Category Archives: Intentional Communities

Director Steve MacKinnon wasnt even through casting All Shook Up when he and his colleagues at St. Lukes United Methodist Church realized something didnt feel right.

It wasnt funny at a time when people are asked to dig into their empathy and understanding, says the Rev. Jennifer Stiles Williams, the southwest Orlando churchs lead pastor.

So, in an unusual move in the theater world, the church ditched the already announced Elvis Presley-inspired musical comedy and went under the sea. On July 20, Theatre at St Lukes will open its replacement show, the stage adaptation of Disneys The Little Mermaid.

We want to start conversations that help us think, Stiles Williams says. How can I live with my loved ones? We felt like Little Mermaid let us do that in a positive way.

The casts reaction to the drastic shift of gears?

Everybody was really gracious and supportive of the pivot, says MacKinnon, who is co-directing the show with KeLee Pernell and assistance from Faith Boles.

All Shook Up was originally selected at the end of last year earlier than the church usually selects its annual big summer musical, and Stiles Williams says, without quite as much soul-searching.

After last years Oliver, a musical with heavy themes of poverty and homelessness, we thought we were picking a fun rock-and-roll Elvis show, a fun way to tell a classic Shakespeare piece, Stiles Williams says.

Written in 2004, All Shook Up adapts characters and plots from Shakespearean romantic comedies including Much Ado About Nothing and A Midsummer Nights Dream to a 1950s Americana setting. The featured songs are Presleys hits. It ran less than a year on Broadway but has been popular with regional and community theaters.

Because of the 1950s setting, there are antiquated ideas about race, some played for laughs. From Shakespeare, comes a crossdressing sequence in which a woman disguises herself as a man to get closer to the object of her affection.

Its a classic Shakespeare trope, its innocent and innocuous as Shakespeare wrote it, Stiles Williams says, but points out that theater operates in contemporary context.

Shes doing it [choosing an alternate gender] in a manipulative way and not in a search for her true identity, MacKinnon says of the plot twist. He and Stiles Williams decided, in Floridas current social climate, that the show would simply not be entertaining for all audience members.

Sometimes when things happen in the real world, we adapt, she says. And pivoting to The Little Mermaid?

It felt more affirming.

The Theatre at St. Lukes Facebook page carried a message, reading in part: With the growing political and cultural divide, we were concerned that All Shook Up, the Shakespearean comedy with a 1950s/Elvis theme, would cause more division and harm. We do not want to do anything that will divide the community more, or cause harm to the marginalized communities we support and affirm.

There also was concern about what children would enjoy in the show something that wont be a problem with The Little Mermaid, which Disney released in animated form in 1989 and remade as a live-action film this summer.

But theres more to The Little Mermaid than kiddie fare, MacKinnon says.

The musical has more depth than people think, he says, pointing out the stage versions themes include the walls society puts up against you and deals with the harm the human world has done to Ariels people Ariel being the titular sea creature.

Its relevant to the space were living in today, says MacKinnon. His cast participated in a workshop on unconscious bias and talked about Ariels struggle to live in a world that shes not from. The personal stories he heard from the shows performers were both impactful and moving, he says.

For Stiles Williams, the shows themes of parents, family and discovering ones authentic self mesh perfectly with the churchs mission.

Parenting is hard: How do you give children boundaries that keep them safe but honor the freedom that lets them be themselves and respect that? she says. These are important topics. And we have to learn to do that with all the people we love, its not just parent-child.

She thinks the musical also will speak to those journeying to find themselves.

One of the things people want help with is, How do I find my calling? How do I know what is my purpose?' she says.

Switching shows reminded church leaders that in a theater ministry, each production will be seen as a reflection of the churchs mission and values.

We realized we cant do something just for fun,' Stiles Williams says. Things are changing so fast in our society. We need to be intentional.

And the pastor is committed to making her church as inclusive as possible.

Jesus hung with marginalized, vulnerable people, she says, as he built a bigger table where everyone was welcome. Thats what Gods love is.

Follow me at facebook.com/matthew.j.palm or email me at mpalm@orlandosentinel.com. Find more arts news and reviews at orlandosentinel.com/arts, and go to orlandosentinel.com/theater for theater news and reviews.

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Theatre at St. Luke's: All Shook Up to The Little Mermaid - Orlando Sentinel

Marketers began 2023 with one eye on budgets and bottom lines and the other on the fate of a host of transformational moves set to disrupt the advertising industry.

But things quickly got off track when M&M's in January announced plans to take an "indefinite pause" from its spokescandies, which had been a source of controversy and conservative fascination since a polarizing 2022 rebrand centered on inclusivity. The entire episode proved to be part of a stunt around the brand's Super Bowl spot, which fumbled the pre-game buzz and mostly left viewers confused.

The M&M's incident quickly receded into the background, but has proved instructive for marketers in the first half of 2023. While concerns about the future of ad-supported streaming, cookie alternatives and measurement currencies have persisted alongside a shift in focus from the metaverse to generative artificial intelligence (AI)as marketing's latest shiny object marketersbiggest concern in 2023 has been how to avoid having their actions subsumed by a political culture war that has dominated headlines and led to backlashes against brands including Bud Light and Target.

As marketers head into planning for the crucial second half of the year, many are left to rethink the role of the brand, choosing between being vectors for purpose-driven actions as many have tried to be for years or returning to the more value proposition-based identities of the past. And for marketers navigating an increasingly fraught landscape, it's as if they are building the plane while flying it.

"We don't know if this is going to last in the long term, or if this is a short bubble-up of animosity and boycotting that might fade away in a little while," said Karthik Easwar, associate teaching professor at Georgetown Universitys McDonough School of Business. "If this is a fundamental change in how consumers respond, I think it's going to pose a lot more complexity and challenge, especially for big brands who are doing business with a wide swath of America."

A customer walks by a Pride Month merchandise display at a Target store on May 31, 2023 in San Francisco,

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images via Getty Images

For many marketers, Bud Light is the canary in the coal mine for how quickly and dramatically brands can be dragged into cultural battles that impact the bottom line. The brand earlier this year sent influencer Dylan Mulvaney a personalized beer can emblazoned with a picture of her face to celebrate the first anniversary of her gender transition. Soon, both the brand and influencer were the focus of right-wing media figures who called for a boycott.

"We definitely know that, strategically, [Bud Light] was looking to diversify and expand itself into new audiences, and that was the impetus behind their marketing. I don't know if they realized that such dominant voices from such a small group of people would be able to take over so much of the airwaves," said Ian Schatzberg, CEO and co-founder of branding agency General Idea.

Parent company Anheuser-Busch seemingly tried to let the backlash run its course, but its actions including putting two marketing executives on leave did little to stem the tide. Bud Light sales began to flag and the beer lost its spot as America's top-selling beer for the first time in more than two decades.

Brands like that that are already hurting, it's a little bit like, who does the coyote eat?

Mark DiMassimo

Founder and creative chief,DiGo

Target was soon the next domino to fall when the retailer decided to pull some items designed as part of its annual Pride collection following incidents in stores that put store workers at risk. But by responding to backlash from anti-LGBTQ+ forces, the retailer also drew the ire of the communities that it has worked to engage with its Pride collection.

"Brands are now stuck in this catch-22 play," Easwar said. "Some people are feeling that [brands] not standing behind the stance that they have that was supposed to be inclusive, because another group is saying, 'we don't want that.' If you keep it, you're angering one group, if you take it away, you're angering the group you're trying to include."

Overall, brands were comparatively quiet for Pride Month in June. While several long-standing participants from Skittles to Smirnoff continued to wave the Pride flag, others seemingly waved a white one, deemphasizing purpose-driven moves around identity and culture that have been a key marketing tactic for several years.

