by Johanna Perez

The monarch butterfly, known for its breathtaking migration across North America, is facing a perilous decline due to habitat loss, climate change, and the destruction of its primary food source—milkweed. This iconic species now faces a dramatic decrease in numbers, signaling an urgent need for action. It is estimated that by 2080, monarch butterflies will be extinct on the west coast, and there is a 50-80% that it will also be extinct on the east coast. Monarch butterflies are pollinators and losing this species could have disastrous consequences on our food crops.

Adding the monarch butterfly to the Endangered Species Act (ESA) would provide critical protections, allowing for the preservation and restoration of the habitats that support their survival. Milkweed, the monarch’s primary host plant, and nectar-rich plants like goldenrod, coneflower, and bee balm are vital to their lifecycle, offering sustenance during their migration. By safeguarding these plants and designating critical habitats, we can help restore monarch populations and protect biodiversity. The monarch’s plight is a call to action: if we protect this beautiful butterfly, we are also protecting countless other species that rely on these ecosystems. Ensuring the monarch’s survival is essential, not only for nature but for the health of our entire environment. Besides planting seeds that benefit the monarch butterfly, please send a comment to the Fish and Wildlife Commission stating that you support protecting the monarch butterfly - it only takes a minute.

Leave your comment supporting the proposed rule at:  https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/FWS-R3-ES-2024-0137-0001

Read the text of the proposed rule, Endangered and Threatened Species: Species Status with Section 4(d) Rule for Monarch Butterfly and Designation of Critical Habitat, at: https://www.regulations.gov/document/FWS-R3-ES-2024-0137-0001

by Brian Dugas

There will be a Zoom meeting to provide legal information on Immigration, Employment, and LGBTQIA+ Issues.

Attorneys John Byrd,  Nesta Johnson,  and Melissa Evans will be available on Zoom to answer your questions on January 6, 2025, at 8:00 PM.  Preregistration is required at https://bit.ly/PJC202501.  You can also scan the QR code on the attached flyer.
This meeting will be brought to you by the Community Justice Alliance, formed by collaboration between the Peace and Justice Center and the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Wyoming Valley.

Download the Flyer

by Dave Nichols

I want to use this time to bring our attention back to the subject of Climate change and how we, living in the industrial age, are making the planet hotter. We are making it hotter because we are putting more greenhouse gases in our atmosphere. The best known is carbon dioxide.

Prior to the mid-18th century, before the industrial age, there was some carbon dioxide in the atmosphere which contributed to warming. The average global temperature then was about 59F. A good deal of the warmth that allows life to exist is due to the presence of greenhouse gases. It has been known since the early 1800’s that, absent greenhouse gas, the global temperature would be slightly below zero Fahrenheit. The planet would be lifeless and frozen solid. A certain amount of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere is necessary to trap and then emit some of the planet’s heat loss back to the planet. At the beginning of the industrial age the concentration of carbon dioxide was just under 300 parts per million. Since then, it has been rising at an accelerated rate and is now about 420 parts per million. This increase has supercharged the warming effect. The last time it was this high was 3 million years ago, before humans, when the global temperature was 4.5-7.2 degrees higher than during the pre-industrial period. The sea level was at least 16 feet higher and possibly 82 feet higher at that time. Over the past 1/ 2 million years geologic data has shown that sea level change tracks closely with carbon dioxide concentration.

The current average temperature is about 2.5 degrees above the pre-industrial temperature. The 10 highest average global temperatures in the last 50 years have all occurred in the last decade.

Climate scientists generate theoretical models, and they look back at geologic data to make predictions about the impacts of climate change. Their predictions of rising sea level, extremes in heat, and the disruption of the biosphere present us with challenges that we must address. With advances in terrestrial and satellite sensors we can closely monitor the effects of climate change at a detailed level. Two good sources of information on this topic can be found on the nasa.gov website and a recent book by Lawrence Krauss, The Physics of Climate Change. My focus for future social action minutes will be to discuss not only the dangers of man- made global warming but also ways that it is being addressed and how we can help.

by Lili Gioia

President Biden has about 43 days left in office. Before he leaves the White House he must tell the Archivist of the United States to publish the EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT as the 28th Amendment to the Constitution. All the requirements for its adoption have been satisfied. They were achieved in 2020 when Virginia became the necessary 38th state to ratify the ERA, but then-president Trump refused to act.

It’s now been 101 YEARS since Alice Paul wrote the Equal Rights Amendment in one sentence, just 3 years after women won the right to vote in 1920. It says: “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of sex.” Many Americans believe the Constitution already protects the rights of ALL citizens. No, it does not. And women’s rights are being stripped away to where they no longer have control over their own bodies in half the nation. Women still are paid less for the same work as men and experience pregnancy discrimination on the job.

The League of Women voters website has a sample letter you can sign on line urging President Biden to certify the ERA guaranteeing sex and gender equality in the Constitution NOW. The constitutionality of the ERA was supported last summer by an overwhelming vote of the American Bar Association. Women’s organizations across the nation, including the American Association of University Women, the National Federation of Business & Professional Women, the National Council of Jewish Women and many more are all supporting this ERA campaign to prevent even further erosion of gender equality when the Republicans control the Senate, House and White House in January. Under their Project 2025, not only is denying national access to abortion on the agenda, but also ending No-Fault Divorce.

46 U.S. Senators have already sent President Biden a letter urging him to move on the ERA’s adoption with urgency, but he needs to see an outpouring of public pressure. The holidays are busy for everybody, but please take time to call the White House (Tuesday through Thursdays the comment line is open). Please text, email, send a personal letter or postcard to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington D.C. I sent him a handwritten note last week and have also signed the League of Women Votes website letter. Time is of the essence.

by Chavah Granovetter

Our crumbling infrastructure has led to multiple breaks in the sewer system including at least 8 known leaks of raw sewage into local waterways. Currently, the fish & game commission has recommended not consuming fish out of the Susquehanna River due to high levels of contaminants due to the sewage problem. The sanitation authority has dragged their feet on this issue and has over a six month estimation to replace the broken pipes.