopes this might be an opportunity to develop partnerships with local organizations, to pull together energies. UUJustice Ohio has a grant for Zoom education. They are on hiatus during the summer, but working with FactOhio, seeking input on programming topics to resume in fall: things like brine education, injection wells, plastics, and more.

CIFT grant projects.

Rebecca Phillips sent a report on projects status, which is included in the addendum. In addition, George said he had mentioned the pollinator plot to Marcus McCartney, who said local master gardeners might be eager volunteers. George will remind Rebecca of that offer.

Injection wells, CCL, and Reimagining Appalachia.  George Banziger’s three reports are included in the addendum. Re: Inhjection wells - Roxanne Geoff sent George ODNR laws that suggest it might not be able to comply with promises they made to county commissioners. George & oil producer Bob Lane had letter published in The Marietta Times thanking Washington County Commissioners for taking on injection wells. Maggie asked how the County became the dumping ground for fracking brine. George said it was due to locational convenience and acquiescence. There has been no objections until recently.

Re: CCL -  Dawn asked if the new emphasis on carbon border adjustment is pot calling kettle black, since US does not have a price on carbon. George said this is a common topic of concern.

Re: ReImagining Appalachia - George has been working with Natalia Rudiak. in seeking other local faith communities interested in clean manufacturing and moving away from extractive economies. There is an Evangelical Environmental Network! It's not local, but might be interested in building bridge to MOV evangelicals, and then to us! Ginnie will send George what she knows about other faith communities involved.

Ohio River Listening Session 6:30-8:00 p.m. on Wednesday, July 13, at the Broughton Pavilion. Vic Elam said this is brought to us by the Ohio River Basin Alliance who are interested in environmental justice input, and seeking direction from local residents. There's a broad range of interests: wildlife, invasive species, mine drainage, water quality. The project is driven by the National Wildlife Federation, which has had big success in Great Lakes Region (some $3 billion in conservation grants) and in the Everglades. Other listening sessions will be in Huntington and Wheeling.

Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action: The group will kick off their Plastic Free July Program with a meeting on Zoom on June 30, 7 p.m. Earlier, Adeline sent an announcement and link info to GSC. Other events in July include the above mentioned July 13th Ohio River Listening Session, and a program by A-Z Plastics, "Understanding the Impacts of the Hydrogen and Carbon Capture Hub Proposed for the Ohio River Valley," to be presented on Thursday, July 7, at 7:00 p.m. on Zoom. Interested people can register here: bit.ly/A2Z-hydrogenhub

The meeting was unanimously adjourned.

Due to timing and technical difficulties on my part, these minutes have been crafted from Dawn's informal notes and reports previously sent to GSC, and they are respectfully submitted,

Adeline Bailey, scribe

Next GSC meeting: Sunday, July 17, 12:30 p.m..

Addendum: June 2022 GSC Meeting

CITF Grant Project Report June 2022 - Rebecca Phillips

Solar Bench. I messaged Safety Services Director Steve Wetz about the status of the Lock One Park Project and the bench placement, intending to follow up with a phone call. Unfortunately, I neglected to do so. I will call him next week to ask about alternate placement if the park project continues to be stalled.

Pollinator Habitat
Good news:
Most of the plants are thriving, though we did lose some of the young plugs over the winter.
Support from the city, which has brought mulch and will be bringing at least another dump truck load
The addition of two Harmar residents to the coordinating committee (which is still finding its feet)
An offer from Morning Rotary to help create a mowing edge border above the slope. Bricks have been salvaged and stored for the project.
We have space behind Gilman Methodist to store materials, currently bricks and hoses.
Bad news:
·      Thus far, we do not have enough volunteers for what is still the habitat's establishment phase. In particular, we need volunteers with plant recognition skills to help with weeding out invasive plants and overly-enthusiastic natives while avoiding the poison ivy that keeps returning to the site. Few of the non-UUs who signed up for the habitat volunteer list at last year's Harmar Days have been responding to calls for help this year.
Where we are going at the moment:
·      Two coordinating committee members and I are meeting with Jennifer Tinkler of Marietta Main Street this week to discuss our status as a project on city land. After discussions with Geoff Schenkel of City Council and board member Jackson Patterson, it seems likely that we should be able to access MMS and Marietta College volunteers for at least big work days.
·      We have been lucky with rain but should still set up a regular site-checking and watering schedule; thus far, coordinating committee members have been handling the task, but additional help would be a good thing. The drip irrigation system is working well, but the plantings north of the Fort Street staircase need to be watered by hand.