For their part, Bud Light and parent Anheuser-Busch have aggressively begun trying to change the post-boycott narrative with campaigns centered around summer drinking and beer production. But it's unclear if this return to fundamentals will slow the loss of market share that mass-market light beers like Bud Light have been fighting against for years by, paradoxically, engaging with younger, more diverse audiences in moves that are now exacerbating downward trends.

"Unfortunately for Bud Light, it's Bud Light It's beer water with a logo folks identified with, so as soon as the identification was polarized or damaged, it was very easy to switch," said Mark DiMassimo, founder and creative chief of creative agency DiGo. "Brands like that that are already hurting, it's a little bit like, who does the coyote eat?"

The Hamburger Mary's Bar & Grille parade entry shows a banner advertising Bud Light beer at the WeHo Pride Parade in West Hollywood, Calif., on June 4, 2023.

Damian Dovarganes/AP

Even if the current divisive atmosphere is a short-term phenomenon, the threat of being drawn into a culture war could be enough of a risk to force marketers to rethink the role of brands in the market and in consumers' lives. This could mean a shift away from purpose-driven marketing around a variety of causes.

"I could imagine in boardrooms [executives saying] the role of the brand is not to create identity-oriented, community-based messaging the role of the brand is to deliver a product at a good price," Schatzberg said. "My suspicion is that you will start to see businesses potentially move towards more of a functional value prop versus something that is closer to culture and identity in the months ahead."

Continued economic pressures could also feed the need to focus on basic value propositions, with brands potentially avoiding messages around culture and identity this holiday season. And while that may be the safe approach, it is not a one-size-fits-all solution.

"You'll also have brands that are committed to the purposes that they've defined and the role that they want to play within the lives of culture at-large and they will continue in that," Schatzberg said. "I do envision you'll see these camps of different perspectives on how to navigate the consumer landscape coming out of this."

In recent years, the holiday marketing period has seen brands embrace not just gifting and gathering but diversity and inclusion in seasonal messages, an approach that seems less likely this year. Recent efforts by Jim Beam and Smirnoff that emphasized the importance of human connection and responded to a "joy recession" caused by consumer alienation, respectively, could hint at how marketers will message around the holidays this year.

"My suspicion is that you will start to see businesses potentially move towards more of a functional value prop versus something that is closer to culture and identity in the months ahead."

Ian Schatzberg

CEO and co-founder, General Idea

Apart from concerns around purpose, culture and creative, recessionary pressures could also continue to force marketers to focus on necessities that are central and authentic to the brand's identity.

"As marketers, we need to be really strict and surgical about what is critical for this year," said Josh Golden, CMO at marketing experiences company Quad. "A good surgical approach will actually have some great moments of visibility, and then if you have a good, solid internal team, you can have a great keep-alive for other things that may not necessarily be the highest priorities."

A view of Smirnoff display at Smirnoff Sponsors NFL's A Night of Pride with GLAAD at Super Bowl LVII on February 08, 2023 in Phoenix, Arizona.

Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images via Getty Images

One of the highest priorities will continue to be generative AI, which has dominated headlines in both the tech and marketing worlds all year. Much of the news related to the buzzy tech has been around adoption by ad platforms and agencies, with only a handful of brands ready to play in the AI sandbox. For brands moving away from purpose amid a period of economic difficulty, AI could be seen as a way to increase efficiency. But looking at AI only in terms of cost-saving could be dangerous.

"Rushing to embrace AI for cost reasons alone is akin to optimizing toward the lowest available CPM, said Erik Hamilton, vice president of search and social at independent agency Good Apple, in emailed comments. Smart marketers know that its what happens after the impression that really matters and that long-term, intentional, testing strategies yield the greatest savings."

Not everyone believes that generative AI is little more than marketers' latest shiny object,taking the mantle from, most recently, the metaverse. Platforms like ChatGPT could be game-changing in the way they empower marketers to better do their jobs, Quads Golden said.

"I'm really excited about the time saving aspects of this [technology], and then also having really smart marketers lean into the other areas dot connection, inspiration and making illogical connections," he said.

Being able to have more time to think about creative solutions to emerging problems is central to the role of marketers. Perhaps AI will help marketers as they navigate a fraught cultural landscape that is reshaping what consumers expect from brands. Marketing is a gamble and marketers must take risks for a chance at reward, Golden said.

"Marketing, frankly, gets in the middle of the cultural zeitgeist and has to jump on it," he said. "Sometimes, it's a grenade, unfortunately."

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Culture wars rage on, forcing marketers to decide whether to ... - Marketing Dive

In Vermont, spring is the season of governance. Town Meetings happen in early March. These are usually followed by referenda and voting sessions to approve or shoot down the the more complicated ideas debated in the Meetings. Voting in many towns is often centered on school budgets, though there is also discussion of what to do with community property such as our town forests and public-owned buildings. In the May Statehouse, legislators frantically tidy up their messes before their break which last more than half the year. With a Democrat legislature and a Republican (though barely) governor, this involves extra voting to override vetoes and clarify language on points of contention like what exactly is meant by housing. But this is all smoothed out and concluded before Memorial Day, and then Vermonters go back to daily living.

This is how direct democracy works. There are brief interludes of governing, creating the spaces and structures to enable humans to live in close proximity without treading on each others toes, and then we go about our business for most of the year, unimpeded by governing. There are regulatory bodies for public goods and, to a lesser extent, for private business interests, but mostly we vote on rules in the spring and then follow them without much direction for the rest of the year. Certainly, there is nothing like a centralized government in Vermont. Our legislators dont even work as such for most of the year, and the administrative branch seems largely occupied with producing solemn statements on the state of the world. To me it seems that the governor is elected to be the face Vermont presents to the wider world because Vermonters largely cant be bothered with the wider world.

I lived in Massachusetts for a few years before settling here in Vermont. For those of you who live elsewhere than New England, Massachusetts shares a border with Vermont. These two states are relatively small, adjacent geographic areas. But while there are plenty of Massachusetts license plates on cars tooling about Vermont, the opposite is not true at all. You hardly see a Vermonter outside of Vermont, and I never saw a Vermont green license plate in the town where I lived in Massachusetts which is less than a leisurely hours drive from Vermont. This is partly due to a lack of funds. The bigger states to the south and west of Vermont, with their brahmins and bankers, are not cheap places to visit. (Or live in) And Vermonters are not wealthy. A trip to Boston is more expense than most are able or willing to shell out for a weekend (except for Red Sox games). But there is also a strong tendency to ask: why bother? We have everything we need right here. Without the traffic and the noise and the weird food. Vermont is a whole world unto itself.

This is all to say that Vermonters are unusually insular within American culture (thisnotwithstanding). Most of the people who live here have local ancestry that goes back several generations. There are many family lines that are older than Vermont. It is not too unusual to know someone whose native language is French, and even older languages are finding new life among the people who lived here before any European language was heard on this side of the Atlantic. These are grounded people. They know their lands; they know their neighbors; they know their stories. Most Vermonters do not much care about what goes on elsewhere because elsewhere is irrelevant to life here. In fact, in many ways, elsewhere is downright impossible. What works for a bigger, richer, and warmer flatland community does not work for Vermont.

I am not a native Vermonter. My gaze is still occasionally caught up in distractions from the outside. But even in the short amount of time that Ive lived here, I am already finding that those distractions cant hold my attention for long. There just isnt much in those stories from the wider world that applies to me, that affects me, that interests me. I am, as Wes Jackson says, becoming native to this place, developing an inward-facing life that is primarily concerned with the realities of living here. It is becoming harder and harder to muster the time and energy to read the national news, for example. I graze through the headlines now, a practice that would have embarrassed me not too many years ago. When I do read, I tend to choose those stories that are most like my own experiences here, about real communities doing the real work of being real humans together.

