Project Drawdown

In the introduction of Laudato Si, Pope Francis tells us:

The worldwide ecological movement has already made considerable progress and led to the establishment of numerous organizations committed to raising awareness of these challenges.

Yes, many people and many organizations are working in the climate change space. Here at St John the Evangelist, my wife, Suzanna, and I formed the Saint Francis of Assisi ministry about a year ago to create a group to discuss, educate, and act on this crisis. We have also reached out and, in some cases, joined forces with a number of other groups, including the Global Catholic Climate Movement and Project Drawdown.

Paul Hawken was tired of the naysayers who said nothing could be done about climate change, so he he founded Project Drawdown, assembling a coalition of researchers, scientists, students, and scholars who put together a list of “climate solutions that had the greatest potential to reduce emissions or sequester carbon from the atmosphere.” The group also published a book entitled “Drawdown: the most comprehensive plan ever proposed to reverse global warming” in 2017.

The Saint Francis of Assisi ministry is excited to announce that Kathy Dawson will be speaking to the parish about Project Drawdown on Sunday, February 9th, 2020 at 6pm in the Admin building. Please join us to learn more about this exciting initiative.

In both the Project Drawdown book and the website, you will find 100 comprehensive solutions, grouped by broad area (e.g., energy, food, etc.) and ranked according to their ability to reduce or sequester carbon. Each “solution” includes the facts and references to back up their projections, including the number of Gigatons of reduced or sequestered carbon dioxide (or equivalent reduction in other greenhouse gases) between 2020 and 2050, the net cost, and the net savings. 

Project Drawdown represents hope in a sea of despair; a blueprint for solving the climate crisis and reversing global warming. Yes, reversing! I encourage you to buy or borrow the book or checkout the website which contains plenty of information for free. And, by all means, join us on February 9th, when Kathy Dawson will talk to us about Project Drawdown. Hope to see you there.

Working together, we can help take care of our common home.

Paul Litwin