|
GOD'S CREATION
New: Stewardship Day Oct. 19
|
|
OUR
ENVIRONMENT
|
|
|
|
Genesis 19:14
|
|
|
Lot had lived so long and so contented among ungodly people that he was no longer a believable witness for God. He had allowed his environment to shape him, rather than he shaping his environment.
|
|
Anyone who has lived in Florida during the past decade knows the toll that the state's booming population and development have taken on the environment.
Seemingly overnight, cattle pastures have turned into shopping centers and wooded areas have become subdivisions as the state's rampant growth has eaten into the natural areas that make Florida unique. As a result, water supplies are taxed, native plants and animals are becoming scarcer and green space is being gobbled up, leaving many areas of the state looking like an endless concrete jungle.
Is this the future of Florida?
|
|
 |
You must be aware and HELP! |
 |
|
Not necessarily, say environmental advocates, adding that the next 10 years will be critical as Florida leaders struggle to strike a balance between growth and conserving natural resources. How it will end depends on what we - as Floridians and as Christians -are willing to do to protect the environment and encourage others to do the same.
From the earliest pages of the Bible, Christians are called upon to be stewards of the environment, to care for the creation that God has bestowed upon us. This mandate is reflected in many of the prayers that we, as Episcopalians, recite seeking to use our natural resources wisely.
"If you believe that God created the heavens and Earth and all the creation on the planet, you should be concerned - why would you want to destroy God's creation?" asked Robert Bendick, Florida state director of The Nature Conservancy, a non-profit group that buys and preserves biologically important land. "If you care about plants and people and animals, you should care about the environment."
|
|
In an effort to raise awareness of environmental issues, the Diocese of Central Florida will present an environmental stewardship program on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2002. The program, offered through the Institute of Christian Studies, will focus on Florida's environmental problems and solutions and feature guest speakers from the community, including Robert Bendick, Florida State Director of The Nature Conservancy. PLEASE, CONTACT: ICS at the Diocese to REGISTER.
"The Diocese of Central Florida is in one of the most environmentally sensitive areas of the United States, so we need to be educating our people," said Rev. Al Jenkins of All Saints Episcopal Church, Lakeland, and immediate past chair of the diocesan stewardship committee. "Awareness will help us participate with others in managing the impact residential and corporate development have upon our quality of life, our wildlife, and our natural resources."
|
|
No where is caring and prayer more needed than in Florida, where the population has more than doubled during the past decade from 6.8 million people to 15.9 million - a number expected to hit 20.4 million by the year 2020. All those people need housing, roads, food, utilities, schools, and other resources that tax our natural systems.
The next 10 to 15 years will be critical, Benedict predicted. "The rate of change is so astonishing - population growth development - and the natural systems in Florida are so delicate and interconnected."
The biggest challenge may be finding enough water to supply thirsty residents.
|
|
|
Is This What You Want, For Your Grandchildren?
|
|
|
The state is now enduring the third year of a drought that has dropped lake and river levels extremely low, despite the recurrence last summer of our regular rain cycles. Most residents have learned to live with tight water and irrigation restrictions - which may become the norm as growth pressures continue.
The St. Johns River Water Management District, which covers 19 counties in central and northeastern Florida, is worried about future water supplies. Most drinking water now comes from aquifers, with huge underground reservoirs, but by 2020, many counties in the district will not have enough water to supply their needs without harming natural resources such as rivers, lakes and springs. As a result, the water management district is searching for alternatives, which may include seawater desalinization and using more water directly from the St. Johns River.
|
|
Urban sprawl is another problem that must be addressed. A recent study by the Sierra Club rated Florida poorly in its ability to curb sprawl - development that moves into natural areas without needed infrastructure. That means houses in the way of wildfires with no protection, runoff of yard fertilizers into pristine lakes and rivers, and bears in back yards.
Although the state mandates that local communities have plans to manage current and future growth, those plans have been ineffective. The only real control is elected leaders who are committed to making growth pay for itself while encouraging urban redevelopment, preserving green space and promoting mass transit to reduce road construction and congestion.
|
|
 |
We must find alternatives to fossil fuels |
 |
|
Another big concern is the quality of Florida's air. For years scientists have warned that car, factory and utility emissions of carbon dioxide are damaging our atmosphere, contributing to the Greenhouse Effect - a slow warming of the Earth caused when gases in the atmosphere trap the sun's energy. This global warming is expected to raise the Earth's temperature by 4 degrees Fahrenheit or more in the next century.
The effects already are hurting the state, said Dr. Joseph Siry of the Alliance for Florida's Future, a non-profit group working to bring the issue to the state's attention. The toll: more extremely hot days, which could result in more heat-related deaths and illnesses; more tropical mosquito-borne diseases; rising sea levels and greater beach erosion; scarcer water supplies; and the loss of wildlife habitat.
To combat this, Floridians must reduce their reliance on fossil fuels such as coal, gasoline and natural gas by using carpools, solar energy, mass transit, and by improving energy efficiency in vehicles, buildings and homes.
|
|
|
"Florida is running out of cheap water, inexpensive land, cheap energy, and clean air because we are wasteful, inefficient in our energy use, and pollute our air and water with carbon-fossil fuels," said Siry. "The future will not be as cost free as the recent past or immediate present. We will have to be smarter and repair the damage we are causing as the seams unravel to the weal that is our common heritage - water, energy, air and landscape.
|
|
Perhaps the only means of maintaining what is best about Florida is through purchase and preservation of land. In 1998, Floridians overwhelmingly approved a Constitutional amendment creating Forever Florida, a 10 year $3 billion program to buy and save environmentally sensitive lands. This proposal was a continuation of Preservation 2000, which during its decade-long run preserved more than 1 million acres. Many local governments have approved additional local initiatives to preserve land. Still, it is estimated that the state annually loses 200,000 acres of open space and habitat to sprawl.
Which makes it imperative that the next decade be one in which Floridians support land preservation while stepping up to the challenges of growth and preserving the environment.
"It's not a doom prophecy but the future is in our hands," said TNC's Bendick. "It is still possible to save the basic structure of natural Florida so all of Florida's native plants and animals can survive. But possible means it won't happen unless people make it happen."
|
|
|
|
© Copyright 2002 Episcopal Diocese of Central FL. All Rights Reserved.
|