And let me assure you these real communities are far more prevalent than you might imagine if all you knew came from mediated sources. Vermont living is maybe not the dominant form of organization in the atomized United States, but it is still how most people in the rest of the world live, even in these hyper-connected, globalized times. For most people, life is lived locally, and the outside world is largely entertainment.

I was thinking about this as I was plodding through the list of should reads. Increasingly, this is a chore that I ignore for most of the week and then force myself to tackle when I have a quiet morning. Of course, this staccato engagement only heightens the sense of unreality in whatever I am reading. It becomes a series of static snapshots that are already fading into some remote past that has little to do with me. Only a few things capture my attention, and most of those are related to community-building, food, and gardening. But sometimes something more abstract will pull me in.

A few weeks ago it wasan article from Dave PollardsHow to Save the Worldnewsletter. This one talked about having alternative forms of government lying about, so that when this system that is already riddled with fatal wounds finally collapses, there will be other ways of being ready to fill the breach. Pollard talked about the Occupy movements direct democracy and citizen assemblies as being the logical next step. I have seen many others making similar assertions, and I cant help but think that maybe they need to look at Vermont because this is how direct democracy survives for longer than a season.

I havesaid beforethat there are good things and bad things about this system of mostly self-governance (or perhaps non-governance? semi-governed anarchy, perhaps?). But one of main problems with participatory democracy is that it does not scale up. You cant do Vermont communities in places that are bigger than Vermont communities. You probably cant do Vermont in places that are more diverse than Vermont either, but the small size of a functional community tends to moderate diversity. So there may not be functional communities that are more diverse than Vermont. When youre related to everyone around you in ways that matter food-ways and culture, school, family, business and trade, interests and hobbies you tend to grow similar to everyone around you, regardless of the divisions that dominate discussions of diversity these days. Diversity is not a notable trait in small communities not just because difference is inhibited though that is a big problem but also becausekinship is enhanced. Luckily, Vermont started out with a very interesting mix of human stories very colorful stories but that is not always true. My experience with Midwestern small towns was vastly different, because I was different and could not find a way to wedge my difference into their homogeneity.

In any case, Vermont governing is a better model than the ephemeral Occupation of Wall Street both to see what works and what doesnt. And what absolutely doesnt work is having to spend hours every day on governance and debate. I am no expert on the Occupy phenomenon, but Ive been around intentional communities all my life, from co-housing to large communities organized around religion. I am drawn to the simple order of a monastic community and probably would have been happy if Id spent my life as a monk (except that I find the basic tenets of most faiths rather unsavory). So I am accidentally expert on forms of self-governance within a small community, and in my experience these sorts of communities always break down quickly when governance becomes a daily task. The more time spent on discussinghowto live together, the less time remains to actuallydothat living and the more opportunities for grievances over who is doing the work to develop Communities work together when they dont talk much about how they work together. This often means having some central organizing principle, but it doesnt have to be faith-driven. It could just be like Vermont were all intent on building a good life. And a good life takes surprisingly little governance.

Well,surprisinglylittle to those who talk about governance, anyway. That living a good life doesnt take much governance isnt really a surprise to those who make their lives in this fashion. Who has time for debate when there is bread to bake, cows to milk, maple sap to boil, sunsets to watch, weather to discuss? (Never mind all the snow shoveling) But the people who live these lives do not talk much about living these lives. On the other hand, the people whodotalk about how to get to good governance generally are notlivingthese lives. They dont have much practical experience with sustained community lived in the real world.

Most of the people who talk about anything, governance included, on broad platforms the people that have a national or global voice are from the kinds of large scale, highly segregated and strictly hierarchical worlds that are anathema to real community. Real community is small. Its human scale. Real community is interwoven and interdependent where everything and everyone works together. And there isnt much focus on how it all works. Its just done. Real community is generally anarchic. Leaders may exist Vermont has a Governor ensconced in a gold-domed Statehouse but they are mostly figureheads. In many small, human scale communities, leaders are deemed useless objects of general ridicule. Think of the pompous bluster-butt of a mayor that presides at the pub and occasionally gets to cut the ribbon and make vacuous speeches at dedication ceremonies. That is real leadership

Pollard did say, repeatedly, that the scale of human organization must be small and local, not large and centralized, ruled from the neighborhood, not from a distant capital. But Im not sure he fully comprehends just what that means. His view of a participatory democracy includes large cities, rather unmanageably large population centers. It includes large-scale, top-down directed projects like AI and technology internets. It includes leaders. His ideas are more in line withtalk oforganizing than actual lived organization. This is probably because he does not actually live in a community that is organized at human scale to meet human needs directly. His view of the world is, in actuality, top down, with little direct intercourse between his daily life and the ways his daily needs are met and he does not do that work himself. Note that he references the evanescent Occupy, but not the durable Vermont. Nor any other community in this, the dominant form of human organization on this planet.

The people who have platforms and give us all our mediated ideas do not live in community. They live above it. They are leaders and believe that leadership is necessary for if not, then they are not. They also do not wantusto live in community because then we have no need for leaders no need for them. Not only do we not need them, we dont have any reason to support them and keep their needs met while they blather on about forms of leadership. If we all lived by Vermont folkways, then there wouldnt be much governance, never mind a whole class of humans dedicated to discussing it. So it may be that they dont want us to see this good life, they dont want us to have this good life because if we do, then they dont.

Hence, there is very little said in widely distributed media about small functional communities like Vermont, like most of the world. The only time these alternative styles of organization make news is when they are not working, either failing like Occupy or causing misery like just about any community organized around dominance and hierarchies of privilege ie organized around leadership. Note that name also!Alternative, when small, human scale, interdependent communities are the norm for humanity and this global hierarchical monstrosity that controls all imaging and ideation is the true outlier.

Brian Lloyd has a new proposal. Like Pollard, he admires the Occupy movement and its capacity for living the good life in egalitarian, truly democratic, fashion. But where Occupy was largely theatre, meant to contrast to the oligarchic places they chose to occupy, thereby highlighting the ugliness in things like Wall Street, Lloyd would like us toOccupy the Hearth. He proposes a sort of debt jubilee combined with property transfer so that the place you occupy becomes yours, no rent or mortgage to put wage-earning burdens on your life. And the path he suggests to get us there is to elect a fictional character, a place-holder named Robin99, that represents not our voices in national politics, but our resignation from national politics. Once a significant proportion of the people in this country believe in this path enough to elect Robin, then there are enough people to support and defend each other in the occupation of their homes. Lloyd envisions a carnival of street parties and fairs that would build the popularity of this candidate and that would likely continue as the central core to organizing life once weve occupied our places once were allowed the freedom from wage-earning that enables us to focus on living.

I think this plan is brilliant. More community. More local living. More parties. Yes, please! Even in Vermont there is a need to cast off the rentier class so we can rededicate all the resources funneled upward to them back into building our own lives. There is just one problem. And it took the focus group of my two millennial sons to point it out. The people who would be most inclined to support this do not have a hearth to occupy. My second son is very typical in living arrangement. He rents two rooms. There is a kitchen, which is better than many. But he has no access to any further space, space that is necessary to produce and store his own needs. Also, he does not want to be in those two rooms for the rest of his life. How would he even have a life? A family? He does not want to occupy his current space, and I suspect most people his age are the same. So what hearths are they going to occupy?

Perhaps this can be worked out. And perhaps this is a path toward moving people like my son out of unsustainable living situations. But I dont know how that would happen. Because a further complication is that many of those who do live in sustainable homes places where there is the capability of meeting needs are members of the rentier class. They own the hearths and theyre not likely to just give them away even if a majority of the people in this country vote to do just that. (Which vote I believe is entirely possible, given the distribution of wealth in this country.) The people who own the hearths are not part of the 99% and most will not be voting for Robin. Even if they dont own property that earns them income, they still probably arent interested in watching the value of the property they do own plummet when property becomes the home, the place you occupy, the place you build lives not wealth.