Submitted by Rebecca Phillips. June 25, 2022

George Banziger 's Reports for Green Sanctuary June 26 , 2022

ReImagine Appalachia

     This group sponsored a session on reimagining manufacturing in Appalachia. The session focused on what sustainable products Appalachia can manufacture as it moves from the exploitative extractive industries which have characterized the region for the past many decades. The session took place on June 2 at 3 p.m. I attended this session and included several of the ideas mentioned in my submission for the Climate Corner series in the June 11 edition of the News & Sentinel.

Citizens Climate Lobby

            CCL is urging its members to contact their members of Congress and ask them to support a carbon border adjustment. CCL leadership thinks that this legislation would have the most chance of support among Republicans. Since a price on carbon or the carbon fee & dividend legislation is not practical at this time of high gas prices and inflation, CCL is de-emphasizing this bill. Members are also asked to urge members of Congress to support “secondary asks,” such as the Growing Climate Solutions Act.

            On May 24 Dave Ballantyne and I met with Sam Hattrup, Congressman Bill Johnson’s staff member. Our meeting was cordial and the discussion civil, but Sam (and the congressman presumably) thinks that the shutting down of coal-fired power plants is proceeding too fast, and that there will be energy shortages and blackouts in the near future. When asked about the IPCC report that came out this spring, he said that addressing climate change is a global issue not just the U.S. responsibility.

            The letter I drafted for my son. Dean (a resident of Williamstown WV), to submit to the Charleston Gazette was published in that newspaper last month. I have sent another draft LTE to Chris Hoke of Tyler County WV; she has also agreed to submit the LTE to the Charleston Gazette, Its content is similar to the Climate Corner article I wrote for the News & Sentinel that was published in April 23.

Injection Wells

            The June 2 meeting scheduled by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (Division of Oil & Gas Resources Management) was held at St. Ambrose Church in Little Hocking. The purpose of the meeting was to accept public comments about the proposed second injection well in Little Hocking OH requested by an out-of-state company. Over 130 people attended the meeting including the three Washington County Commissioners, township trustees from Little Hocking, oil & gas producers, and many people from the township itself. A total of 34 people made public comments, most in the form of questions—not one of these 34 people spoke in support of the application for the permit. Several of us had requested a question/answer format for the meeting, but this was ignored by the Division people managing the meeting. WTAP-TV (in three of their news broadcasts) and the Marietta Times (on the front page of its June 3 edition) gave considerable coverage to the event, and both media mentioned the theme that many questions were asked, but no answers given. Several organizations and individuals assisted in organizing publicity and planning for the meeting including: UU Green Sanctuary Committee, Betsy Cook of Marietta, Roxanne Groff of Athens County (representing the Ohio Brine Task Force), Fair Shake-els, Halt the Harm Network & Protect PT, Ohio River Valley Institute, and others. The ultimate test of the effectiveness of these efforts will be the final decision of the Division to approve or deny the application for this injection well.

            After the meeting County Commissioner President, Charlie Schilling, told me that he had arranged a meeting with ODNR and officials from the Division of Oil & Gas Resources Management on June 9. The day after the called me to report that he received a commitment from these officials that as soon as an application for an injection well is submitted to ODNR, they will inform the relevant county commissioners and township trustees; they also told him that they would offer formats of their public meetings in the future to be more compatible with question/answer dialogue. I asked Mr. Schilling if he could obtain these promises in writing; he said he would make that request of ODNR.

            On May 25 Bordas and Bordas law firm presented a law suit in the Washington County Circuit Court identifying 16 defendants (all brine disposal companies) and 132 allegations on behalf of oil/gas producer Bob Lane; a similar law suit was filed on behalf of Bob Wilson. The law firm asked for a jury trial.

George Banziger

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