So there are problems with the occupation. But I think the path to that occupation more community, more local living, more parties, and less of the centralized outside forms of governance that we call normal that is also the path to building resilience wherever you are. And the more resilient and self-contained a community, the less it is willing to take direction from outsiders, the less it needs outsiders. A carnival takes work, but in those that succeed and persist, everyone chips in. There are no leaders who do no work. There are rules for getting by without stepping on other toes, but most of the carnivalisthe carnival. It is lived. Organic organization.

This is how Vermont works. And maybe thats why I love the idea so much. But its also how New Mexico works. And most real neighborhoods, like my sons home in Brooklyn. And, really, its how most of the world works. So I dont think its a naive fantasy as many who want to preserve their privilege often characterize plans for shrugging off the burden of their leadership. It works. Living works. It works much better for all of us than the system we call normal.

So lets make Vermont everywhere. And Brooklyn. And Albuquerque. Lets occupy our own lives wherever we are. And maybe, when we stop supporting the overburden, we can all work out how to build that hearth.

Elizabeth Anker 2023

Teaser photo credit: Vermont towns hold a March town meeting for voters to approve the towns budget and decide other matters.Marlborovoters meet in this building. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Meeting_house_marlboro_vermont_20040911.jpg#/media/File:Meeting_house_marlboro_vermont_20040911.jpg

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Some thoughts on governance of the local variety - Resilience

Suicide is a leading cause of death amongst all age groups in the United States, and the rate at which people die from suicide has alarmingly grown by 36% since 2000.

In 2021, more than 48,000 Americans died by suicide, and these tragic deaths have far-reaching impacts on friends, loved ones, and communities. One tool available to help people in crisis get the help they need is the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, which is celebrating its first anniversary this month.

Across the country, between July 2022 and May 2022, 988 crisis professionals answered more than 4.5 million calls, texts, and chats from Americans in distress. Since the launch of 988 one year ago, the average speed to answer across all contacts decreased from 140 seconds to just 35 seconds.

With the help of 988 Lifeline mental health professionals, like those at Centerstone, the national answer rates for text messages and online chats has increased from the low teens to over 90%, and the answer rates for phone calls has also seen a small increase in response rates, as well. The 988 Lifeline is increasingly there for more people each day, resulting in thousands of lives saved.

Since early 2021, theBiden-Harris Administration has invested more than $432 million to support the national transition to 988. These investments have helped ensure that all 200+ independent crisis centers and back-up centers are operating to their fullest capacities and that care is being widely administered. Though a lot of progress has been made with 988, more awareness and support is needed for greater sustainability.

When Congress enacted the federal legislation that made 988 a reality, the law had a provision, similar to that for 911, that allows every U.S. state and territory to levy a small fee onto all consumer phone lines, typically less than 50 per month. This fee could be enacted on all pre-paid, post-paid andlandline phones, but Nevada, Colorado, Washington, Virginia and Wisconsin are the only states that have currently levied this fee.

Other mechanisms for financial support could also come from consistent financial support from Congress, as they do with many other important health-related initiatives such as the federal community health center program or the 340B prescription drug pricing program.

Additionally, if 988 Lifeline operators were able to receive reimbursement from health insurers for their members that receive care and resources through the Lifeline, that would further support and enhance the lifesaving care that is made available to every single person throughout the nation.

Together, these three funding streams would permanently support the people, technology, and training needed to sustain the 988 Lifeline.

Now that 988 has successfully launched, we need to also raise the awareness of it as an effective, easy to reach resource. A recent Pew study from early 2023 found that only 13% of U.S. adults are aware of what 988 is and what it offers. The study found White, non-Hispanic Americans were twice as aware of 988 as Black and Hispanic Americans. My hope is that the collective we can all work together to increase awareness around 988, particular for certain populations like veterans, the LGBTQI+ community, and communities of color. Being more intentional with delivering targeted messaging to these vulnerable populations would help increase awareness and get resources to those who need them most.

When more people become aware of 988, and we make more of the needed investments in this national resource, the more lives we can save. If the numbers from this last year have shown us anything, its that the work being accomplished through the 988 Lifeline matters.

BeckyStoll is the Senior Vice President of Crisis Services at Centerstone, a nonprofit health system specializing in mental health and substance use disorder services. Learn more at Centerstone.org.

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988 is saving lives, but more awareness and support needed - Alton Telegraph

Photograph by Iacopo Pasqui / Connected Archives.

07.06.2023

Ahead of the release of their debut book, Its Not Just You, climate activist Tori Tsui breaks down the overlapping systems that are driving both the mental health crisis and the climate crisis.

The climate emergency is a crisis of separation. It is a crisis of intentional disengagement; a crisis of binary thinking and isolation.

This is why climate activist and mental health advocate Tori Tsui decided to write their debut book, Its Not Just You: How To Navigate Eco-Anxiety and the Climate Crisis. In the era of environmental collapse marked by increasing grief and disillusionment, Its Not Just You challenges the mainstream narratives of individualism surrounding climate activism and mental health in a bid to unpack the intersectional injustices that are driving the climate emergencyand the mental health crisis. In other words: racism, sexism, classism, ableism, and capitalism are making us sick.

Its Not Just You is divided into four key tenets: The first underscores the importance of solidarity and interconnectedness in confronting climate challenges; the second illuminates the significance of intersectionality, urging readers to recognize the diverse voices and experiences that shape the climate movement. The third part dives deeper into the systemic underpinnings of the climate crisis. And finally, in the fourth tenet Tsui explores the transformative potential of collective action and the restoration of community bonds as vital tools in challenging dominant narratives.

Below, Tsui speaks with Atmos about pathologizing eco-anxiety, investing in (environ)mental health, and what it will take to confront the forces that work to fragment and isolate us.

Daphne Chouliaraki Milner

To start, what was your motivation for writing, Its Not Just You?

Tori Tsui

I believe it stems from the fact that most mainstream narratives I encountered failed to grasp the true nature of this crisis as an intersectional problemand specifically how the climate crisis intersects with the mental health crisis. Many narratives in the mainstream media focus only on western environmental themes specific to the Global North, all the while representing the mental health crisis as an individual issue. Its Not Just You hopes to challenge these perspectives and provide a platform for voices often excluded from these discussions. It was also important for me to share how I personally navigate my experiences, which I think sets the tone of the book.

But as we know, my experiences alone cannot speak for everyone. They serve as more of a case study illustrating how we can move beyond individualization. To be honest, having struggled with mental health issues throughout my life, Ive had to confront narratives that pathologize much of what I go through. This work allows me to reclaim my experiences and emphasize that its far more intricate than that. There are specific factors in our world that contribute to peoples suffering, and we must make room for those discussions.

Daphne

Eco-anxiety is, as you argue, not only an individual but primarily a collective struggle against multiple and intersecting injustices deeply entrenched in societal systems such as capitalism, racism, sexism, and ableism. I wonder however whether the popularization of a word like eco-anxiety, which originates in individual psychology, to describe such a complex social intersection might turn out to be misleading in shining light on these systems?

Tori

I think eco-anxiety as a term can do a disservice to these conversations because it homogenizes climate-related anxiety through a westernized lens. Eco-anxiety predominantly centers on narratives from individuals based in the Global North, who are often white and middle class. And this has unfortunately created a misconception that people from the Global South and those from Black and Brown communities dont experience eco-anxiety. But the reality is that these communities experience a huge amount of eco-anxiety.

Also, eco-anxiety as a term overlooks the historical and current foundations of the climate crisis. It fixates on an uncertain future and a fear of the unknown, whereas the majority of people I interviewed for the book have already lived through and suffered losses due to the climate crisis. And this begs the question: what type of climate crisis are we talking about? Because to many people, were not just talking about the physical manifestations of a dying planet, were also talking about colonialism and genocide and social injustice all of which characterize the climate crisis.

In those instances, eco-anxiety feels like too small a term to capture the full extent of these struggleseven though they are also mental health struggles and they connect to the climate crisis. For me, eco-anxiety serves as a starting point for these discussions, but even as a starting point, it falls short because it excludes so many voices. And I think that by attempting to use eco-anxiety as an overarching term to encompass so many emotional experiences, we undermine the rich range of human emotions and our inherent complexity. Personally, I feel a great deal of anger towards what is happening, but the term eco rage is rarely discussed.

By attempting to use eco-anxiety as an overarching term to encompass so many emotional experiences, we undermine the rich range of human emotions and our inherent complexity.

Tori Tsui Climate Activist & Author

Daphne

So, is it about redefining the term or about broadening what we talk about when we speak of eco-anxiety? Or do we need to create an entirely new language?

Tori

Thats a great question. I actually stipulate that the book isnt necessarily a space for creating new language, in part because I feel like there are a lot of terms that exist out there. They just need to be brought to the fore. Theres no doubt that expanding our eco-psychological lexicon can help people. For instance, theres solastalgia, and words like eco-grief that some people relate to. But its also worth noting that those are Eurocentric concepts because theyve been derived from the Global North. Solastalgia has been applied to frontline communities, but those words arent necessarily the words that theyve chosen themselves. And Native communities have their own words to describe the type of loss and grief that theyve experienced through environmental destruction and genocide.

What I try to do instead is use that logic of eco-anxiety being a natural reaction to unnatural circumstances; to go a bit deeper and say, We need to appreciate that the majority of people who experience mental health illness experience it as a result of racism, of sexism, of class, inequality. In the UK, we have a record-breaking number of mental health illnesses being diagnosed. And more people are going on pharmaceutical drugsthats not to stigmatize people who seek those particular forms of treatment, but we need to be asking, is this a solution? Or are we just putting a metaphorical bandaid on a wound that actually represents the society that we live in? I would argue its capitalist realism in real life. Capitalism makes these problems for us and markets the solutions back to us. We are a source of profit when were in distress.

I loosely adopted a term in the book that I coined myself for my own purposes: (environ)mental health. It helps me understand that our environments are having a deep impact on our mental health. Its no surprisea healthy planet with thriving ecosystems means healthy minds and bodies. And theres a large part of the book where I question dualism and the hierarchies of nature and society as well as body and mind; and I look at how western science does us a big disservice by siloing everything and seeing ourselves as separate. In my eyes, the climate crisis is a crisis of separation as much as the mental health crisis is one of compartmentalization.

Daphne

Definitely, and I think for many of us, eco-anxiety is driven by feelings of guilt or personal responsibility when it comes to climate change. In line with what you were saying about how this is a crisis of individualization, how does Its Not Just You provide guidance on overcoming the negative narratives of individualism and individual responsibility?

Tori

I believe in collective practices, being in community, and rebooting ourselves towards our kin is an affront to capitalism, which in turn tries to individualize us. When we start to understand what we call the natural world in the West as a kin, we begin to realize that we are codependent and interdependent. And that by taking care of one, we are inherently taking care of the other.

With regard to kinship, theres a lot that we can learn from queer communities and also Indigenous wisdoms. For instance, weve seen that the Whanganui River in Aotearoa New Zealand has been granted legal protection because the Whanganui people see the river as kin. And the law goes that if you protect the river, youre protecting them because its an ancestor. In the same vein, queer communities challenge relationship rules and monogamy by showing that relationship anarchy is one of the most powerful ways that we can learn to see each other as family. Again were starting to see this enshrined in law in Cuba, the first to pass a law that stated family isnt necessarily defined by blood, but who takes care of you and who you take care of. This is radical because its challenging the individualism of this western patriarchal, heteronormative society; its challenging this mindset of separation and scarcity thats driving the mental health crisis and the climate crisis.

In my eyes, the climate crisis is a crisis of separation as much as the mental health crisis is one of compartmentalization.

Tori Tsui Climate Activist & Author

Daphne

You speak of community as the antidote to capitalismare there particular community-led practices that youve found grounding over the years?

Tori

Yes, one of them is the Climate Resilience Project, which is a youth-led organization and peer support group that helps young people address their mental health in the face of a climate crisis. Im on the board of youth within the Climate Resilience Project, and we do some amazing workshops and collective practices together. But I also think theres something to be said about glamorizing resilienceespecially for marginalized peoplewhen we dont want to glamorize that struggle. We want people to live happily and healthily, and that inevitably also means coming together. And although were all climate activists and come from a climate space, sometimes we just talk about things that make us human; we literally just show up and we talk about the things that bring us joy. Its really important for the organization to understand who people are outside of these spaces, because many of us in the climate space can come to be defined by the struggle that were part of.

This is also why I think its important to uncomplicate the notion of communitybecause community is incredibly personal. Sometimes when were trying to fight back against individualism, we can think of community as this super intentional practice that is really exclusive; as if you have to be organizing with people in order to have a valid community. But your community can literally be anyone: Who do you eat a meal with? Who do you laugh with? Who do you go to in times of crisis? This crisis is going to change this world and the people in it, and so its imperative that we make sure we have those people around us that we can lean on.

Daphne

I love what you said about uncomplicating this idea of communitybecause I think many of us can put pressure on ourselves to live up to or strive towards an imagined idea of what community is. And our attempt to live up to those aspirational ideals can end up feeding the narratives of scarcity or not enoughness you were talking about earlier.

Tori

Exactly. And what is enough? If were striving towards a world where everyone lives in dignity and in community, then we certainly cant have billionaires making and hoarding an unimaginable amount of wealth or people in power deciding what lives matter.

Daphne

Definitely. My last question is an acknowledgment that Its Not Just You is in many ways also a very personal book to you and your experiences of mental health. How did you find the process of researching it and writing it?

Tori

It was definitely very mixed. I found aspects of it quite difficult and isolating. Having to sit down and really concentrate is a struggle at times. But at the same time, I did get to speak to a lot of people, and that was really, really important for me when it came to this book. This book is a collective processand I insisted that, if I was going to use this platform, I was going to use it to tell peoples stories. So, I would have to say that it was equally as lonely as it was fulfilling.

I could edit and change Its Not Just You a million times over. I dont think it will ever be perfect. It will always be a work in progress. And the brilliant thing is that I know that some of the words I use will become obsolete and some of the things that Ive written will one day seem outdated. To me, thats beautiful because it means that we will have found better and more nuanced ways to talk about these crises.

Tori Tsuis Its Not Just You: How To Navigate Eco-Anxiety and the Climate Crisis is available to order here.

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Originally posted here:

The Limitations of Eco-Anxiety | Atmos - Atmos Magazine

Representatives of Brazil and the United States, two countries that struggle with deeply rooted and continually pervasive structural racism, announced in May the restart of the U.S.-Brazil Joint Action Plan to Eliminate Racial and Ethnic Discrimination and Promote Equality (JAPER).

This agreement, consolidated as a result of an important articulation with the Black movements from both countries, is an important step forward in the struggle for multi-racial democracy that both U.S. President Joe Biden and Brazils President Luiz Incio Lula da Silva have prioritized since assuming office.

Whats more, the lead negotiators, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield and Brazils Minister of Racial Equality Anielle Franco, are Black, demonstrating that inclusion at the highest political levels delivers outcomes for marginalized people. Prior to her leadership at the Ministry, Franco co-founded Instituto Marielle Franco, a non-profit organization created by the family of the Brazilian politician and human rights activist after her killing in March 2018 (where one of us now serves as executive director).

However, inking a deal is not enough.The process of development of the plan of work and indicators of this agreement and similar effortsmust continue to include the leadership of impacted communities and civil society, not only to secure effective civic engagement but also to allow accountability practices and a diligent monitoring of the advancements of its actions. Further, implementation of this deal cannot be relegated only to ministries or departments focused on equality; the entire government needs to assume ownership to begin the process of unwinding centuries of institutionalized anti-Black violence.

Brazil and the United States first agreed to JAPER in March 2008. This initiative was the first ever bilateral agreement to specifically target racism. The agreement catalyzed collaboration between policy experts in both countries, civil society, and the private sector to address the widespread societal disparities and unequal access that Black Americans and Black Brazilians face on a daily basis.

During the first years of JAPER, the United States and Brazil formed an alliance between U.S. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Brazilian universities. The goal was to establish an HBCU network, whichwould facilitate exchange and education programs for Black students from both countries to learn more about the history of racism and human rights.

To foster more equitable access to healthcare, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) participated in reciprocal exchanges, including hosting Brazilian officials from the Ministry of Health and for site visits in Atlanta, Chicago, and other American cities to share how U.S. policies and programs address racial disparities in health.

JAPERs success paved the way for the United States to sign a similar agreement with Colombia in 2011. Further, those involved in implementation in Brazil and Colombia forged their own bilateral connections to synergize advancement of racial justice, including new partnerships emerging from a more than $900,000 State Department grant program for civil society. Unfortunately, U.S. President Donald Trump, who held office 2017 to 2021, and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who held office from 2019 to 2022, did not prioritize implementing the initiatives, so current administrations have sought political reaffirmation to restore focused implementation.

Since the launch of JAPER, some progress has been made in addressing the omnipresent structural racism in both the United States and Brazil. But, of course, racial discrimination and inequity persist, especially in the criminal legal systems. In the United States, for example, Black Americans are incarcerated at nearly five times the rate of white Americans.

In Brazil, not only is the murder rate for Black people three times higher than for non-Black people, but socioeconomic disparities, climate change, and lack of political representation are challenges that profoundly affect Black populations (particularly women).

As JAPER is reactivated, this initiative must restart its important work in bringing Black students together and reprioritizing the improvement of access to healthcare for Black Americans and Black Brazilians. It must also transcend these priorities to leverage this initiative for increased financing for Black-owned businesses and to structure socio-economic policies aimed at overcoming racial disparities and expanding political inclusion, as well as taking a closer look at the disproportionate impacts of the climate crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic on Black communities in both countries.

This is also a key moment for both the United States and Brazil to not only commit enough to the budget to make plans at federal level come true, but also have proper coordination of JAPER implementation at the state and local levels. While many state and local leaders in both countries have challenging records in the implementation of policies that have disproportionately impacted Black communitiesbe it forced evictions for mega-events related projects or policing policies that maintain systems of state-perpetrated violence, illuminated in the murders of Breonna Taylor and countless others in the United Statesarticulation at the subnational level should be a priority, as this is where actions that have the most immediate effect on peoples lives can be more readily undertaken.

A yet-to-be-tested example is the recently launched Anti-Racist Cities Network, led by Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes (who has a spotty record himself). Should this network prove to be more than an exercise in reputational diplomacy for municipal leaders, by offering mechanisms for political accountability and intentional engagement with affected communities and civil society in the design and implementation of any anti-racist policies, it could become an effective vehicle to materialize the spirit of JAPER beyond the borders of the two countries.

For JAPER to succeed, members of both the U.S. and Brazilian Congresses must embrace JAPER while increasing funding for implementation.Leaders in the U.S. Senate have consistently demanded more investment in JAPER and other agreements that should be appropriated.

Whats more, the Biden administration could empower Desire Cormier Smith, the U.S. State Departments first Special Representative for Racial Equity and Justice, to reinvigorate the U.S.-Colombia Action Plan for Racial and Ethnic Equality, as well as identify other countries where similar bilateral agreements can be launched.

The Lula administration also needs to continue to create more space for the racial justice agenda in foreign policy strategies and to empower the leadership of Franco, as Minister of Racial Equality, in cooperation agreements to tackle racism and racial discrimination with countries like Portugal and Spain, acknowledging the key role these countries played in the enslavement process in Latin America.

The legacy of discrimination endured by Black communities in the United States and Brazil will only be remedied if their respective governments truly consult with local communities, advocacy groups, and human rights defenders.

Those leaders will be the ones who vocally push for these political commitments to be tailored to the true needs of Black communities and fully implemented by the State, becoming real to the people.

Go here to read the rest:

Welcome Back: How JAPER Becomes Real for the People in Brazil ... - Just Security

Now Is the Time to Go All In on Heat Pumps A new RMI analysis shows that in all 48 continental states, replacing a gas furnace with a heat pump could reduce climate pollution by up to 93 percent.

Replacing fossil fuel-burning appliances with high-performing electric alternatives is crucial to meet our climate, health, and economic goals. However, the most recent data shows the United States is still not making significant progress, with emissions from buildings staying flat for decades. Altogether, in 2021, the use of gas or fuel oil for heating, hot water, and cooking accounted for more than 10 percent of US carbon emissions.

As federal incentives from the 2022 climate bill, the Inflation Reduction Act, begin to roll out, more Americans than ever before will be able to electrify different parts of their lives, from transportation to home heating. For this article, were focusing on one of the more efficient clean heating and cooling appliances the air-source heat pump, which delivers two to four times more heating energy than the electricity it consumes.

And heat pumps are having their moment in the spotlight. Previously primarily used in warmer climates, heat pumps outsold gas furnaces for the first time last year and colder states like Maine are leading the way in home installations.

But skeptics wonder, can a heat pump really reduce a buildings emissions over its lifetime, even in the coldest of climates? And can they reduce them on year one, even if a utility is still using primarily fossil fuels like coal, gas, and oil for electricity?

To answer these questions, RMI released an updated analysis that examines the lower 48 states, focusing on the two largest direct uses of fossil fuel in buildings: space heating and water heating. We compared gas furnaces and gas water heaters to readily available electric alternatives: air-source heat pumps and heat pump water heaters. Grid emissions intensities were drawn from NRELs 2022 Cambium data sets, third annual edition. This analysis uses the mid-case scenario, which includes currently enacted state and federal policies, including major electricity sector provisions from the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, and central estimates of technology cost reductions.

The results point to significant emissions reductions for space heating. In all 48 continental states, replacing a gas furnace with a heat pump will reduce emissions within the very first year of installation and across the 15-year lifespan of the product. In states across the country, from Florida to Michigan to California, heat pumps reduce emissions across their lifetime by up to 93 percent compared with gas furnaces. The emissions benefits of air-source heat pumps arise from the high efficiency of the equipment and reductions in the carbon intensity of electricity over time as more renewables come onto the grid.

Heat pump technology has improved significantly in recent years. Even accounting for reduced efficiency in extreme cold weather, our analysis finds that modern air-source heat pumps are more than twice as efficient as gas furnaces. We calculated the operational year-round heat pump efficiency for the most populous city in each state by combining historical hourly weather conditions against the performance of modern, readily available heat pumps. Our analysis adjusted heat pump efficiency to account for backup electric resistance heat when and where it is needed rarely, and during very cold days. For instance, in Fargo, North Dakota, where temperatures occasionally fall below -20F in the winter, backup heating is needed for approximately eleven percent of the annual heating load.

The chart below shows the expected heat pump coefficient of performance (COP), which is a weighted average of the daily heat pump efficiency by heating degree days. A COP of 1 means the system is 100 percent efficient heating energy is equivalent to electricity inputs. A COP of 2 means that for every kWh of electricity a heat pump consumes, it delivers 2 kWh equivalent of heat.

Heat pumps ranged from 2.2 to 4.5 times more efficient than an EPA ENERGY STAR gas furnace on an annual basis, and in no climate was a heat pump less than 200 percent efficient (COP of 2). Efficiency was highest in places with mild winters, like California, Tennessee, and Arizona. However, heat pumps were also more energy efficient than gas furnaces in cold climates like Colorado, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. This analysis did not account for ground-source or geothermal heat pumps. Separate RMI analysis indicates that such systems can achieve COPs of up to 5 with higher emissions reductions than air-source heat pumps.

Heat pump performance will only continue to improve. Consider inverter-driven variable speed compressors. Inverter-driven variable speed heat pumps increase compressor speed to improve heating capacity as the outdoor temperature drops. Field tests carried out by the Electric Power Field Institute found that variable speed heat pumps were able to meet 100 percent of home heating needs in 0F conditions.

The Department of Energy has launched the successful Cold Climate Heat Pump Challenge. The Challenge, initiated in 2021, is a multi-stakeholder effort to develop and deploy next-generation cold-climate heat pumps. A breakthrough came in 2022, with the announcement of a next-generation heat pump from producer Lennox. The prototype delivers 100 percent heating at 5F and 7080 percent heating at 10F. The prototype will be validated with deployment and commercialization aiming for 2024. Additional prototypes from other manufacturers are showing similarly impressive results, including the Mitsubishi hyper heat units that are rated at 80 percent heating at 13F.

While heat pump performance will only continue to improve, gas furnace performance is limited by the laws of physics. Standard gas furnaces are typically sold at around 80-90 percent efficiency, with high-efficiency models reaching up to 99 percent. Thermodynamically, no direct combustion furnace can achieve greater than 100 percent efficiency at converting fuel (natural gas) into heat. As explained in Clean Energy 101: Heat Pumps, heat pumps differ in that they simply move heat rather than creating it, allowing them to reach far greater levels of efficiency.

The emissions associated with operating a heat pump are determined by the emissions from generating electricity. No matter the efficiency of the heat pump, if the electricity used to power it comes from emissions-intensive sources such as coal, there will be high associated emissions.

Fortunately, the grid has become cleaner over time. The charts below represent the emissions intensity of the electricity grid in 2016 and in 2021.

The states where grid emissions did not significantly improve are in the Pacific Northwest (states that already have the lowest emissions intensity in the country). There, significant power capacity is derived from hydroelectric power generation, a carbon-free source of electricity. Two states with some of the highest improvements in emissions intensity are Utah and Wyoming. Notably, these states were the only two in the prior analysis where a heat pump for space heating would not have reduced emissions compared with a gas furnace. Nationwide and state-level policies, such as HB 411 in Utah, are driving emissions reductions in our electricity grid and improving the outlook of heat pumps for space heating.

The outcome for gas furnaces is different. For a gas furnace, the emissions will always be roughly a pound of carbon dioxide gas for every 10 cubic feet of gas burned, every year, for as long as you use the furnace. As a result, heat pump emissions have improved since the last time this analysis was performed while gas emissions stay stagnant.

Water heating is a common application of natural gas combustion in homes. Fortunately, heat pumps and their efficiency and emissions benefits extend to the ability to heat water. Our analysis shows that replacing gas water heaters with heat pump water heaters will reduce emissions in every state over the lifetime of the equipment.

These results send a powerful message: installing an air-source heat pump or a heat pump water heater TODAY instead of a fossil fuel alternative, cuts carbon emissions in ALL states on day one and over the lifetime of the appliances.

As heat pumps are deployed as the system of choice for sustainable home comfort, decision makers must ensure that low-income populations are not left behind. Currently, low-income households heat using fossil fuels at a higher proportion than the national average.

In addition to the emissions benefits associated with heat pumps, the transition away from fossil fuel heating has positive health and environmental impacts that are particularly important for improving health disparities of overburdened and underserved communities and communities of color. For more, read our article on Investing in Healthier Low-Income Housing.

Heat pumps can also reduce a households energy burden the percentage of income spent on energy costs. Most low-income populations spend a higher proportion of their income on energy bills than higher income populations.

For homes that rely on fuel oil, propane, or kerosene, space heating using heat pumps can amount to significant bill savings, thanks to the efficiency benefits discussed above. As such, heat pumps can be a powerful mechanism for reducing heating costs for burdened populations. Beneficial electrification which combines high-performing all-electric appliances and equipment, a high-performance building envelope, enhanced ventilation, and better building energy management can deliver the most health benefits to our underserved and overburdened communities.

Thanks to the passage of new laws, including the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act, several programs designed to address energy poverty will receive an infusion of funds. Decision makers must prioritize the rapid deployment of heat pumps with intentional, comprehensive solutions driven by underserved and overburdened communities. Policymakers at the state, local, and federal levels can now take bold action to build a more equitable housing sector while working toward a zero-carbon, healthy future that benefits all.

For cities and states looking to take climate action, reduce inequities, and spur economic activity, the search is on for scalable, cost-effective, and high-impact solutions. Building electrification presents such an opportunity. More than 100 cities have passed legislation mandating or incentivizing all-electric new construction since July 2019. Numerous cities and states are exploring a transition for existing buildings, often phasing in all-electric appliances as gas appliances reach their end of life.

RMI is engaged with city and state officials across the country to chart a path that meets our climate goals, is economically attractive and attainable, and is beneficial for frontline communities and labor. And while the prevailing winds of power sector decarbonization should carry forward and be accelerated, for 100 percent of US homes, there is no need to wait for a cleaner grid to install a heat pump.

State policymakers and utilities should prioritize incentives that enable homeowners and landlords to electrify residential space and water heating with heat pumps that can stack with IRA incentives. While a handful of states like Maine and Vermont are already accelerating heat pump adoption, the advanced state of heat pump technology coupled with decarbonization of the electrical grid makes heating with residential heat pumps a valuable tool for climate action for nearly every state today.

To see the data used for the analysis, click here.

Excerpt from:

Now Is the Time to Go All In on Heat Pumps - Rocky Mountain Institute

Published 2:45 pm Wednesday, July 5, 2023

All 95 Tennessee counties receive Litter Grant funding. Initiatives include litter and tarp law enforcement, cleanup and recycling events, litter prevention education campaigns

NASHVILLE Litter on Tennessees 96,167 miles of public roads 4,022 of which are classified as scenic is more than an eyesore. Its an enormous burden to the state with impacts on public health and safety, the environment and the economy. According to the Tennessee Department of Transportations (TDOT) latest Visible Litter Study, littering in Tennessee has decreased by 12 percent since 2016. While these findings are encouraging, there are still more than 88 million pieces of litter on the states roadways at any given time.

TDOTs Litter Grant Program, established in 1983 through funding by Tennessees Soft Drink and Malt Beverage industries, has played a crucial role in this downward trend as county governments implement litter prevention and education programming at the local level, directly reaching thousands of Tennesseans each year.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Litter Grant Program, which has improved communities in all 95 Tennessee counties. Counties use the funding from the program for initiatives that include litter and tarp law enforcement, cleanup and recycling events, litter prevention education campaigns, and participation in multijurisdictional and statewide collaborations with TDOTs Nobody Trashes Tennessee litter prevention campaign and Keep Tennessee Beautiful and its local affiliates.

TDOTs Litter Grant funding model ensures a comprehensive and collaborative approach to litter abatement and is making a real difference in keeping the state of Tennessee safe and beautiful, said TDOT Transportation Supervisor, Denise Baker. By providing funding at the county level, communities across the state organize litter cleanups on roadways and riverways based on their specific needs. Many host tarp giveaways, and work with school systems and community groups on litter prevention programming, cigarette butt recycling projects, and more as they educate the public about the negative impacts of intentional and unintentional litter. We are thrilled to celebrate the 40th year of the program.

Collectively, the Litter Grants statewide approach is responsible for removing an average of 11,243 tons of litter each year. In 2022 alone, nearly 29 percent of that statewide total was diverted from landfills and recycled. Additionally, 3,480 illegal dumpsites were cleaned up. All told, more than 435,529 tons of litter have been removed from our roadways since the programs inception.

In addition to funding, the positive impact of TDOTs Litter Grant Program is amplified through local government partners who invest additional resources, and by individuals who contribute tens of thousands of volunteer hours, said Baker. This makes the program extremely efficient, saving communities and the State of Tennessee critical funds when compared to the costs of contracted litter pickup. The 2022 statewide average cost of a Litter Grant pickup was just $14.40 per mile, while contracted litter pickup routinely costs TDOT more than $500 a mile.

Annually, $5.5 million is allocated through the Litter Grant Program, a total which has remained the same since 2017. The amount each county receives is based on a formula accounting for population and road miles. The current series of Litter Grant contracts includes $3,823,915 for local litter pickup operations and $1,656,085 for litter prevention education. Litter Grant contracts require that 20-35 percent of each countys total funding is budgeted for litter prevention education efforts. Counties are required to tackle litter prevention education in three of five designated categories: students, public, media, business and government. The grants also fund Keep Tennessee Beautiful, which provides litter prevention education, community engagement, and promotion of volunteers for beautification projects.

Learn more about TDOTs Litter Grant Program at https://www.tn.gov/tdot/environmental-home/environmental-highway-beautification-office/beautification-litter-grant.html. To get involved in litter prevention efforts in your community, visit NobodyTrashesTennessee.com. Find a cleanup event near you by visiting the NTT event calendar. Two additional ways to get involved include the no-cost Adopt-A-Highway program and reporting littering incidents through the Tennessee Litter Hotline (1-877-8LITTER). Join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

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Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) celebrates 40th ... - Elizabethton.com

A source within the Chabad Jewish community in Frankfurt, which claims to have 1,250 families registered claimed that since the establishment of this community in 2019, said that despite their efforts to receive state funding from the Hesse government, they have not gotten an answer.

A source in the community told The Jerusalem Post that after several years in which the state refuses to dedicate a budget for our community, in accordance with German law, they have decided to officially embark on a legal battle and claim that intentional harassment prevents them from the possibility of financing security for the building.

They explained that the need for security in synagogues and community centers is important, since a number of attacks that targeted Jewish communities had taken place in Germany in recent years, but were stopped because of a protected door the terrorist came across.

Frankfurt is the fifth largest city in Germany and is considered an important international financial center. The Jewish community there is one of the oldest in Europe and one of the few that continued in succession from the Middle Ages.

The Chabad community was established in 2019, after many years of its rabbi, Zalman Gurevitz, being on rocky terms with the older, more established community, the Jdische Gemeinde Frankfurt am Main, established in 1949. It is one of the largest unified Jewish communities in Germany and considers itself inclusive of diverse forms of Jewish life, including liberal and Reform Jewish services, as well as Orthodox ones. The community numbered 6,316 as of 2019.

In 2017, JTA reported that the Frankfurt Jewish community distanced itself from the citys Chabad-Lubavitch chapter after a series of alleged instances of disrespect shown against local non-Chabad rabbis.

In an open letter, the Jewish Community of Frankfurt am Main group wrote that the citys synagogues will no longer provide rooms for Chabad events. The letter cited increasingly aggressive behavior and insults from Chabad rabbis aimed at two local rabbis, Avichai Apel and Julian Chaim-Soussan.

Jewish and religious life in Frankfurt was possible before Chabad and we are ensuring that it will continue to be possible without the involvement of Chabad, the Frankfurt group said in its letter.

Gurevitz, a Chabad emissary who grew up in France, established the new community, calling it the Orthodox community of Frankfurt (Jdische Gemeinde Chabad). He invested in bringing over emissaries, founded a yeshiva, and began offering services. In 2007, Gurevitz became known internationally after being stabbed by a Muslim terrorist when he returned from the synagogue to his home.

In accordance with the German Law on Religions and Churches, Dr. Bernd Schlueter, a lawyer hired by the Jewish community four years ago, submitted a request for assistance to the Hessisches Kultusministerium (Education Ministry of the State of Hesse) in accordance with the principles enshrined in the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany. The Post has queried the Hesse Education Ministry. It has not received a response.

The Chabad community sent a letter to Hesse Education Minister Alexander Lorz on May 30th, via Schlueter, in which they said that Chabad Frankfurt submitted a detailed application for participation in the services to promote Jewish life in Hesse. The right to equal participation in such state benefits has been fully recognized by case law and in a large number of state treaties.

We have not received a decision on our application to date. After years of waiting for a decision on the application, our clients understandably have no more patience, Schlueter wrote. He added that they would file a lawsuit against the government for discrimination.

A source in the community told the Post that the treatment the community has received is unusual and meticulous in comparison to others. He added though that we have no doubt that this harassment does not represent the majority of the citizens of the state and most of the officials of the state of Hesse.

JTA contributed to this report.

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Discrimination or bureaucracy? A Jewish community in Germany ... - The Jerusalem Post

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has issued its first policy statement on pedestrian safety in 14 years to include significant updates to make roads safer. The new update is in response to significant statistics that have been on the rise for decades. Heres what you need to know.

The AAP policy statement, Child Pedestrian Safety, and an accompanying technical report, Epidemiology and Prevention of Child Pedestrian Injury, was published in the July edition of Pediatrics, written by medical experts to reflect the latest evidence following a peer review of the data.

The policy comes after data shows child pedestrian deaths have increased by 11% since 2023, and this is despite an overall decline in pedestrian deaths over the past three decades. Statistics cited by the AAP show that kids between the ages of 10-14 and teens aged 15-19 are the most affected by pedestrian deaths, with 16% of children killed in traffic crashes being pedestrians.

According to the AAP, American Indian, and Black youth under 19 years old are 1.8 times more likely to die in pedestrian incidents than white children, while Hispanic kids have 1.2 times the risk of death in pedestrian incidents than non-Hispanic kids. The risk of child pedestrian death is greater in rural areas, and boys are at higher risk of injury, as are children with disabilities, the AAP notes. These statistics were driving forces for the AAP to revisit its child pedestrian safety policy.

The reminder to Look both ways before you cross the street is good advice, but just part of the equation, Sadiqa A. I. Kendi, MD, MPH, FAAP, CPST, co-author of the policy statement, said. Research tells us that an even more effective way to consistently improve safety is when communities take intentional steps to create pedestrian-safe environments. We live in a busy, distracted world, and when local leaders create walkable spaces, they also enhance the appeal and vibrance of their communities.

While there is a lot of conflicting advice out there for parents on how to keep their kids safe as pedestrians share the space with cars, the AAP lays it out clearly both in terms of policy changes that could make a difference and some measures parents can implement to help keep their kids safe. These include:

We know that active transportation, like walking or biking, is good for kids, and its good for the environment, Brian D. Johnston, MD, MPH, FAAP, co-author of the report, said. As children grow older, they will be able to be more independent. Each of us can help keep children safe by paying attention to the people around us and by promoting safer environments that benefit all of us.

For more details, including actionable steps to use your voice to advocate for better safety policies, check out the full AAP policy statement.

The rest is here:

AAP Rules And Guidelines For How To Keep Kids Safe From Cars - Fatherly